Planning for a Sustainable Future – The Buckman Direct Diversion Project

The Santa Fe community has worked hard to conserve water and plan for a sustainable water future. Water is necessary to meet our daily household needs, important for our businesses and also plays a significant role in our quality of life. One of the most critical components for a safe and sustainable water future in Santa Fe is the Buckman Direct Diversion (BDD), a project designed to ensure the Santa Fe region has a reliable, sustainable drinking water supply now and into the future.

Measured Rate Increases for Five Years

The City of Santa City Council has adopted a new ordinance that will increase water rates by 8.2 percent each year for 5 years. Under this ordinance, the average monthly residential water bill will increase from $31.51 this year to $34.10 in 2009, $36.90 in 2010, $39.90 in 2011, etc. Commercial users with an average monthly water bill of $1,030 would see an increase to $1,114 in 2009, $1,205 in 2010, $1,304 in 2011 and so on.

Average Monthly Water Bill Amounts with 8.2% Increase (Example)

Residential 5/8" (4/6 Kgals)
Existing	$31.50
1st Year (2009)	$34.10
2nd Year (2010)	$36.90
3rd Year (2011)	$39.90
4th Year (2012)	$43.20
5th Year (2013)	$46.70

Small Commercial 3/4" (66/94 Kgals)
Existing	$1,030.00
1st Year (2009)	$1,114.50
2nd Year (2010)	$1,205.90
3rd Year (2011)	$1,304.70
4th Year (2012)	$1,411.70
5th Year (2013)	$1,527.50

Large Commercial 1 1/2" (246/276 Kgals)
Existing	$4,091.00
1st Year (2009)	$4,426.50
2nd Year (2010)	$4,789.40
3rd Year (2011)	$5,182.20
4th Year (2012)	$5,607.10
5th Year (2013)	$6,066.90

Why 5 years?
Spreading out the needed increases evenly over a longer period allows for better planning and helps avoid large, single-year corrections to the rates. This ordinance and the new rates took effect on March 1, 2009 and will increase on January 1 of every year after for four additional years.

What Will the Increase Pay For?

The rate increases will primarily pay for the City’s share of the BDD construction costs for the first several years. Additionally, an increasing amount of the rate increase revenue raised every year after 2009 will be used to pay for improvements to our existing infrastructure, including upgrades to the Canyon Road Water Treatment Plant and our reservoirs, rehabilitation of existing wells, equipment replacement and additions, and overall system improvements.

Why Do You Need the Rate Increase Now?

We need the rate increase now to help pay for construction of the BDD. The BDD is needed now to supplement the sources of water we currently depend on – regional groundwater wells and reservoirs on the Santa Fe River. The City is pumping too much water from regional groundwater wells, potentially damaging the underground aquifer that is their source. Meanwhile, the Santa Fe River reservoirs can only supply less than half of the drinking water we need in the best of years. In some dry years (such as 2002) the reservoirs provide very little water and we have to enact emergency water use measures.

The BDD will allow our aquifer to rest, and will supplement the water supply we receive from the Santa Fe River Reservoirs. It will ensure we have a reliable supply of drinking water, no matter what type of year we are having weather-wise.

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    Water Rates are Rising - English & Spanish (63KB PDF)
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    Financial Plan Executive Summary (29KB PDF)
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Questions...

For more information about the 8.2% water rate increase, contact Utility Billing Customer Service at (505) 955-4333 or Brian Snyder at (505) 955-4267 Email or Maya Martinez at (505) 955-5731 Email

Updated December 15, 2009