Letter to the editor – October 18, 2010

Sunday’s editorial is right: managing water is challenging. We rely on a limited and erratic water supply. Currently, we get our water from the City well field, the Buckman well field and the Canyon Road water treatment plant. Despite ongoing and effective water conservation, we do not have enough drinking water to meet our current needs. The Buckman Direct Diversion Project (BDD) Board has committed to a conjunctive use approach using a fourth source of water. By using the renewable surface water from our permanent yearly supply of the San-Juan Chama water, we can allow significant reductions in groundwater pumping, thereby reserving the aquifer for use in times of drought and not for our daily use. This will provide a much more sustainable, renewable and drought-resistant water supply system for the entire Santa Fe community.

Consuelo Bokum

Buckman Direct Diversion Board

Ms. Bokum is a native of Santa Fe and a local water policy expert who has 20 years of water policy experience. In 2006, she was awarded the New Mexico Earth Science Achievement Award. She is serving her third term as an at-large member on the BDD Project Board.