Clean Water In the News

By Sean Olson
Journal Staff Writer
    Albuquerque builders were given a reprieve Wednesday, when the local water board repealed rules that builders said would have cost them thousands of dollars per home.
    But the board, which approved the repeal by a razor-thin margin, is poised to reconsider the issue in the next few months, after it collects more comment.
    The ordinance changes, which were designed to conserve water, required high-efficiency toilets, rainwater collection systems and other measures for new buildings hooking up to the water system.
    County Commissioner Tim Cummins, who sponsored the repeal, said it was important that "in the rush to do something that might play well with the public, we don't create more problems than already exist."
    The repeal passed 4-3, with Cummins, County Commissioner Teresa Córdova, mayoral delegate Bruce Perlman and City Councilor Trudy Jones supporting it. Councilors Michael Cadigan and Isaac Benton and County Commissioner Deanna Archuleta voted against it.
    Cadigan, who sponsored the rules, said it was a "sad day" when builders could not be asked to absorb some costs of water conservation.
    A separate bill, sponsored by Cadigan, would have kept some conservation measures while reducing builder costs. It was defeated 4-3.
    Cadigan linked the ordinance's repeal to one "special interest group"— builders— complaining about costs.
    "They are not entitled to a special process because they are home building lobbyists," he said.
    Cummins stressed at the meeting that the board and builders believe in conservation, but the changes were not passed in the "traditional" way, with builders giving comment before the bill was drafted.
    "I think the tenor of compromise is different than the tenor of starting with a clean slate," Cummins said of the repeal.
    Builder groups have said they were not aware of the bill containing the new rules between its introduction in December and passage in January.
    Afterward, builders refused to comment on changing the rules, citing their stance that the water authority could not legally enforce them.
    Cadigan said there was nothing out of the ordinary about how the bill was presented. Any arguments that its presentation was flawed, he said, were "without merit."
    Builders complained that the rules would have added thousands of dollars to the cost of a new home and hundreds of thousands for larger commercial buildings.
    New Mexico Home Builders Association officials have said the water authority does not have the right to pass what they call de facto building codes in the guise of service requirements.
    They have said that building codes can be passed only at the city, county, state or federal level.
    Cummins advocates sending the rules to city or county governments and bypassing the water authority.
    But Cadigan maintains that state statutes creating the authority and agreements it has with the city and county give it the authority to enforce requirements for new homes before they are connected to the water system.
    Córdova, who voted in January to change the ordinance, said some of the changes could be brought before the board again— after more comment from builders and the authority's Community Advisory Committee.
    "I see good in sending this back to the advisory board," she said.