About the BDD
What It Does
The BDD Project provides a sustainable water supply for the existing Santa Fe community.
Why We Need the BDD Now
Despite ongoing, very successful water conservation programs, the Santa Fe region does not have enough drinking water to meet our current needs. Our three current sources of water are:
1) City well field;
2) Buckman well field; and
3) The Canyon Road water treatment plant, which treats water from the Santa Fe River reservoirs.
Currently, we are overpumping the groundwater wells resulting in damage to the underground aquifer. Even in the best of years, the Santa Fe River reservoirs can only supply about half of the water our region needs. In very dry years, they cannot supply much water at all and emergency water restrictions have to be put in place.
In addition, our water supply could be dramatically reduced by circumstances beyond our control such as a prolonged drought or a fire in the watershed.
Another Source of Sustainable and Reliable Drinking Water
The BDD Project provides a fourth source of water, improving the regional water supply under drought conditions, replacing current groundwater pumping that cannot be sustained, and making a drought reserve possible.
The City of Santa Fe and Santa Fe County are constructing the BDD Project to add this source of water by diverting and treating water available from the Rio Grande that we already own but cannot access through groundwater pumping. The BDD Project will create the infrastructure required to fully use the City and County permanent yearly supply of the San Juan-Chama Project water, which is about half of the Santa Fe community’s current total annual water use. The BDD Project also will access native Rio Grande water rights owned by the County and Las Campanas.
The surface water is renewable. It will allow major reductions in groundwater pumping, thereby reserving the aquifer for use in times of drought, rather than for our daily supplies. This provides a much more sustainable, renewable and drought- resistant water supply system for the entire Santa Fe community. It also fills a water supply gap identified in the Jemez y Sangre Regional Water Plan. This plan was completed during the severe droughts of 2000 and 2002 and was updated in 2007.
Conservation and BDD Project help fill Santa Fe Community Water Supply Gap
Chart based on data from Figure 11, Jemez y Sangre Regional Water Plan, 2007 update.
Water Supply Amounts
The BDD Project size was selected in 2001 to provide a renewable water supply for the area’s projected 2010 customer population under existing climate conditions when used together with reduced amounts of groundwater pumping and water from the Santa Fe River. It is important to note that the City of Santa Fe and Santa Fe County have made our region a leader in water conservation and drought management. Due to major reductions in water use by the City and County customers, the City will not need additional water supplies until after 2020. The County’s share of the BDD Project will satisfy their requirements for decades.
The BDD Project will be able to deliver up to 15 million gallons per day (MGD) of treated drinking water for City and County water system customers, which is approximately equal to the current maximum daily water demand of existing City and County customers. Normally, the BDD Project will operate at about one-half of full capacity. Annual water diversions from the Rio Grand are limited to 8,730 acre-feet per year, compared to total current water use of about 10,000 acre-feet per year.
The BDD Project is designed to deliver up to 3.2 MGD of raw, untreated Rio Grande water to Las Campanas at the location shown on the BDD Project map. Santa Fe County has approved a request by Las Campanas to become a County water customer, rather than pay for its own finished water treatment plant and pipelines. Under this agreement, Las Campanas would transfer its water rights to the County and would pay for a potable water storage tank and a portion of the costs to build a pipeline to provide part of the County’s share of BDD Project water to its residents.
While there are no guarantees that the BDD Project will be able to provide its full water supply every year, technical studies indicate the annual water supply should be available in most years.
Click here for a map and summary of the BDD Project.
Creates Infrastructure to Access Water Rights We Already Own
The BDD Project creates infrastructure we need to access an additional reliable source of wet water available from the Rio Grande that we already own but cannot otherwise access.
This includes new infrastructure to access San Juan-Chama federal water project water from the Rio Grande, under the terms of an agreement signed in 1976, and to access senior Rio Grande water rights or other San Juan-Chama Project water that are owned by the City, County and Las Campanas.
The City and County have permanent contracts with the Bureau of Reclamation, which owns the San Juan-Chama Project, for a total of 5,605 acre-feet of San Juan-Chama Project water per year.
The allocation will provide approximately two-thirds of the BDD Project allowable annual maximum diversions. It is a little more than half of the total potable water use by the City and County public water systems and Las Campanas over the last several years.
Up to 25% additional San Juan-Chama water can be diverted at the BDD Project under the State Engineer permit in any year, subject to availability of the water and prior approval of the State Engineer.
The remaining one-third of the planned BDD Project diversions will be supported by native Rio Grande water rights owned by the County and Las Campanas. Some of these water rights are approved by the State Engineer for diversion by the BDD Project.
Helps protect us from running out of water during a drought or a reduced water supply caused by climate change.
In 2001, the BDD Project was designed to provide a sustainable water supply for the area’s projected 2010 customer population under existing climate conditions. It is important to note that effective water conservation has stretched this date forward about a decade to 2020.
Water conservation has significantly reduced the Santa Fe area’s per-capita water use since its peak in 1995. In fact, City of Santa Fe and Santa Fe County water customers have made our region a leader in water conservation and drought management, reducing demand by about 40% over the last decade. Current City use averages about 102 gallons per person per day, and County use is even less.
The BDD Project fully supports continued effective water conservation, and recognizes that conservation is required by federal and state permits for the project. Water conservation alone, however, no matter how effective, cannot reduce water demand to a level that could be reliably and sustainably met from currently existing Santa Fe River and groundwater supplies.
For more information on City of Santa Fe water conservation programs.
For more information on Santa Fe County water conservation programs.
The San Juan-Chama Project water delivered to the Santa Fe region by the BDD Project is an additional source of water; therefore, it provides additional protection from drought. Although climate change is expected to reduce stream flow and mountain snowpacks in the southwest, the Santa Fe region’s water supply from the San Juan-Chama Project via the BDD Project should be more reliable than the supply in most New Mexico rivers. This is due to the Heron Reservoir storage that is used to “firm” the annual San Juan-Chama Project deliveries to contractors, the shortage-sharing provisions of the federal authorizing legislation and the high mountain source located just south of Wolf Creek Pass on the Continental Divide.
Makes the Living Santa Fe River Possible
The BDD Project also makes the living Santa Fe River possible. The Living River project connects the Santa Fe River to its watershed. The Living River supports a healthy plant community and becomes a refuge for animals. It also provides a rich environment for play and exploration by people of all ages.
Provides Water that Can Meet the Needs of Las Campanas
Las Campanas, a privately owned, master-planned community, is a limited partner in the BDD.
This was required by the federal government, which mandated that Las Campanas, the City of Santa Fe and Santa Fe County share a single point of diversion from the Rio Grande to access available San Juan-Chama water rights as well as native Rio Grande water rights.
The BDD Project will deliver up to 3.2 million gallons per day of raw, untreated surface water to Las Campanas. Originally, it was planned that Las Campanas would build its own water treatment plant and finished water pipeline. However, Santa Fe County has approved a request by Las Campanas to become a water customer, rather than pay for its own finished water facilities. Under this agreement, Las Campanas would transfer its water rights to the County and would pay for a potable water storage tank and a portion of the costs to build a pipeline to provide treated water from the BDD water treatment plant to its residents.
The master-planned community is continuing to help pay for shared facilities it has already promised to participate in funding.
Provides Excellent Quality Drinking Water
The BDD Water Treatment Plant contains advanced drinking water treatment processes, beyond those that are commonly used elsewhere across the nation. The BDD Project will produce excellent and safe drinking water quality. For more information, please visit Water Quality.