Water Pipeline Construction Proceeds in Eastern N.M.
By Cindy Riley CEG CORRESPONDENT
As part of an ongoing effort to combat a critical water shortage, construction crews are building more than 15 mi. of water pipeline in Clovis, N.M.
The $60 million project, known as Finished Water 1 (FW1), is part of a larger effort overseen by the Eastern New Mexico Water Utility Authority (ENMWUA).
“A number of things are being done to address the problem, but the pipeline is the lynchpin,” said Clovis Mayor Mike Morris, chairman of the ENMWUA. “It brings a new and renewable source into the picture and will give us the opportunity to have water security and sustainability into the future.”
Southland subsidiary Oscar Renda Contracting of Grapevine, Texas, serves as the general contractor on the FW1 project.
A formal groundbreaking for FW1 took place in August 2023. The effort is a portion of the larger Ute Pipeline project, created to deliver potable water from the Ute Reservoir to Clovis, Portales, Elida, Texico and Cannon Air Force
Work Starts On $150M Laser Facility at Colorado State University
Construction activity started recently on a powerful new laser research facility on Colorado State University’s Foothills Campus.
Set to come online in mid-2026, the facility is the combined result of 40 years of laser development research at CSU in partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Fusion Energy Sciences program in the Office of Science and a strategic $150 million public-private partnership with industry leader Marvel Fusion that launched in 2023.
The new building will be known as the Advanced
Technology Lasers for Applications and Science (ATLAS) Facility. A major topic of research there will be laser-driven fusion as a viable clean energy source. Construction on the project will be managed by Tetrad Corp. with McCarthy Building Cos. Inc. serving as the general contractor and SWBR leading design. The 71,000-sq.-ft. facility will feature more than 7,500 cu. yds. of concrete — including 5-ft.-thick shielding walls around the target bay and a 3-ft.-thick slab below the laser and target bays for vibration isolation.
Komatsu PC490LC excavators work in tandem on the pipeline project.
A rendering of
new laser research facility being built on Colorado State University’s Foothills Campus.
Water Shortages Prompted Need for 15 Mi. of Pipeline
Base. This is made possible by constructing a 15.5-mi. transmission pipeline extending from northwest of Cannon Air Force Base to a future water treatment plant site.
Ute Reservoir in northeastern New Mexico on the Canadian River is the source of more than 16,000 acre-ft. per year of water intended for the various communities affected, along with unincorporated areas in Roosevelt and Curry counties.
The shortage is caused by the steady decline in water level in the Ogallala Aquifer, which is the sole source of municipal and agricultural water for much of the region.
The Eastern New Mexico Rural Water System (ENMRWS) project includes a water intake facility to divert surface water from Ute Reservoir; a water treatment facility with an average capacity of 15 million gallons per day (mgd) and peak capacity of 28 mgd, with more than 90 mi. of water supply pipes and 60-plus mi. of lateral pipes.
Morris said affected communities have patiently waited for a solution to a growing problem.
“It’s a serious issue when we see our neighbors struggling to keep up with the demand to provide water to their residents. That’s why it’s so rewarding to watch the construction taking place, as far as the amount of work required to open that trench and the skill and experience required to operate those excavators.
“The incredible infrastructure going into the ground will soon be buried and out of mind, but for many decades into the future, it will be the answer going forward.”
Construction tasks are being performed using a variety of heavy machinery, including Cat and Komatsu equipment. One of the chief materials required to complete the work is a supply of 39-in. welded steel pipe.
The ENMRWS project is financially supported by the federal government for up to 75 percent of the cost. The remainder comes from the state and local member communities.
In late 2021, President Biden signed into law the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The bill earmarked $1 billion toward completing the federally authorized Rural Water projects under the United States Bureau of Reclamation.
The ENMWUA is among the recipients to receive funding to complete the construction of the ENMRWS, with the money distributed over five years.
The ambitious ENMRWS project is scheduled to be completed by 2031. For Morris, playing a role in an undertaking
that will serve countless individuals is beyond gratifying.
“It’s humbling. Seeing that pipeline and knowing what it’s going to mean is incredible. It’s going to make the lives of eastern New Mexicans so much more successful and fruitful, and it’s all because of partnerships. It’s such a heavy lift. Making this happen is a true team effort.”
He also said the need to be proactive can’t be overstated.
“We don’t necessarily think about how fragile our future is without the planning,” Morris said. “As our neighboring communities have struggled with the water supply and meeting the demand, it’s really brought to light for us all that groundwater on the High Plains must be considered as finite. We are going to run out at some point, and it will be difficult to meet minimum requirements. That’s becoming more and more real for a lot of folks.
“We want to complete this project and the other plans under way to create a water-secure future, so that future generations can take for granted there’s going to be water coming out of that faucet.” CEG
(All photos courtesy of the Eastern New Mexico Water Utility Authority.)
Workers make sure the pipeline is properly seated.
Pipeline projects also require vault construction.
A crew
PIPELINE from page 1
Touro University Building First Dental School in N.M.
Nonprofit New York-based Touro University broke ground on Sept. 26, 2024, on a clinical branch of Touro College of Dental Medicine (TCDM) in New Mexico, the first dental school in the state.
The groundbreaking occurred in Albuquerque on the campus of Lovelace Biomedical Research Institute (LBRI), a member of Touro University. Touro Dental Health New Mexico is TCDM’s clinical training facility and will provide 200 TCDM students with a new dental practice with a planned opening in May 2025.
Because space is limited, students will start the program at Touro’s New York campus, then finish in New Mexico.
“Touro University is committed to delivering quality education as well as integrity, inclusivity and respect for all members of our new Touro community in New Mexico,” Touro University President Alan Kadish. said. “We provide diverse, innovative and engaging course offerings that nurture personal growth and intellectual inquiry in superior academic programs.”
New Mexico’s first pre-doctoral dental school clinical training facility will encompass more than 70,000 sq. ft. of educational and clinical space. It will house more than 100 dental units, including units to provide specialty care in oral surgery, orthodontics, endodontics and pediatric dentistry accom-
modating the students who will complete their education at TCDM’s new campus.
Touro is investing an estimated $40 million in New Mexico, including the property acquisition and construction of the dental college. TCDM plans to provide new highpaying jobs for New Mexicans to support the school and clinic.
“We welcome Touro College of Dental Medicine to the New Mexico dental community,” said Tom Schripsema, executive director of the New Mexico Dental Association. “We are hopeful they will bring needed care to this neighborhood and look forward to exploring collaboration on our ongoing efforts to educate local students.”
“With the first pre-doctoral dental student clinical educational facility in New Mexico, we will provide an opportunity to deliver much-needed low-cost oral health care to underserved communities while at the same time expanding local access to New Mexico students interested in becoming dentists,”
TCDM Dean Ronnie Myers said.
New Mexico lags behind the nation in the average number of oral health care professionals servicing state residents. Recent studies reveal that the number of dentists per 100,000 people in New Mexico is only 48.4, below the national average of 60.84.
(Photo courtesy of the Touro College of Dental Medicine.)
A rendering of the Touro College of Dental Medicine in Albuquerque, N.M.
ackast-tr can f tions and t solu our See how productivity technology our
Laser Facility Features More Than 7,500 Cu. Yds. of Concrete
LASER from page 1
The lab spaces will feature clean rooms up to ISO 6 / Class 1,000, and the HVAC systems will maintain extremely tight temperature and humidity tolerances to keep the laser systems functioning properly.
Fusion energy is a form of power generation that aims to recreate the process that powers the sun by fusing atomic nuclei together. If successful, laser-driven fusion energy promises to safely generate practically unlimited, sustainable, carbon-free energy. When finished, the facility will feature an upgraded version of an existing ultrahigh power laser developed at CSU in combination with two new lasers provided by Marvel Fusion.
The new structure will be located near existing laser research-focused buildings and will house related labs and offices. Taken together, the project is a major expansion of space and capabilities for the university.
The ATLAS Facility will be a unique cluster of high-intensity, highrepetition rate lasers that can be configured to fire simultaneously at a single fusion target. That burst will deliver nearly 7 petawatts of power — over 5,000 times the electrical generation capacity of the U.S. —into a focal spot roughly the width of a human hair for approximately 100 quadrillionths of a second. The trio of ultra-high-power lasers also can be used independently and in other combinations to study questions beyond fusion energy, including key topics in fundamental research.
Parsons said the university has been at the forefront of laser research for years, and the facility would support ongoing leadership for many more.
The combined existing and new facilities will now be known collectively as the Advanced Laser for Extreme Photonics (ALEPH) Center. (All photos courtesy of Colorado State University.)
