Plans by a commercial venture to pipe billions of gallons of water from rural western New Mexico to more populated areas of the state are inching ahead again.
New Mexico's top water official has cleared the way for a public hearing to weigh the merits of the proposal being floated by Augustin Plains Ranch, LLC.
The company wants to drill more than three dozen wells capable of pumping more than 17 billion gallons of groundwater a year to supplement dwindling supplies in the Rio Grande Valley.
Developers contend no water mining would occur since infrastructure would be built to capture runoff for recharging the aquifer beneath the San Augustin Plains west of Socorro.
Critics are voicing concerns about the volume of water at stake. Some also describe the proposal as too speculative.
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