Now that a sewer operations ordinance has been passed on the mayor’s tie-break vote, the “first flush” is expected by the end of August.

“My goal is to have effluent flowing in the system by Labor Day,” Mayor Phil Gasteyer said May 17. But he cautioned that officials in the N.M. Environment Department (NMED) who are funding much of the remaining work are not pleased that the sewer ordinance passed May 14 does not require mandatory hook-ups for businesses and residents in Corrales’ commercial district.

New Mexico’s ongoing drought, now considered the nation’s worst, has focused attention on the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District and its mission to fairly and efficiently distribute irrigation water.

Decisions at district headquarters in the South Valley have already curtailed farming here and elsewhere. Users of water leased from the Conservancy District’s Water Bank were notified May 17 that such deliveries will stop until further notice.

After an anti-dog tethering ordinance failed to win Village Council approval April 23, a revision draft is expected to be introduced May 14.

Despite considerable public pressure to pass the new rules on restraining dogs, councillors failed to pass the proposal on a 3-to-2 vote when four yes votes were needed to approve.

Drought and lack of irrigation water are affecting Corrales agriculture this summer as long-time growers cut back on water use.

The Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District notified all its Water Bank irrigators to stop diverting ditch water onto their fields in mid-April. That was intended to cut off water to about 2,650 acres in the district.

When a new draft for a municipal sewer ordinance comes to the Village Council April 9, it will not require property owners along Corrales’ business district to hook up to the system.

At least that’s the way Mayor Phil Gasteyer thinks he can get the system finally up and running, probably starting with installation of liquids-only pumps at septic tanks where owners want to start using the sewer line as quickly as possible.

Is chaining a dog to a stake or post in the backyard cruel? How about attaching the dog’s leash to a clothesline or other line that allows Fido to run along a specific track, but not freely around the yard?

Both those circumstances are addressed in a proposed Village ordinance under discussion at the April 9 Village Council meeting. 

Meetings begin at 6:30 p.m. in the Council Chambers, across from Wells Fargo Bank.