Jun. 25--AZTEC -- Six months after clearing state Public Regulation Commission hurdles to acquire the failed Dutchman's Hill water company, the new water association is weeks away from connecting 115 affected residents to better water, an official said.

Seeking an update on the utility, the state PRC has scheduled a meeting in Aztec today to review the project. The public meeting will be held in the San Juan County Commission Chambers at 11 a.m.

The regulatory agency took control of the Dutchman's Hill utility after system failures stopped water from reaching residents over the 2007 holiday season. Water system failures continued through that winter as the utility was being reviewed.

Following reports of poor water quality and indications that private owners did not perform regular maintenance on the 25-year-old system's pipelines, the PRC in January bartered the sale of the utility for $1 to the North Star Mutual Domestic Water Consumers Association.

Since buying the residential water lines, North Star has invested nearly $400,000 in state funding and $80,000 of association money to upgrade the malnourished utility, said North Star General Manager Lloyd Ayliffe.

"The infrastructure is aged and has been poorly maintained," Ayliffe said. " With an aged system, it takes some time to bring the infrastructure back up to standard."

Construction of the pipeline to link Dutchman's Hill users onto the North Star water line is more than 70 percent completed, he said, and the

better water source likely will be connected to users within four weeks.

While the project is under construction, North Star has worked to improve the quality of the water delivered to residents, the general manager said.

Residents at early PRC hearings brought samples of their tap water, showing PRC commissioners the brown, soiled liquid provided by the Dutchman's Hill well.

"We're keeping it cleared out, flushed out and maintained, which it wasn't previously," Ayliffe said of the utility line. "The water quality can't improve until after we get off that well."

The Dutchman's Hill water problems were a primary focus of PRC meetings hosted in San Juan County since January 2008.

A PRC spokesman on Wednesday did not return calls for comment.

The state commission attempts to offer residents an opportunity to participate in proceedings that affect them rather than host hearings exclusively in Santa Fe for matters affecting San Juan County residents, county Deputy CEO Kim Carpenter said.

"They try to be very visible and take in big consideration to the needs that the entire citizenry throughout the state has," Carpenter said.

The PRC meeting also will be open to public comment unrelated to the utility project, according to the commission agenda.

James Monteleone:

jmonteleone@daily-times.com

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