The City of Santa Fe put the Northwest Well (NWW) into production in 2000.  This well was designated as an emergency well.  The City applied for permit with the Office of the State Engineer (OSE) to re-designate the NWW as a Supplemental well.

The NWW has the capacity to pump one thousand gallons of water per minute around the clock.  Eliot Streeper, founder and president of Santa Fe Basin Water Association, filed a protest to the NWW with the OSE to stop all production from the NWW.

SFBWA teamed with the Tano Road Association (TRA) in its protest.  The Hearing took place in 2001.  The protestants' attorney and hydrologist presented evidence that the NWW would mine the aquifer.  The Hearing Examiners presented this case to Mr. Tom Turney, the State Engineer.

Mr. Turney ruled that the production of the NWW be limited to no more than 900 acre feet per year and that the City take monthly measurements  of production, depth to water, and recovery to file with the OSE.  This cap expires in 2011.

Click here for the record of NWW pumping.