Planning Department/Utility Development Section Administrative Procedure

A Water and Sanitary Sewer Availability Statement issued by the Planning Department/Utility Development Section within the past 12 months is required for any proposed development, subdivision plat, or site plan within the City or for anyone contemplating service in Bernalillo County.  Availability Statements identify the water and sanitary sewer infrastructure needs (public/private, on/off site) to provide a proposed development with services and fire protection.  In addition, any time constraints for development plans, or requirement for annexation to receive services, will be identified in the Statement.

A request for an Availability Statement shall be made as early as possible in the planning of a project to allow sufficient time for response and to enable the developer to include the necessary water and sanitary sewer infrastructure in the project plans.  Requests for Availability Statements should include contact or return information as well as the following:

1. The precise location of the proposed development, with a marked Zone Atlas map and legal description of the property.
2. The type of development proposed, such as single family residential, shopping center, office, etc.,  with a proposed schedule of development or phasing, if applicable.
3. The scope or size of the project and utility demands, if known  (e.g. the number of units in a residential project, number of beds in a nursing facility, square footage for a shopping center or industrial development, etc.).
4. A copy of the Instantaneous Fire Flow Requirements from the Fire Marshal's Office.  If a private sprinkler system is to be installed, state the flow requirements for that system, as well.
5. Any other information pertinent to project planning. Such as: a proposed utility plan, a proposed sketch plat, etc.

Requests for Availability Statements on Water and Sewer Service should be addressed to:

Water Authority
Planning Dept./Utility Development Section, Development and Building Services
600 Second Street N.W.,  
Albuquerque, New Mexico 87102
Phone (505) 924-3987

In cases of complicated or very large development proposals, additional study time may be required to prepare an Availability Statement.  In such cases, the requester shall be notified of the extra time needed and advised of the status of the statement.

Where a proposed project is not sufficiently defined to provide all of the information required for an Availability Statement, the developer may request a Serviceability Letter in an effort to identify the water and sewer utilities nearest to the property and to ascertain the general feasibility of the project.  However, in no case shall a Serviceability Letter replace the need for an Availability Statement.

No water or sanitary sewer service accounts shall be sold to any development project prior to issuance of a Water and Sanitary Sewer Availability Statement for that specific project.  No property may develop or take service in such a manner that leaves adjacent un-serviced properties without means to obtain service.   In accordance with the Water and Sewer Expansion Policies, line extensions are required to cover all frontage of the property requesting service unless all adjacent properties have other means of being served.