Cantrell Dam will be breached and replaced with a big retention pond and upgrades to arroyos and culverts–and it’s all designed.
The hold up involved a property owner who changed his mind about granting the city an easement. He decided he would be safer to instead sell three parcels to the city that are adjacent to the main arroyo.
The city commission went into executive session after a regular meeting October 28. They came out into open session and approved the $300,000 purchase of three parcels from Walt Martin.
In a recent interview with City Manager Gary Whitehead, the Citizen learned the owner realized the city’s design didn’t take into account the added water volume from the retention pond’s outlet.
Martin was going to grant an easement to the city that it would use to connect the retention pond outlet to the main arroyo.
This main arroyo overran its banks during the torrential rain July 2020, which pointed out Cantrell Dam’s defects. The arroyo may or may not have contained the flood waters if Cantrell Dam had not breached, causing a large volume of water to hit the arroyo all at once.
The main arroyo has feeder arroyos that also flow into it, and now it will have the water from the retention pond as well.
Martin felt safer selling the parcels adjacent to the main arroyo instead of granting an easement.
Whitehead said when the project is complete, the city will sell one of the parcels, which also has a house on it. “We don’t want to be in the landlord business,” he said.
The second parcel is on the other side of Interstate 25 and is impossible to get to, Whitehead said. It will remain in the city’s possession.
The third and final parcel will be used as a holding area for all the dirt from digging the retention pond, which is on city property. “That will save the city a lot of money,” Whitehead said, that would otherwise have to be spent on trucking the dirt out.
Whitehead said the city had the parcels and house and two barns appraised and so did Martin and “We split the difference” to arrive at $300,000. The city is required by law to have property appraised by a neutral expert to ensure the people do not pay too much.
Financing for the Cantrell Dam project started with design costs. The city received a $450,000 grant, $300,000 loan with a $75,000 cash match requirement in 2021 from the New Mexico Finance Authority Water Trust Board. The design totalled $825,000 and was awarded to the city’s on-contract engineering firm, Wilson & Company.
In July 2025 the city received a $7.281 million grant, $809,000 loan (20 years, .25 percent interest) and $809,000 cash match from the same NMFA Water Trust Board. The total is $8.899 million for construction.
The city was promised $400,000 from flood-tax receipts from Flood Commissioner Sandy Jones, which it was going to use to partially meet the cash match requirement, but $300,000 will be used to purchase Martin’s properties.
Sierra County recently agreed to contribute $200,000 to the Cantrell Dam project, since its fair barn property was greatly affected by the July 2020 flood.
T or C will make up the $509,000 still needed for the cash match using G.O. bond money or perhaps NMDOT sources, since this project is under the Streets Department aegis.
To learn more about the Cantrell Dam Project, you may want to go to the city’s web page:
https://www.torcnm.gov/business-development/city-blueprint-capital-projects/cantrell-dam/