The Chamisa Hills Problem; RR Weighs Options In Pond Cleanup

By ROSALIE RAYBURN Journal Staff Writer

Even with Friday’s reprieve, time is running short for the city of Rio Rancho to produce a cleanup plan for ponds at Chamisa Hills Golf and Country Club.

Meanwhile, Chamisa has been busy with a slash-and-chop campaign that has cleared much of the vegetation from the ponds. Those actions have gotten a thumbs-up from golfers and residents alike.

Chamisa Hills owner Harry Apodaca estimates he’s spent $30,000 to have his own workers or contractors clear vegetation from the shores of the nine ponds located on the golf course.

He says the workers put in at least 1,500 man-hours during the fall trimming trees and hacking down beds of reeds and other plants around the ponds. The goal is to eliminate vegetation that could either tear the pond liners or decay and degrade the water quality.

When the Journal visited Chamisa Hills this week, piles of cut wood and mounds of wood chips dotted the course. Crews were still busy feeding a chipper and dozens of ducks and coots were congregated around one of the ponds.

Golfers say the newly uncluttered pond shorelines helps visibility for their shots. Residents say removing the vegetation has improved the appearance.

"I think it looks better than it has in the past," said Tom Ruhl, who lives beside one of the ponds.

Cleanup plan

But the city still faces a tall order.

The Environment Department wants it to remove sludge where botulism bacteria may lurk, and remove vegetation that can fall into the water and decay or damage the pond liners.

Deaths of wildfowl at the golf course in 2006 and 2007 prompted the state Environment Department to scrutinize the permit that covers the water used for irrigation at Chamisa Hills.

On Jan. 17, the department informed City Manager Jim Payne the city had 10 days to produce the plan or face potential fines of up to $30,000 per day.

On Friday, the city asked for and received permission from the Environment Department to extend its deadline to submit a cleanup plan to Feb. 27.

Draining the ponds and removing the sludge could cost up to $5 million, Apodaca said. There is a method of removing the sludge without draining the ponds that might cost around $1.5 million, he said.

The city, meanwhile, has not determined how much it would cost them to do the same work.

"We’re looking at all the possibilities but haven’t made any decisions yet," Payne said in a phone interview on Friday.

Mayor Michael Williams has said the city could help resolve Chamisa’s problems. However, he does not believe the city should be responsible for or pay for the cleanup.

In the city’s hands

The city’s dilemma is fairly new.

Just last year, the Environment Department had told Chamisa Hills it should have its own water permit. In July, it issued a new permit requiring Chamisa Hills to perform the cleanup.

When Chamisa appealed the permit, the Environment Department took no immediate action.

Department officials met with Rio Rancho officials in September.

Then in December, the department decided that the city — not the club — should be responsible for cleaning up the ponds.

The reason: the golf course operates under a permit issued to the city of Rio Rancho that allows it to use treated city wastewater for irrigation.

In 1995, the city took over the water permit, making it responsible for water discharged at the golf course.

And although the Environment Department extended the deadline for Rio Rancho to come up with a cleanup plan, there is no word yet what, if anything, the city intends to do.

How did we get here?

Chamisa Hills Golf and Country Club has been in the headlines for 18 months due to the number of birds that have died near the ponds on the club’s golf course. The state Environment Department recently told the city of Rio Rancho it is responsible for cleaning up the ponds because it holds the discharge permit for the water used for irrigating the course.

Who built the golf course and how did the city become involved? Here are some highlights in the history of the golf course.

Fall 1970: Rio Rancho Golf and Country Club opens. Built by AMREP at a cost of $1 million, the 200-acre 18-hole course was designed by Gene Sarazen and Desmond Muirhead as a championship course. Plantings at the course included 3,000 cottonwood trees.

1982: The state Environmental Improvement Division of the Health and Environment Department, predecessor to the Environment Department, issues a permit to Albuquerque Utilities Corp. to use municipal waste water at the club.

1988: Golf course expanded to 27 holes.

1990: Albuquerque Utilities Corp., the entity operating the waste water treatment plants serving Rio Rancho (including the golf course), changes to Rio Rancho Utilities Corp.

1992: Rio Rancho Utilities Corp. takes over the water permit.

1995: City of Rio Rancho takes over the water permit. The permit made the city responsible for water discharged at the golf course.

2002: Golf course owners Richard Chulick and Richard Campbell file bankruptcy and course is later sold by Bay View Bank to Walt Brown Jr. and his brother Larry Brown and their business partner Harry Apodaca. Buyers say course ponds, fairways and clubhouse are neglected and need rehabilitation. They ask the city to be responsible for pond cleanup. The city doesn’t agree to cleanup but does permit rezoning of some golf course land. This allows new owners to sell some land to developers and raise money for the rehabilitation. Course is renamed Chamisa Hills Golf and Country Club.

2003: Environment Department informs the city that discharges of water for the golf course could be removed from the permit. The city responds that it prefers to continue to be responsible for waste water supplied to the golf course.

2005: Residents find dead ducks at the golf course ponds. New Mexico Department of Agriculture’s Veterinary Diagnostic Services confirms the fowl ate grain laced with strychnine. A federal investigation found the club at fault.

Summer 2006: Residents find dead wildfowl at Chamisa Hills and report findings to state Environment Department. Tests show the birds died of avian botulism, a bacteria that thrives in pond sludge.

2007: State Environment says Chamisa Hills should have its own water permit and perform cleanup at the ponds. The department issues the new permit but Chamisa Hills appeals it. The Department takes no action but later meets with Mayor Michael Williams who says the city will help find a solution.

Jan. 17, 2008: The Environment Department says the city should be responsible for the cleanup at Chamisa Hills because it still holds the water permit.

– SOURCE: New Mexico Environment Department

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