Judge appoints five to newly-created flood control board

The newest political subdivision in Valencia County officially has a court-appointed board of directors.

On Wednesday, Feb. 5, 13th Judicial District Court Judge Cindy Mercer issued an order appointing the first five directors for the newly-formed Valencia County Arroyo Flood Control District.

Wayne Gallegos, David Gardner, Danny Goodson, Michael Montoya and Teresa Smith de Cherif will serve on the Valencia County Arroyo Flood Control Board until the next regular election in November.

The formation of the district was put to the voters on the Nov. 5, 2024, General Election ballot, passing 23,029 to 7,427.

However, the establishment of the board was separated from that process in August last year, after the New Mexico secretary of state intervened in the formation process of a similar flood control district in Sierra County.

The Seventh Judicial District Court granted an order separating the two actions, leaving the question of whether to form the district on the November 2024 ballot and pushing the election of a board to the November 2025 local election.

Since the formation of the district was approved by voters, that left a completely vacant board necessitating the court appointment of all five initial directors.

The board members are unpaid and at-large, meaning they are not assigned to or selected from specific districts within the county. The appointed members can file to run to retain their seats.

The elected board will have to draw lots to determine a proper election rotation, meaning some would serve for two years and others would serve for four starting in January 2026.

Gallegos, a Belen resident, is a former Belen city councilor, as well as a long-time firefighter and retired fire chief for the city. He has experience as a certified flood plain manager, according to his letter of interest, and has assisted engineering firms in crafting a storm drainage master plan for Belen. He also served as the Valencia County emergency manager from 1992 to 2004.

Gardner, of Los Lunas, has a doctorate in mechanical engineering, a master’s degree in applied mathematics and a bachelor of science degree in materials science.

His PhD research was in complex flows of liquids and gases. In his letter of interest, Gardner highlights that during his career at Sandia National Laboratories, he explored advanced computing, explosives and lasers. He currently serves on the Los Lunas Schools audit committee.

In his letter, Goodson, of Belen, writes he has a career in conservation of natural resources that provides him with a working knowledge of the processes necessary to prevent or solve flooding. A U.S. Navy veteran, Goodson is the maintenance technician at the Belen Regional Airport.

Prior to that, from 1976 to 2017, he was an agronomist and soil conservationist with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. Goodson has a bachelor of science degree in agriculture.

Montoya, a Los Lunas resident, is a certified flood plain manager and is certified in storm water protection, has an associate degree in criminal justice, is an EMT and a licensed realtor, according to his resume.

He has worked for the state, Bernalillo County, the village of Bosque Farms, village of Los Ranchos de Albuquerque and the village of Los Lunas.

Montoya has also served on the Valencia County and Los Lunas planning and zoning commissions, and currently works in code enforcement for Los Lunas.

Smith de Cherif, of Bosque Farms, has served on the board of supervisors for the Valencia Soil and Water Conservancy District for 17 years. While earning her doctorate degree in medicine, Smith de Cherif studied advanced science courses, statistics and mathematics. She also holds a master of international affairs degree, certificate of the Institute of African studies from Columbia University and degrees in philosophy and Arab studies.

The arroyo flood control district includes and has jurisdiction and taxing authority in the entirety of Valencia County, both incorporated and unincorporated areas. One authority the flood control board has is the ability to impose property taxes.

The board of directors can impose a half mill levy — a property tax of 50 cents per $1,000 of taxable value — without a public vote, and any future flood district mill levy increases would have to go to the voters for approval. The appointed board would have the authority to impose the half mill.

Since flooding has traditionally come from the arroyos that run down off the east and west sides of the county, rather than from the Rio Grande in the valley, the proposed flood control district will only address flood abatement of the arroyos.

The formation of an arroyo flood control district creates an agency that can take on the operation and maintenance of flood control infrastructure of a proposed flood mitigation project in the Belen watershed, which has federal funding attached.

At the Jan. 15 Valencia County Commission meeting, commissioners voted 5-0 to let the new flood control district step into a partnership with the Natural Resources Conservation Service for the flood mitigation project.

Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District chief operating officer Eric Zamora told the commissioners that MRGCD applied for and was awarded the Belen Watershed grant, for an area from roughly Sausalito Estates to the Bosque Post Office.

“With this study, the concern for NRCS and MRGCD is our ability to work outside of the benefited area,” Zamora said

The COO continued, saying the conservancy district has authority in the outer ditches on both sides of the Rio Grande, but west of the High Line where the arroyos are that typically cause flooding, the district doesn’t have authority.

Due to a memorandum of understanding between Valencia County and MRGCD, which was approved by NRCS, the county as a sponsor agency could be eligible for $25 million for the next planning phase of the study.

“Valencia County could be the agency eligible to be involved in the project to sign off on alternates and move forward with the project to secure funding,” Zamora said.

NRCS requested the county be a sponsor agency on the project because the grant was approaching its expiration date of Dec. 31, 2024, and, at the time, it was unknown when the flood control district board would be established.

Zamora said NRCS has since agreed to extend the grant until Sept. 30 of this year.

Both Valencia County Commissioners Troy Richardson and Joseph Bizzell were concerned about the liability of having the county serve as the sponsor agency for the project.

County attorney Dave Pato agreed, and noted the project was well within the purview of the new flood control district.

The commission voted unanimously to decline signing the letter of support to be a sponsor agency and let the arroyo flood control district board make its own decision.