Commissioners will consider who qualifies for funding, how projects would be evaluated and who would decide which water and wastewater improvements receive support

Damien Willis, Organ Mountain News

LAS CRUCES - Doña Ana County commissioners will begin discussing how to establish a $10 million grant program for water and wastewater improvements in southern Doña Ana County during a work session Tuesday, Nov. 3.

The funding commitment is part of the economic development agreement for Project Jupiter, a data center development under construction in southern Doña Ana County. Commissioners will consider who could qualify for grants, how projects would be evaluated and who would make funding decisions.

Where the $10 million comes from

Under the Project Jupiter agreement, the participating companies committed to dedicating the first $50 million in specified gross receipts tax proceeds to water and wastewater improvements in southern Doña Ana County.

The agreement divides that commitment into two portions.

Of the $50 million, $10 million is designated for a grant program involving other partners in southern Doña Ana County. The program is intended to support improvements in water quality, with projects selected using measurable criteria.

The county retains discretion over how to use the remaining $40 million, provided the money is spent on water or wastewater improvements.

The $10 million is not a newly proposed expenditure from the county's general fund. It is an allocation established in the existing Project Jupiter agreement.

The meeting materials do not establish how much money is currently available for grants or when applications might open.

Who could receive the funding?

That is one of the central questions commissioners will consider Tuesday.

Although the agreement calls for a grant program involving other partners in southern Doña Ana County, it does not specify which organizations or entities would qualify.

According to the work session presentation, commissioners will be asked to provide guidance on several questions:

• Which partners would be eligible and how the program would define southern Doña Ana County.
• What measurable standards would be used to evaluate proposed improvements.
• Whether there should be a maximum grant amount per project.
• Whether applicants could submit multiple proposals.
• Whether the county itself could apply for funding.
• Who would evaluate applications and how responsibilities would be divided between commissioners and county management.

The answers will help determine which water and wastewater projects could compete for funding and how those decisions would be made.

What happens Tuesday

The discussion is scheduled as the second item on the agenda for the Doña Ana County Board of County Commissioners' work session, which begins at 9 a.m. Tuesday in the commission chambers at the Doña Ana County Government Center, 845 N. Motel Blvd. in Las Cruces.

The meeting is intended to provide initial guidance on how the grant program should be structured. The agenda does not identify an application opening date or list specific projects proposed for funding.

No grant awards are listed for consideration during the work session.

The discussion represents an early step toward establishing a process for directing part of Project Jupiter's water infrastructure commitment to qualifying projects in southern Doña Ana County.

Damien Willis is founder and editor of Organ Mountain News. If you have a personal story to share or a lead we should follow up on, reach out at OrganMountainNews@gmail.com or connect with him on X at @damienwillis.