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Spaceport Water Controversy

By KRWG News

Las Cruces – New Mexico spaceport officials say they're taking steps to solve problems for ranchers who saw their water supplies cut off or curtailed because of heavy pumping tied to spaceport construction.

The four households, located about seven miles north of the spaceport site, reported declining water supplies in April, after a contractor acquired access to a nearby private well and began using it to supply water for construction.

Spaceport director Rick Homans says a new well was drilled for one family that initially experienced an outage. The construction contractor has been delivering water to residents and livestock tanks.

Resident Jim Smith says state officials told him they'd fix the water problem, but that hasn't happened. He says his landscaping and garden have suffered.

Homans calls it "a tough situation for everybody."

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Information from: Las Cruces Sun-News, http://www.lcsun-news.com

Copyright 2010 The Associated Press.