Petition requesting Santa Fe County Commissioners to amend the draft of the current Joint Powers Agreement (JPA) creating the Region Water Authority. The Authority will be responsible for providing a robust, safe, and reliable water supply for domestic, municipal, industrial, irrigation, and commercial uses for the residents of the NPT Basin to be served by the Regional Water System (RWS). In the current JPA draft, which is being put forth for consideration by the SF Commission currently, the first five Authority directors are composed of an appointed member from each of the individual Parties: the Pueblo of Pojoaque, Pueblo of San Ildefonso, Pueblo of Nambe, Pueblo of Tesuque, and the County of Santa Fe. It is of great concern that under the JPA draft currently being considered, the remaining two directors are to be selected by a majority vote of the five Party Directors. We feel this will highly likely create an unfair representation of the customers the RWS will serve. Note: According to 2010 census data, the NPT Basin is comprised of 84% non-pueblo residents and 16% pueblo residents.

We, Santa Fe County residents who reside within the service area of the (RWS), firmly request Santa Fe County amend the current Joint Power Agreement (JPA) draft to provide for fair and equal representation under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of our US Constitution for non-pueblo customers with a more fair and representative board, preferably a nine member board or at the very least a seven member board, with these additional appointed directors being non-pueblo residents in the service area of the RWS. The representation proposed with the current JPA is a clear violation of our right to vote through malapportionment. (Reynolds v. Sims, 377 U.S. 533 (1964))