Bosque Farms Secures $10 Million for Wastewater Treatment Plant Upgrades

After watching $10 million in federal infrastructure money get pulled back by the Trump administration, the Village of Bosque Farms secured an equal amount through the state, with Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signing SB 240, the capital outlay bill, and directing the funds toward long-overdue upgrades at the village's wastewater treatment plant.

The village came away from the 2026 legislative session with a $10 million win for its wastewater treatment plant. The funding is specifically for wastewater treatment plant clarifier upgrades and sludge processor construction, meaning the village will add a second clarifier and construct a new sludge processing system.

The appropriation has a complicated history. In early 2025, the village was awarded $10 million as part of the federal Thomas R. Carper Water Sources Development Act of 2024, which former president Joe Biden signed into law on Jan. 4, 2025. That money never made it to the treatment plant. The federal award was recalled under President Donald Trump's current administration, leaving the project without funding and forcing village officials to pivot to the state legislature.

Mayor Chris Gillespie credited the governor and two state lawmakers for rescuing the project. "We sincerely want to thank Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham for the awarded funding in Senate Bill 240. We would especially like to thank Diego Arencon, the governor's deputy chief of staff, New Mexico Sen. Joshua A. Sanchez and New Mexico Rep. Brian G. Baca for their assistance," Gillespie said. He made clear the village is not waiting on planning: "This project is of the utmost importance and top priority for the village, and is shovel ready. This project has been funded a number of times and the money keeps being pulled back."

Gov. Lujan Grisham also signed HB 248, the general obligation bonds bill, together providing more than $1.5 billion for schools, roads, housing, community centers and water conservation, among others.

SB 240 includes projects totaling nearly $28 million for Valencia County. Beyond Bosque Farms, the bill directed $3 million to the Valencia County hospital, $2,480,000 for construction of a Valencia County administrative and district attorney building, $1.5 million for planning of a new Los Lunas police station, and $1 million for sports complex and fairgrounds construction.

House Bill 248, the general obligation bonds bill, included funding for three additional Valencia County projects: $1.5 million for the Highland Meadows Senior Center, $685,000 for the Belen Senior Center, and $1 million for improvements at the University of New Mexico-Valencia campus.

For Bosque Farms, the state appropriation resolves what Gillespie described as a cycle of funding that keeps getting taken away. Whether construction can begin quickly will depend on how rapidly the village moves through design and procurement phases, timelines the village has not yet publicly detailed.