BLOOMFIELD, N.M. – It is almost the end of May and a certain group of people in Bloomfield still have not received a drop of irrigation water.

The city has been working on fixing this water line for about three months now. Now it’s time to say out with the old and in with the new.

“So over the last three months we’ve been trying to repair,” said Stacy Dodd, office coordinator for the Bloomfield Irrigation District. 

But repair just isn’t going to cut it anymore. The Bloomfield Irrigation District says this water line needs to be replaced. The district approved a contractor last Friday to get the job done. 

“I would say, it’s approximately five miles long and there are 254 irrigation users on that line,” said Dodd. 

28 users at the end of the line have yet to see irrigation water this season. The water line was purchased from the City of Bloomfield back in 1980. 

The last 1,200 feet of it is made of wood, which is where the problem is. The district spent around $13,000 on attempted repairs. 

“We put a coupling in and that didn’t work. We also filled some areas in with slurry and that didn’t help either,” said Dodd. 

District reps say the construction company, M&R, came up with the perfect solution, a trenchless fix. They say it will save time and money, with construction taking only about a week. 

 “That’s going to minimize the number of sidewalks that have to be removed,” said Dodd. 

This may seem like an easy fix but because of the siphon collapse back in September the Bloomfield Irrigation District is still trying to get back on its feet.  

 “It definitely sent up for a tailspin,” said Dodd. 

The siphon collapse happened just 3 miles east of Bloomfield. It disrupted the supply of irrigation water for five weeks. This affects farmers’ crops, livestock, and last year’s growers market season. 

“They had to find ways to haul water in,” said Dodd. 

The district spent around $800,000 to repair the siphon. It will cost around $100,000 to replace the failing irrigation line.