Albuquerque Bernalillo County
Water Utility Authority
San Juan-Chama Drinking Water Project

From 2004-2008, we were engaged in educating the public about this $400 million public project, which includes: 1) a diversion dam/intake/fish passage south of the Alameda Bridge; 2) a raw water pump station; 3) 38 miles of large-diameter pipeline (15 separate projects crisscrossing Albuquerque’s major roads, I-40 and I-25); and  4) a state-of-the-art water treatment plant.

Our activities included keeping in touch with the estimated 350,000 residents and businesses affected by construction; coordinating communications between eight engineering/consultant firms, eight contractors, numerous subcontractors and the public; forming positive relationships with stakeholders: residents, businesses, neighborhood associations, city, police, fire, EMT, commuters and civic groups; resolving concerns and complaints quickly and fairly; and providing updated construction information on a regular basis

As of the completion of construction, we had:

• Distributed of 35,419 flyers and more than 225 videos
• Developed a website that received more than 648,626 hits from nearly 19,000 unique visitors
• Helped resolve 346 questions via email and 523 questions via phone; resolution of 220 complaints via email and 738 complaints via phone
• Distributed 3,701 copies of project tabloid/insert
• Attended more than 500 neighborhood/resident meetings and more than 800 construction progress meetings
• Generated earned media of more than $159,811

Materials developed
for this campaign:

• Logo
• Website
• Construction fliers
• Community outreach