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The city's plans for a nearly one-acre reflecting pond at Balloon Fiesta Park appear to have evaporated.

Calling it a "waste of water," the City Council on Aug. 20 overturned a decision made in April by the Environmental Protection Commission that paved the way for the water feature.

There is one small problem: The city already started preliminary work on the 210-foot-diameter pond and contracts have been signed for its construction.

Nonetheless, the council by a 6-3 vote sided with an appeal of Steve Wentworth, vice president of the Alameda North Valley Association, who protested the 2-foot-deep pond's use of almost seven acre-feet of water per year. An acre-foot is more than 325,000 gallons — enough for two families for a year.

"A reflective pond that deep makes no sense," Wentworth said. "It should be an example for all of Albuquerque. It should not be a hypocritical use of water."

City officials, however, said the project has been in the works for nearly 10 years, when a master-plan for the balloon park was first approved with plans for an even larger lake —300 feet wide.

"The administration was implementing a council-approved master plan," said Ed Adams, the city's chief administrative officer. "If this council doesn't think the previous council's master plan is appropriate, change it. We don't have a problem with that."

The reflecting pool is part of a $9 million improvement project that includes three restroom structures already built at the park, said John Castillo, director of the city's Department of Municipal Development. It would be funded with a combination of state grants and money from general obligation bonds meant for improvements to the balloon park.

The pond feature would be located on about nine acres north of the Anderson Abruzzo International Balloon Museum, according to city documents. It would be filled both with non-potable water from the Rio Grande and industrial effluent. Plans call for it to be drained during winter months.

Colleen Frenz, of the municipal development department, said the pond could be used for activities such as weddings, toy motorboats, storytelling events and fly-casting, though it wouldn't be stocked with fish.

"We're trying to design it so it has the ability to be used for multiple purposes," she said.

But Councilor Michael Cadigan said none of those examples could be considered an "active" recreational use, as required in the park's master plan.

Cadigan also spoke out against the pond's water use, saying the Rio Grande water could otherwise be treated and used as drinking water.

"To use 6.5 acre-feet of water . . . is such a patent waste of water, it makes (the commission's) decision by its very nature arbitrary and capricious," Cadigan said.

Ultimately, the council overturned the ruling, with councilors Craig Loy, Sally Mayer and Ken Sanchez voting in opposition.

Adams said the city can still make something from the work it has already conducted. A hole has already been dug for the pond and concrete has been poured for sidewalks, city officials said.

The city's legal department will now review what happens of the contracts issued for work on the project, said City Attorney Bob White. Some city officials said that most city contracts come with boilerplate language saying the city can terminate a contract at any time.

Wentworth said he hopes to see a project that is more sensitive to the area's water needs.

"I think what needs to be done should be . . . environmentally sound," he said. "A reflecting pond isn't environmentally sound when we're trying to conserve water."