The large, stone-covered building just east of the Yale bus stop is known for being one of UNM’s four designated smoking areas, but a closer look at a main campus map reveals that it is actually a city water reservoir.
Thousands walk by the reservoir every day, but few students know what the building is used for. Student Josh Madrid said he passes the building at least three times a day, but is unaware of its purpose.
“I don’t hardly see anyone over there, just the smokers over by it or people walking on the rocks,” he said. “I never see anyone go in or out of it.”
UNM Planning Officer Mary Kenney said the building is owned and operated by the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority. She said the University is not responsible for maintaining or managing the building, despite its location on main campus.
Students smoking on the benches along the east wall of the reservoir said they frequent the building to smoke.
What no one knows: The reservoir is part of Albuquerque’s water distribution system, which pumps more than 450 million gallons per day, according the city website.
In the reservoir, city aquifer water is stored and combined with cleaned water from the Rio Grande until it is needed, the website says.
“The booster pump stations and the reservoirs, with the help of gravity, create the pressure the system needs to make water available to the users,” it says. Water is only pumped into the reservoirs at night because that’s when electricity is cheapest, according to the Water Authority website.
