San Augustin Water Grab: A Battle Won But Not the War

A Battle Won But Not the War
Cathie R. Eisen
Walking Water Consulting
PO Box 133
Nogal, New Mexico
April 8, 2012

Across the southern states a battle is raging for our most precious resource. The value of water has reached a premium, and it will only increase with time. As the cities and counties of the west continue to grow, so does the need for new water sources to support their ever increasing demands. While the quest for oil is on the forefront of everyone's mind, dollar for dollar, water is by far more valuable. We can live without oil if necessary, but we must have water to survive. During the past few years, several applications have been submitted to the State Engineers Office in New Mexico for the purpose of tapping into the deeper aquifers, waters which were previously deemed unusable and were until now unprotected from such requests. One by one, they have been protested and denied. This is not the end of the effort. Future legislation will support these requests as our cities continue to grow along with the residential demand for additional supplies; water for sanitary and domestic water use is and always will be a priority to developers and communities. The health and welfare of the masses could easily trump the livelihood of the rural ranchers. They are few, rural residents are many.   More at Glenwood Gazette... 

Open letter to NM Gov. Susana Martinez on AWSA projects and protection of true stakeholders

June 21, 2011

Office of the Governor

490 Old Santa Fe Trail

Room 400

Santa Fe, NM 87501

Email:  Susana.Martinez2@state.nm.us

Subject:  AWSA projects and protection of true stakeholders

Dear Governor Martinez:

The Interstate Stream Commission (ISC) has been authorized by the state of New Mexico to assume responsibility for the design, construction, operation, maintenance, and replacement of projects for waters designated available by the Arizona Water Settlements Act (AWSA).  To that end, people of the four counties of southwestern New Mexico for which the AWSA waters are available have been working since 2004 to develop projects to submit to ISC. 

It is the ISC’s mandate to apply the best available science to consideration of these projects, taking into account the ecological impacts of the proposed water uses while also considering the historic uses of and future demands for water in the Gila Basin, and the traditions, cultures and customs affecting those uses.

Unfortunately, what is and should be a relatively straightforward legal process has been distorted beyond functionality by non-stakeholders who were given “rights” to participate in the process by your predecessor.  Mr. Richardson added a level of bureaucracy through the creation of a stakeholders group that included individuals who are not water rights holders and who therefore cannot be directly impacted by AWSA waters decisions.  AWSA project process development has operated through stakeholder group consensus, thereby effectively providing the non-stakeholders with veto power.  These non-stakeholders were further aided by Richardson’s environmentalist-group-supported declaration that AWSA projects could not include planning or consideration of construction of dams on the Gila and San Francisco Rivers.  Since the only realistic way to have water to use during dry times of the year without cutting into downstream flow is to trap and retain it during times of extreme flow, such as during flood or snow melt, Richardson essentially blocked the most logical and potentially viable projects that could be submitted to ISC for consideration. 

The intent of the AWSA was to address the legitimate water use needs of the four county area of New Mexico.  The people who hold existing water rights are the true stakeholders impacted by the ISC’s choice of projects, however these very people for whom the water was intended have to compete with non-stakeholders for projects, and ultimately for the water needed by water rights holders to live and thrive today and in the future.

The AWSA is not about creating healthy watersheds so as to possibly produce more water or about conserving water, as important as these issues are.  AWSA is solely about finding beneficial uses for 14,000 acre feet of water annually.  It is essentially a “use it or lose it” proposition with a 2014 deadline.  Consensus veto power and non-stakeholder opinion have no place in ISC's AWSA project evaluation or decisions.

Governor Martinez, with your support the ISC can make wise decisions about projects for the stakeholders of the four county area.  I strongly urge you to instruct the ISC to resist the pressures of non-stakeholders with respect to ASWA waters.  Furthermore, I urge you to instruct the ISC to not consider proposals submitted by the US Forest Service, no matter the merit of the projects, given that the AWSA water was meant for New Mexico water users, not federal agencies.

Thank you for consideration of my comments.

Sincerely,

  

Lif Strand

Quemado, NM

CC: 

Estevan Lopez, ISC Director estevan.lopez@state.nm.us

Jim Dunlap, ISC Chairman   Waterjim1@live.com

John D'Antonio, State Engineer  john.dantonio@state.nm.us

Craig Roepke, ISC Deputy Director  craig.roepke@state.nm.us

AWSA New Mexico Water for New Mexicans

This is a call for help. Please pass it on if you agree!  Please act if you are willing!

The Arizona Water Settlements Act of 2004 allows for an additional average of 14,000 acre feet of water to be developed in New Mexico from the Gila and San Francisco Rivers as well as $66M up to $128M for project development. People have been working since 2004  to develop plans for use of the water and money in the four county region of Catron, Grant, Luna and Hidalgo counties.  The Interstate Stream Commission has developed a two tier application procedure for projects (actually Tier II is still under development).

It is important to understand that by law this additional water use cannot impact the downstream water rights.  Since the water cannot cut into the downstream flow so as to reduce what people downstream are entitled to, it is obvious that the only way to get the water is to trap it during times of extreme flow, such as during flood or snow melt.

The problem is that the environmental community objects to dams and diversions on the Gila or San Francisco River.  The result would be that there is no way to keep water in New Mexico and the water continues on to Arizona.  This is not water that would be taken from wildlife habitat or farmers downstream - it is water that is flooding away to either just evaporate or end up in the ocean.  Environmental groups are urging their members to send letters to the State Engineer, the Interstate Stream Commission and others to promote their cause.  I probably don’t need to tell you the importance of keeping the water here, but suffice it to say that water = life. 

If we are to live here in Southwest NM, we must have water, too. Why should only people downstream of us have it to fill swimming pools, wash cars and water lawns while many of us are not even allowed to have faucets outside our houses to fill a dog's dish?  If we let this opportunity go now, it will probably never recur. 

Without going into the Act any deeper at this time, I am simply asking to you to send an email letter to Mr. Estevan Lopez, Director of the Interstate Stream Commission, Mr. Jim Dunlap, Chairman of the Interstate Stream Commission, to Mr. John D’Antonio, State Engineer, and/or to Governor Susana Martinez.  I am pasting an example letter you can work from or develop your own.  Note: this letter was supplied by Vance Lee, Chairman of the Gila/San Francisco Water Commission.  More info can be obtained at http://www.awsaplanning.com/AWSA_Home.html

Mr. Lopez: estevan.lopez@state.nm.us

Mr. Dunlap:  Waterjim1@live.com (email address corrected 05/20/11)

Mr. D’Antonio:  john.dantonio@state.nm.us

Governor Martinez:  Susana.martinez2@state.nm.us

-------------------- sample email letter ---------------

May 19, 2011

Mr. Estevan Lopez, Director

New Mexico Interstate Stream Commission

Dear Mr. Lopez:

In regards to the Arizona Water Settlements Act and the effort of the Interstate Stream Commission to determine use of the additional water and money, please consider this as a request for the Commission to make every effort to base its decisions on keeping the additional water in Southwest New Mexico.  It is unacceptable to continue to allow water that can be made available for use in New Mexico to continue to flow downstream into Arizona.  I am confident that there will be acceptable proposals via the application procedure in place to develop the additional water and to put it to beneficial use.

Thank you for your consideration of this request.

Sincerely,

[Name]

[address]

San Augustin Scheduling Conference

San Augustin Plains Ranch LLC scheduling conference is set for November 9, 1:30 PM at the Macey Conference Center, NM Tech. The purpose is to describe the OSE hearing process, to clarify issues in dispute and establish a schedule for the hearing.