Saturday, December 15, 2007

Commission joins water protests

Corporation plans to pipe the water along along U.S. 60 to Rio Grande, consultant said at county meeting Tuesday

Evelyn Cronce El Defensor Chieftain Reporter, ecronce@dchieftain.com

The Socorro County Commission unanimously approved a resolution protesting the application by Augustin Plains Ranch LLC to appropriate 54,000 acre-feet of ground water per year. The resolution will be sent to the New Mexico Office of the State Engineer.

Before voting on the resolution, commissioners invited representatives from the corporation and from the State Engineer's Office to Tuesday's (Dec. 11) meeting to provide more information on the application.

Adriana Badal, a consultant with Butch Maki and Associates of Santa Fe, attended the meeting to speak for the corporation. Badal explained the 18,500-acre ranch is still investigating uses for the underground water. Currently there is only limited grazing on the land.

Badal said local hydrologists John Shomaker and Mike Darr were hired to do modeling of the basin. Their initial conclusions were that the basin could sustain diversion of 54,000 acre-feet per annum for a period of 300 years, according to Badal.

Badal said the corporation expects the water to be used for residents and businesses locally and elsewhere, but stressed the project is still in an early investigation stage. She said it is not a priority of the corporation to build a housing development on the property at this time.

Badal said she believes the corporation is looking at plans to pipe the water along U.S. 60 to the Rio Grande. She said the water might be made available for sale to anyone along pipeline. She also thought the water would be beneficial to the silvery minnow, the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge and to Elephant Butte.

Commission Chairman Jay Santillanes asked if the corporation had drilled any test wells or if they were using historical data for the basis of their studies.

Badal answered that there were no test wells drilled, but there are wells already in existence on the plains.

"I believe there are three or four wells out there that have been used for grazing and other agricultural purposes. There still needs to be more investigation," said Badal.

Commissioner Stanley Herrera said he had first heard about the application when it was discussed at the New Mexico-Arizona Association of Counties meeting. He said association discussions were not in favor of the application.

"Even the Zuni tribe is protesting," he said. "Some wells are already going dry. Alamo already doesn't like the idea."

Commissioner Charles Gallegos said there have already been too many instances of water rights in the county being sold out of the county.

"We're talking a lot of water and a lot of wells," he said. "I think we have to be proactive to keep Socorro water in Socorro County."

Badal said she thinks the amount of water specified in the application is set in stone. Badal said she is of the impression that the corporation is interested in using the application as a starting point for their plan and are interested in talking to other governments and agencies before they "tweak" the plan and go ahead with it.

Badal said she is not aware of plans to sell the water to Texas to fulfill New Mexico's compact with Texas.

Commissioner Phillip Anaya pointed out that a pipeline from the San Agustin Plains to the Rio Grande would have to cross two or three mountain ranges and would be time-consuming and costly to build. He also said there are wells along the route and in some of the subdivisions that are already going dry.

"I think it's going to hurt more than help," he said.

Jess Ward, District 1 supervisor of the New Mexico Office of the State Engineer's Water Rights Division, took his turn to speak to the commissioners.

"We've never received an application of this magnitude before," he said. "At this stage, all we're doing is following procedures. There were 80 protests on my desk when I left the office today (Dec. 11) and 50 more came in just as I was leaving."

Ward said, because the deadline for protests falls on a weekend, his office will be accepting protests until Monday, Dec. 17, at 5 p.m. Last-minute protests may be faxed to 505-764-3892, provided the original is hand-delivered or postmarked within 24 hours after transmission of the fax. The mailing address for a protest is Office of the State Engineer, 121 Tijeras NE, Suite 2000, Albuquerque, NM 87102-3465.

Ward said some of the protests suggest the state government might be behind the plan in order to satisfy their compact with Texas. He said this is not the case and that even the Interstate Streams Commission has filed a protest.

"It's a huge amount they're proposing to pump," he said.

According to recent statistics, the entire Catron County area only uses 21,000 acre-feet of water per year.

Santillanes asked about the sub-aquifer or sub-basin being a closed basin.

Ward explained there are two definitions of a closed basin. He said the water in question is in a hydrologically closed basin, but not closed to appropriation. A hydrologically closed basin has no above-ground outlet.

An area that is closed to appropriation means all the water has been allocated by water rights and no additional water rights are available.

Ward said the Rio Grande is fully appropriated but the water under the corporation's ranch is not, and the two are not connected.

Ward said after the protest period closes, his office will forward the matter to their litigation unit. That unit will set up a series of meetings.

These meetings, when scheduled, will be public meetings. Time and locations will then be announced as well.

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