APPEAL IS MOOT, COURT IS MUTE, WHAT A HOOT!

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From the New Mexico Environmental Law Center:

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Corporation believes new application will get 
them all the water. Um, not so fast... 

The Augustin Plains Ranch LLC water

grab case began because the Ranch, which is owned by an Italian billionaire, seeks to monopolize 54,000 acre-feet of water (enough to supply half the needs of Albuquerque) to sell to the highest bidder.  Thanks to you,  we were able to fight them. "We led the effort to demonstrate that the application was unconstitutional," said Staff Attorney, Bruce Frederick. Based on our arguments, the State Engineer and a District Court Judge denied the Ranch's application. The Ranch appealed.

However, it appears the State Engineer is now working with the Ranch to deprive our clients of their day before the Court of Appeals. The State Engineer has accepted a second application from the Ranch. Although this second application is substantially identical to the first, the Ranch and the State Engineer convinced the Court that the Ranch's appeal was moot. The Court dismissed the appeal, sending us back to square one.
With your support, we will fight the Ranch's second application. We'll keep you apprised of the next steps. Stay tuned. 

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Editor's Note:
The Court apparently said nothing
about how their decision was reached,
and gave no indication about where
they stand here.  Not unusual. 
But get ready for a whole new fight on the
new application from the Modena lawyers.
This batch of Eurotrash has deep pockets,
and surely they've been spreading cash
around Santa Fe.  Scum draws scum.
Evil feeds on evil.
The next round will probably get a
lot nastier that the first go-round.
A den of thieves.  Robbers. 
Santa Fe - Holy Faith.
Faith in what?

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 Michel Jichlinski, Project Director for

Augustin Plains Ranch LLC

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People are going to need some fortitude, tenacity,

imagination, guts, and especially wisdom

if they're going to stand any chance here.
Say a prayer, then go put on
your game face boys and girls.

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ORAL ARGUMENTS ON THURSDAY, MINUS ONE

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Here's an e-mail being circulated by Bruce Frederick,

attorney for the good guys in the water grab.

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A couple of significant things have happened to which I’ve had to quickly respond. As you know, the Court asked the parties to file supplemental briefs on the issue of whether the “new” application filed by the Ranch  makes the 2007 application and the Ranch’s appeal “moot.” An appeal or law suit becomes “moot” when there is no longer any controversy among the parties. 

 In our supplemental brief, we argued that the “new” application did not remove the controversy, because the “new” application is in all material respects the same as the old application. The OSE took the position that the appeal is moot; the Ranch argued that the appeal would become moot if the OSE accepted its “new” application.

 The Court responded that it did not find the supplemental briefs altogether helpful, and it ordered oral argument on August 21 on seven topics (see attached order).

 The Court inexplicably excluded us from participating in the oral argument*, although it allowed us to attend (it’s open court after all). I filed an objection and request for  reconsideration (attached), asking the Court to allow us to participate, especially because the seven topics went right to the merits of the appeal.

 The Court has not yet responded, but the Ranch filed another supplemental brief informing the Court that the Ranch has abandoned its “old”  application. This strongly implies that the Ranch and the State Engineer have a private deal of some kind. Call if you have questions about this.  We’re still waiting for the Court to respond. If it dismisses the appeal, we can apply to the NM Supreme Court for review. The Supreme Court does not have to review our case, but we can make a good showing that they should.

 There are other possibilities that we can discuss.  So, as of now: Oral argument is still scheduled for August 21, and people should come if they can to show support. However, as it stands, the Court has excluded me from presenting any argument on your behalf. I will be there regardless. I will let you know as soon as I hear anything else.  

R. Bruce Frederick,

 Staff Attorney New Mexico Environmental Law Center 

 1405 Luisa Street, Suite 5

 Santa Fe, NM 87501

 505-989-9022

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 Editor's note: I didn't get any of the attachments Bruce

refers to....if I can find them somewhere (when time allows)

 I'll put them up.

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Michel Jichlinski, Project Director for the

Augustin Plains Ranch, LLC.

No experience in ranching, but lots of experience in

engineering the theft of millions of U.S. taxdollars

on contracts in war zones in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Read this post for more - this guy's a pro thief.

http://stopthewatergrab.blogspot.com/2013/02/update-on-our-llc-project-director.html 

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Here's something from that post:

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You have to wonder what the hell possibly

possessed Verhines, that he would even think

of hanging out with this guy, publicly,

 in the state capitol.  Is he stupid, or did he

  figure no one would know just who

 his sidekick really was, or is it that

 he doesn't give a rat's ass,

one way or the other? 

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 It had been less than 90 days since the feds

 had levied their record-setting fine.

Jichlinski was then technically out of

The Louis Berger Group,

but was the major player when all these

 crimes happend,

and now he had come to New Mexico -

to ply his trade.

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  He knows a lot about "cooking the books" -

(fraudulent accounting practices), and bribery.

Oh, perfect!  It's a buyer's market in this place!

True, but it's not just that they're cheap,

they're also a public embarrassment.

What, do they think people can't figure it out?

They're as bad as the Whore of Babylon.

 There's no shame here. Has there ever been?

Verhines could just as easily have been

 hanging out with the devil himself.

  Well, maybe he was,

come to think of it.

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 Ah, New Mexico.

La Tierra de Encantada -

 The Land of Enchantment.

La Tierra de Los Ladrones -

The Land of The Thieves.

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Ladron Peak, northeast of Magdalena

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REFLOATING THE SAME OLD CRAP

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Below is a recent article from
 ALBUQUERQUE BUSINESS FIRST

that came out last week.  The foreigners and
their lawyers are resubmitting their drilling

application, while at the same time the first application
 is sitting in the New Mexico Court of Appeals
 awaiting oral arguments.

The article included the photo below,

which says more about the issue than the verbage

(water is MONEY $$$$$$$$).

Commentary will follow shortly.

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 Augustin Plains Ranch refloats plan to pump water to ABQ 

by Gary Gerew

Owners of the Augustin Plains Ranch LLC near Datil are again proposing to build wells and a pipeline that would transfer 54,000 acre-feet of water annually to the Albuquerque and Rio Rancho area.

APR says it already has spent about $3 million investigating the possibility of the project and has now submitted an application
with the Office of the State Engineer to see if an official hearing process can be established.

In 2007, the owners of the ranch, described on its website as a collection of family foundations, submitted a plan to transfer the water. It was turned down in 2012 “because it was vague, over broad, lacked specificity, and the effects of granting it cannot reasonably be evaluated; problems which are contrary to public policy,” according to the Office of the State Engineer. The ranch challenged the denial in court, but the engineer’s decision was upheld.

If it is allowed the proceed, the project is estimated to cost $600 million, said Whitney Waite, a spokeswoman for APR.

“After many months of work, we are pleased to present the OSE with an application that provides information which we believe will allow the project to move forward,” Michel Jichlinski, the project director, said in a news release. “This is a very big step in developing a new and sustainable source of water for New Mexicans for generations to come.”

The Augustin Plains Ranch owns more than 17,000 acres of land in the San Augustin Plains, much of it sitting atop an aquifer.

The project, if developed, would involve drilling 37 wells on the ranch and transporting the water northward through a 140-mile pipeline that would run along existing highway right-of-ways, according to the application.

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APR said the state engineer’s office is expected to decide within several weeks if a hearing should be pursued. That hearing process, according to APR, could last for up to two years.

That would involve a comprehensive study of the area’s hydrology, potential impacts to local communities, pipeline right-of-way issues, legal and compact challenges among other issues, according to APR.

If approved, APR estimates water could begin flowing into the Albuquerque area in about five years.

“The full and open hearing process will enable New Mexicans to be certain that the project is viable, sustainable, and in the state’s best interest,” Jichlinski said. “The research that will be conducted during the hearing phase will be invaluable in providing data on this resource that is currently sorely lacking. We look forward to having this conversation with all who are interested and wish to fully understand the incredible potential of the San Augustin Basin.”

According to its proposal, APR would build structures designed to capture the run-off from the nearby mountain range and recharge the aquifer to replace what water is withdrawn from it.

At this point, according to APR, it’s too early to determine what return investors would receive. However, in an attachment to the application, the investment bank Ewing Bemiss & Co. said it has reviewed the proposal and believes it wouldn’t have problems attracting investors.

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 And from the Albuquerque Journal

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Investors refloat proposal to sell water

By John Fleck / Journal Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: Wednesday, July 16, 2014 at 12:05 am

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Copyright © 2014 Albuquerque Journal

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A for-profit group hoping to pump New Mexico groundwater to the Rio Grande Valley and sell it to thirsty cities has asked state water managers for a new hearing on a proposal the Office of State Engineer turned down two years ago.
Augustin Plains Ranch LLC, an investment group that includes the owners of a ranch near Datil in the high country west of Socorro, is again proposing to pump groundwater and send it through a pipeline that would follow the Rio Grande north to the Albuquerque metro area.
Proponents of the project say it could provide an important new source of supply for the water-strapped Rio Grande Valley.
“This is a very big step in developing a new and sustainable source of water for New Mexicans for generations to come,” project manager Michel Jichlinski said in a statement announcing the company’s new application.
Critics say it is an illegitimate attempt to privatize what is legally a public resource, and that the new application suffers from the same legal flaw that caused the previous one to be thrown out. In 2012, state Engineer Scott Verhines ruled against the Augustin Plains Ranch proposal because the project’s developers never identified who would use the water, and where.
In a statement explaining his decision, Verhines said Augustin Plains Ranch’s failure to “include specifics as to the end user of the water” was one of the key reasons for the denial. Verhines’ ruling concluded that the state engineer needs to know where and how the water is going to be used in order to consider the request.
The new application includes letters from the city of Rio Rancho saying it is “interested in discussing” the possibility of buying Augustin ranch water. But the city’s letters offer no commitment, and the amount of water Rio Rancho says it needs – “several thousand acre feet of water” – is only a fraction of the 54,000 acre feet per year the company hopes to sell.
Augustin Plains Ranch repeats its prior approach – listing all possible water uses in much of a seven-county area from Socorro to Santa Fe. The ranch, in its filing with the state, said it hopes to win preliminary approval for the application before specifying who will use the water, and where.
That drew quick criticism from attorney Bruce Frederick with the New Mexico Environmental Law Center in Santa Fe, who represented a number of the 248 people who protested the group’s previous application.
“The application is a public relations piece and suffers from the same basic legal deficiency as the prior applications – the ranch has again failed to identify any actual place or purpose of use of water,” Frederick told the Journal.
In parallel to its new application, Augustin Ranch also is in court appealing Verhines’ denial of the previous application. Project spokeswoman Whitney Waite said no decision has been made about whether that appeal will continue.
“How we’re going to handle the appeal is still under review,” Waite said. Oral arguments in the case are scheduled to be heard in August by New Mexico Court of Appeals.

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CASE HEADED TO COURT OF APPEALS

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The WATER GRAB is headed to the

New Mexico Court of Appeals.  Three justices
 hear Appelate cases - three of those folks above.

Who you get is probably luck of the draw.

The case could easily take a year before it

actually goes to court - assuming the court doesn't
 refuse to hear it - which happens,

according to the New Mexico Environmental

Law Center, who represents the Good Guys.

Lots and lots of paperwork goes on now.
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This is the same application,
with vague or non-existent answers
about a number of things, such as
what the water specifically is to be used for,
and where it's going to be utilized,
(a seven county region is mentioned). 

This app has been floated through
the decision process twice so far,
turned down, and now we have Round 3.

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The Modena Organization is "buying time"
 it looks like - dragging the mess onward,
 which ends up costing everyone,
 and is probably part of a strategy
to wear down the opposition,
 and keep the issue in a "holding pattern." 
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Perhaps they figure that either eventually
 they'll somehow, some way, get approval,
 or, maybe interest someone in 
buying them out.  Who?  What?
Big-dollar environmentalists and a Texas
 ranch operator working together? 
Don't laugh....in Maine the Modena Boys
proposed a nightmare development in a
pristine coastal area,
and it ended up being a timber company
along with some fat-wallet Sierra Club-types
that saved the day.
And they bought off Modena and his "investors,"
 and the problem disappeared.
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  The Italianos got paid what has been called an
 "exorbitant" amount of cash;
and if this whole story is actually as bizarre
 and Soprano-like as it sounds,
 I have no doubt there's a lot of intrigue here.
It seems like a whole new form of EXTORTION.
There's more about the  story of these
Italianos and their "investors" -
 and their scheme in Maine -
 further below on the
TELL THE GUMBA NO AGUA post:
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http://stopthewatergrab.blogspot.com/2013/01/tell-gumba-no-aqua.html.
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 It seems like anything's possible.  Beware.
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COOL WATER
by Bob Nolan
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All day I face the barren waste
 without the taste of water,
Cool water.
Old Dan and I with throats burned dry

and souls that cry for water,
Cool, clear, water.
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The night are cool and I'm a fool

 each stars a pool of water,
Cool water.
But with the dawn I'll wake and yawn
 and carry on to water,
Cool, clear, water.
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(Chorus)
Keep a movin' Dan, don't you listen to him Dan,
 he's a devil not a man
and he spreads the burnin' sand with water.
Dan can't you see that big green tree
where the waters runnin' free
and it's waiting there for me and you.
Cool, clear, water.
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The shadows sway and seem to say
tonight we pray for water,
Cool water.
And way up there He'll hear our prayer
 and show us where there's water,
Cool, clear, water.
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Dan's feet are sore he's yearning for
 just one thing more than water,
Cool water.
Like me, I guess, he'd like to rest
where there's no quest for water,
Cool, clear, water.
Cool, clear, water.
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STOP THE WATER GRAB!
"When the well's run dry,
then we know the worth of water."
Benjamin Franklin
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