BATTLE WON! LOSERS LOOK BAD ON ALL FRONTS

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Velanie Tafoya at The Golden Spur Saloon

holds up the best headline of the season!!!

Here's the article:

http://www.dchieftain.com/news/judge-stands-by-ruling-on-water-use/article_f52cfcc4-8997-11e5-bd41-8bb07dfd7022.html

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LAW #7 of the
 ELEVEN LAWS OF WATER
 Fight to free our water.
 Fight to keep our water pure,
 and fight to keep water reserves 
free and open to all.
 Never allow natural arsenals of water
 to be privatized.
Suzy Kassem,  Rise Up and Salute the Sun:
The Writings of Suzy Kassem 

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"Sacred Waters" by E.I. Couse

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WATER COALITION TESTIFIES, LLC HAS TO COME UP W/ ANSWERS

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SAN AUGUSTIN WATER COALITION REPORT
 on the PRESENTATION to the

 NEW MEXICO WATER and NATURAL
 RESOURCES COMMITTEE 

December 4, 2014

Members of the San Augustin Water Coalition addressed the N.M. Legislature’s

 Interim Committee on Water and Natural Resources on Tuesday in Santa Fe

 regarding our continuing concerns over the proposed removal of 54,000 acre-feet

 of water from the Plains of San Augustin annually by the Augustine Plains

 Ranch, LLC (LLC).

Newly-elected Catron County Commissioner, Anita Hand, raised several

 questions about confusing and vague information in the LLC’s new application

 to the State Engineer.  Some of these questions were later addressed to the LLC’s

 representative, Mr. Jichlinski, by members of the Committee.

Commissioner Hand asked why Catron County, which had been included as a

 “stakeholder” in the original application, had been removed altogether in the

 new one.  Mr. Jichlinski had no answer.

Commissioner Hand pointed out that the population of Datil was grossly

 misrepresented in the new application as “54 people”.   She informed the

 Committee that, according to the Datil Postmistress, the Datil post office serves

 about 600 HOUSEHOLDS.  (maybe 1200-1400 people)

Commissioner Hand asked why the data referenced in the new application had
 not been shared with either the Catron County Commission, or the protestants. 
  Mr. Jichlinski ignored the question.

When asked the same question by State Representative Candy Spence Ezzell of

 Roswell, he said that information “would best be presented in a hearing with the

 State Engineer, and not picked apart beforehand” by the protestants.

State Senator Joseph Cervantes of the Las Cruces area pointed out that this

 presentation by both sides has been made several times over the last 7 years,

 and wondered how much longer this was going to go on.

A representative from the Office of the State Engineer (OSE), Greg Ridgley,

  announced that this latest application had been returned to the LLC on 

November 25^th for lack of  specific information needed to process it. He further

 said that the LLC had about 30 days to comply with the request if they hoped to

 avoid having to file a whole new application.  It has been neither denied nor

 accepted by the State Engineer;  just returned for lack of key information.

Senator Cervantes then asked if this was a failure to understand the application

 process on the part of the LLC, or did the Legislature perhaps need to aid the

 OSE in some sort of clarification process.  He was assured by Mr. Ridgley that

 the process wasn’t the problem, as others get projects approved frequently

 through the offices of the OSE.  The problem, Mr. Ridgley said, was the SIZE of 

this project.

Commissioner Hand also pointed out that the new application offers changes to

 OSE procedures as to how to proceed with the approval process.  That wasn’t

 favorably received by the Committee.

The Committee had several questions regarding the hydro-geology
 of the basin that neither Mr. Ridgley nor Mr. Jichlinski could answer.

We had been given one hour to make our presentations and allow for questions by

 the committee.  We were there for an hour and a half, going beyond the time

 allotted.  That hasn’t happened in any of our earlier presentations to the Committee.

All in all, the SAWC presentation went well, and we continue to make our point
 of opposition to the project.

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And this from The Albuquerque Journal.

NM agency seeks more details on water proposal

 ..

By Susan Montoya Bryan / The Associated Press
UPDATED: Tuesday, December 2, 2014 at 10:21 pm
PUBLISHED: Tuesday, December 2, 2014 at 11:26 am

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SANTA FE — A revamped application by a commercial venture to pipe billions of gallons of drinking water from rural western New Mexico to more populated areas of the drought-stricken state lacks key information, state officials said Tuesday.
The state engineer’s office has given Augustin Plains Ranch until the end of the year to provide more specifics on what type of water rights would be developed, how the water would be used and what municipalities or industries would benefit.
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Greg Ridgley, general counsel for the office, announced the latest development during an interim legislative meeting. He told state lawmakers applications to develop new water rights must be complete before the state engineer can accept them.
The agency, he said, needs to have enough information to determine if there’s sufficient water in the area that has yet to be appropriated and whether assigning new water rights would affect existing rights.
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The company’s plan calls for drilling more than three dozen wells capable of pumping more than 17 billion gallons of groundwater a year to supplement dwindling supplies in the Rio Grande Valley. The company would build a 140-mile pipeline to Bernalillo County as well as other infrastructure to capture runoff for recharging the aquifer beneath the San Augustin Plains west of Socorro.
Some lawmakers said a decision should not be taken lightly given the volume of water at stake. Others described the proposal as too speculative.
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Sen. Peter Wirth, D-Santa Fe, questioned whether capturing storm runoff and recharging the aquifer would be enough to avoid damaging existing rights and the local economy.
“It just seems like these are impossible goals to have on one side and make this work,” Wirth said.
Augustin Plains’ first application was rejected two years ago after the state engineer determined the proposal was vague and its effects could not be reasonably evaluated. It was one of the most contested filings in the history of the state engineer’s office.
The company submitted its latest application in July. After months of review, the office made the request for additional information in a Nov. 25 letter.
The company is reviewing the request.
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Project Manager Michael Jichlinski said the application is the first step, and the company envisions spending millions of dollars more on studies to better understand the region’s hydrology if the state engineer allows for a hearing.
The company is proposing to develop water, a job Jichlinski said has historically been done by government.
“Our belief is the public sector is tapped out when it comes to the money available for infrastructure development, for all the studies that need to be done. It’s simply not there,” he said.
While skeptical of the Augustin Plains proposal, Sen. Joe Cervantes, D-Las Cruces,
said the West was built on the ability to pipe water from one place to another, and government should be open to the private sector stepping in.

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STOP THE WATER GRAB!
"Those who stand for nothing fall for anything."
Alexander Hamilton

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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

........................................................................................................................................................................................

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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THE PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP SCAM

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From the book BLUE GOLD

by Maude Barlow & Tony Clarke

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PRIVATIZATION SCHEMES

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As one of the cardinal features of the Washington Consensus,

the private takeover of public institutions and enterprises has become the

prime instrument for the commodification of water.  Public services like

the delivery of water, traditionally by municipal governments in

most countries, are taken over by corporations,

often foreign owned, in the interests of making a profit. 
Through this privatization process,

water is turned into a commodity, priced, put on the market, and sold,

usually on the basis of ability to pay.

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Water privatization generally occurs in one of three forms.  First,

there is the complete sell-off by governments of public water delivery and

 treatment systems to corporations, as has happened in the United Kingdom.

Second, there is the model developed in France, whereby water corporations are

granted concessions or leases by governments to take over delivery of

the service and carry the cost of operating and maintaining the system,

while collecting all the revenues for the water service and keeping the 

surplus as a profit.  Third, there is a more restrictive model, in which

a corporation is contracted by the government to manage water services

for an administrative fee, but is not able to take over the collection of revenues,

let alone reap profits from surpluses.  While all three forms contain the

seeds of privatization, the most common one is the second model,

often referred to as "public-private partnerships." 

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And here's the beginning of Page 5 of the LLC website:

A Public-Private Partnership.

Every year, New Mexico municipalities spend millions of dollars purchasing water rights in controversial offsets. None of these purchases deliver any actual water to the cities. Infrastructure stills needs to be built and every year, millions are spent on energy costs necessary to pump, treat and deliver the water.

The Bureau of Reclamation has spent significant funds throughout the year to increase stream flow in the Rio Grande. For example its 2012 budget includes over $6 million for the “acquisition of supplemental non-Federal water, and pumping from the low flow conveyance channel into the Rio Grande

during the irrigation season”.

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In spite of all these expenditures, the river is running dry and public officials are sounding the alarm: “The pressures on the Rio Grande now and other rivers of the state in the future are great. If we didn’t have the storage in northern New Mexico reservoirs and the San Juan-Chama project, the Rio Grande would be dry right now. That’s a pretty shocking thing . . . Where are we going to get the water?” 
 Senator Tom Udall,
 Annual Water Conference,
 Las Cruces, August 2012.
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The value of the water rights at the benchmark prices New Mexico municipalities are paying exceeds the estimated construction cost of the Augustin Plains Ranch project. Operation and Maintenance costs of the project are significantly below current costs to the municipalities since no expensive energy is required to convey the project water to the Albuquerque Metropolitan Area.

.Our proposed Public Private Partnership will supply 54,000 Acre Feet of water every year to the Middle Rio Grande, at no additional costs

 to the citizens of New Mexico.

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Here's the link to the entire page from the website:
http://sanaugustinwater.com/partnership.html
  The graphic illustration below is  how they
see the "stakeholders," though it's interesting to
note that the LLC isn't included in the graphic.
The LLC being of course the Augustin Plains Ranch LLC,
otherwise known as "the foreigners" - Bruno Modena
and his son Vittorio, from Milan, Italy, the multi-millionaire
father-son team, and unnamed as yet other investors.
The would-be water thieves.
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BusinessDictionary.com defines "stakeholder" as
"A person, group or organization that has interest or concern in an organization..
Stakeholders can affect or be affected by the organization's actions, objectives and policies. Some examples of key stakeholders are creditors, directors, employees, government (and its agencies), owners (shareholders), suppliers, unions, and the community from which the business draws its resources."
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If they were included in the graphic, it would
certainly be represented as a giant leech,
disguised like a big oval bladder, called "OWNERS" -
 with tentacles attached everywhere, sucking
blood, money, and water from "The People."
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  They ought to be represented in the graphic.
They'll be getting the water, and all the damn money
that will come to them as a result of their theft.
In most respects, they've got the biggest stake.
Potentially, a huge fortune rides on the outcome here.
And the people of Catron and Socorro Counties,
and the people of New Mexico in the big picture,
 have the most to lose.
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And, without wanting to sound inhospitable,
or lacking basic human charity,
 the following needs to be said:
 THESE GUYS DON'T SEEM TO GET IT.
NO ONE
WANTS THEM AS A PARTNER. 
PEOPLE WANT THEM
TO LEAVE, TO GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE.
IF THERE'S A PARTNERSHIP TO BE HAD,
IT WON'T BE WITH THE LIKES OF THESE.
IT WOULD BE BEST FOR ALL IF THEY
JUST MOVED ON.  PERIOD.
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The little that's known about these people is
either very bad, or worse.  Check the early blog posts
about their financial adventure in Maine.
It was a whole new form of extortion.
Everything else is hidden - no financial statements,
no tax returns, no nothing.
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From all appearances, (and this is just appearances),
they're international mobsters of some sort,
 very secretive, very closed. 
 They don't want anyone to know ANYTHING about them.
If they did, they'd have put up a financial profile
that was somewhat believable. 
Who they are.  Where all the damn money comes from.
 They never have put up any info - it's just
 a Santa Fe or New York lawyer's office
 as an address.
They sure as hell don't come out to western
New Mexico, announce who they are,
and invite everyone over to a Bar-B-Q.

 They're off in Norway, Germany, or maybe Italy,
or visiting Ukraine, Moldova, or Israel.
Or God Knows Where.

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[Editor's Note 10/15
Those countries, along with the U.S., compose
the Top 7 world audience for hits on the blog.
United Kingdom is coming on strong as
a new contender at #8.]

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These are international operators,
why else would all these people be interested?
This can't all be hits from kids in college 
"World Business Ethics 310" classes.
I see a family portrait in the mirror.

But, obviously, the less people know, the better,
as far as the Modenas and their organization
are concerned.
It's nice to know folks watch us though.
There's a snake in the grass.  Beware.
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But quien sabe, who knows, maybe they're in the
hospitality business.  Or maybe they are simply
trying to figure out how to launder a ton of cash,
and make a Sultan's ransom in the process.
Whatever.
These are NOT the kind of people you want
to do business with, especially WITH WATER. 
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  You should note that while there are

numerous claims about "costs" in their web

 copy, there are NO figures - NONE, NADA.

No proof, just "take our word for it."

Their Project Director is a liar and thief from
the Louis Berger Group, a federal contractor
working in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere,
that got hit with the largest war-time fine
for a federal contractor - in U.S. history.
This LLC Project Director, Michel Jichlinski,
was President and CEO of the outfit during the period 

 that the whisleblower's evidence covered. 

He's not American, he's a foreigner, 

carrying passports from....

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It was a massive fraud scheme via
 exotic accounting overbilling practices,
and where bribes to ANYONE were common,
which the company called "grease money".
 The entire company, the Louis Berger Group,
was called "a culture of fraud" by the whistleblower.
The FEDS believed him, obviously,
 after they saw the evidence.
The biggest fine ever for a war-time contractor
 - 69.3 million dollars - included both civil
and criminal penalties.
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But Jichlinski didn't go to jail,
though a few others did.
 It'd be no surprise to find out that
 he's got big connections on the Beltway.

Congressman Scumbag and he probably shoot a
few holes at Bethesda, when they're
not busy counting their money,
or working on a western water project.
As we all know, in Washington, money talks.
Sometimes a little too loudly.
"You know Congressman,
 it just requires a little bit more grease money,
and then we'll have it in the bag.
And of course we'll recognize your great efforts
on the behalf of our investment group,
who have so generously put up an offer here, 
an offer you couldn't refuse.
FORE!"
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Above: Michel Jichlinski, Project Director
of the WATER GRAB.
Below is a link to an article about the issue

from the McClatchy Washington Bureau - a

well-respected investigative newspaper/web outfit.
Below that is a link to a story about how
the Louis Berger Group went on to win
even more contracts.
  They have much more on the issue
 if you're interested.  Search it.

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http://www.mcclatchydc.com/search_results?q=louis+berger+group&x=0&y=0

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http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/11/14/103380/us-hires-firms-with-questionable.html

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Take his word?
You've GOT to be kidding!
This guy's anti-American. Period.
You ARE if you steal from us.
And this guy STOLE MILLIONS!
He's a foreign OPERATOR. 
Mob connected?  Probably.
It hardly matters.  HE'S A PIG!
A federal contractor who lined his
pockets with U.S. cash by fraud -
milking millions and millions of your taxdollars
in illegal profits, on projects in war zones
in Iraq and Afghanistan - by fraud,
 by cooking the books, as they say.
We should take him to a gathering of
New Mexico combat veterans to pitch
his plan.  Could he live through it?
When pigs fly.
.

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And now we continue where we left off with
 BLUE GOLD.
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Shifting from public to private systems introduces, of course,
a completely different set of commercial imperatives into water-service
delivery.  Although the water industry insists on "full cost recovery" in
taking over a concession, this usually includes profit margins.
After all, the owners and shareholders of the privatizing corporation
are driven by demands for profits and dividends, which in turn,
are generally redistributed for investment globally in other divisions
of the corporation's overall operations.  Maximizing profit is
the prime goal, not ensuring sustainability or equal access to water.
Management of water resources, therefore, is based on market dynamics
of increasing consumption and profit maximization, rather
than on a long-term sustainability of a scarce resource for
future generations.  As a result, the price that a corporation is
prepared to pay for a water concession depends on the revenue
and profit-generating stream that can be
expected from the deal.
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"In 1999, Pickens formed Mesa Water and began to

accumulate water rights to sell to thirsty cities such as El Paso,

Lubbock, or San Antonio.  But as time passed, Mesa Water focused

on the Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) Metroplex.  Already the state's largest

water user, DFW's population was growing quickly in the midst

of a worsening drought.

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Many of Pickens's neighbors were alarmed by his plan to

privatize the groundwater, treating it as a commodity like oil or gas,

to be sold to the highest bidder.  Some of them rallied against him

and threatened lawsuits; others joined Mesa Water, hoping to profit.

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As water supplies are stretched thin across the country,

this scenario is becoming increasingly familiar.

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For much of the nation's history, Americans have fought

over surface water - who gets to use how much of lake or river water -

but most of those disputes have been settled; today the

biggest water wars are over groundwater."

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Alex Prud'Homme

THE RIPPLE EFFECT

The Fate of Freshwater in the 21st Century

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