STOP THE WATER GRAB "Since water is vital to life, shortages can foster severe crises including the following four categories of water wars: [1, 3, and 4 do not apply here but 2 DOES!]
2. The wars for entrepreneurial control: These wars are evidenced by transnational corporations purchasing water companies and resources around the world. Since these companies are in business for profit, once they have a monopoly on a system the price of water usually escalates. For example, in the years following the privatization of water services in Britain, the price for water increased an average of 67 percent and in some areas up to 450 percent. People who couldn’t afford to pay their bills had their water shut off. This resulted in a sixfold increase of dysentery." William Marks in The Holy Order of Water
Michel Jichlinski, recently published in the Socorro Defensor Chieftain
and Magdalena Mountain Mail:
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Editor: I am writing about the dire water situation that the village of Magdalena now finds itself in as its well has dried up and the possibility that other communities in the area could follow suit. New Mexico is running out of water and unfortunately, conservation alone cannot solve this problem. . The smart, state of the art management of the massive underground aquifer located beneath the plains of San Augustin and which belongs to all New Mexicans is the best solution available to the residents of the plains and those of the Rio Grande Valley. Augustin Plains Ranch, LLC proposes to salvage lost rainwater, reach deep into the aquifer and build a pipeline to deliver that water to communities who are most in need. All the local communities along or near the pipeline right of way could receive their water from this new source at minimal costs compared to going it alone and drilling ever deeper wells. By working together, the communities would be able to afford the latest technologies and protect themselves from surprises and emergencies. . How much water is in the aquifer? How much water can be reclaimed to the aquifer by capturing rainwater run off? How much water can be sustainably produced? What impacts will be seen to the land and nearby wells, and how should they be avoided or mitigated? What are the best technologies for the project? How much will it cost? How will it be structured financially? These are all very important questions that I propose we answer together. That is why we continue to ask for a fair hearing with the State Engineer. Now is the time to answer these questions. . I invite the local communities of Catron and Socorro counties to take part in this extremely important discussion. Together, we can answer these questions and develop solutions for the delivery of this water that is so near to us, and yet currently untouchable because of the investment that is needed to tap it and transport it. If you would like to be a part of this discussion and would like to find out about this proposed project and what it could potentially provide for your community, please write to your elected officials and let them know that you want answers. Let them know that you support this project receiving a fair hearing from the New Mexico State Engineer. . With your support, a long-term water solution could be only a few years away. We all have questions. Let’s answer them together. . Michel Jichlinski Project Director .
When Jichlinski asks for a "fair hearing" he's really
asking for "APPROVAL" for the project.
There's not going to be any "discussion" about this
matter if the foreigners get a "green light" from
the State Water Engineer.
Where is this so-called "discussion" with the
communities of
Socorro and Catron Counties going to take place?
In your dreams.
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Jichlinski is trying to sell a drought-stricken area
with a false idea that a foreign-owned corporation
has the answer for them. It's a lie.
The hydrologists don't buy it.
Neither do a growing number of people
interested in the ETHICS of allowing foreigners
to "own" water, and then sell it back to
New Mexicans, who BY LAW, own that water.
Period.
And he's doing his best to sell this crap to the
politicans and officials of the state.
He's not just unethical, he's downright evil.
. His nonsense about how we'll all discuss this together, and answer questions together, is another pile of doo-doo. All they want is that permit from the State Engineer's Office and they'll be off to the races. There's no such thing as a research permit, or anything even remotely similar. He makes it sound as if they just want a "fair hearing" before the State Engineer. Hells bells, we've been down this road with the foreigners before the State Engineer, District Court, and now it sits waiting for a ruling from the New Mexico Court of Appeals. FAIR HEARING? That's what you've been getting moron, in triplicate. . This is how the system works in America Mr. Jichlinski. I know you'd like to ignore or bypass that fact. I realize that you're a foreigner that comes from a corporate culture, having spent so many years as the President and CEO at the Louis Berger Group, described as a "culture of fraud" by the whistleblower who blew your scam out of the water. But you're not at Berger now Michel, or Afghanistan, or Iraq, or all the other places where your boys spread "grease money" - as the bribe money was called at the Berger Group, according to the whistleblower. . You're in Round Three now Michel, here. Not in Afghanistan, making piles of illegal cash, but here in New Mexico, trying to sell a bad idea to an often skeptical audience. Surely you must have already spread a bunch of "grease money" in La Tierra Encantada, yet now you want public favor for this obscenity. But you guys were the ones who went forward to the Court of Appeals. Why don't you concentrate on that rather than trying to sway public opinion in your favor? Why are you trying to get people to buy this "fair hearing" bullshit? You've been getting fair hearings for about four years now, and another one is in the legal waiting room. This is how we do it here. I'll send you a U.S. Civics 9th grade textbook. I assume you can read basic English. Well, I should assume nothing I guess. . In this case I can't figure out if this is simply more "anti-American" behavior - not being willing to let the courts do their work, or if you're so incredibly greedy that you're now blinded by it, and stupid as a post. . THESE GUYS SIMPLY WANT THE GREEN LIGHT. And when they get it, you can kiss their rump if you think you'll be going to any meetings for discussion of anything. This is all a con job. It's all misrepresentation. It's a lie. They're trying an "end run" around the legal and ethical realities. They are trying, as the old saying goes, to bullshit the baker - trying to "sell" an idea to people who know what's in the recipe, to people who can see what's going on. They're very transparent. And it's ugly, it's stupid, it's evil. .
And these investors, headed by Bruno Modena, these shadowy underworld characters, our Italian family from Milan and partners from....who knows? But it must take an entire little band of relatives and "associates" to bankroll a $500 million dollar infrastructure project, the figure they float in the PR. . Who are these people? Why won't they present a business plan?
Why do they have such a bad record of paying their
contractors, both in Maine, the site of their
first scam in the States, and here?
Why is their no background data, no
tax returns, no nada, on these people
put forth in their defense? Why do they hide beneath a corporate veil? . The little that's known about them is all bad, and furthers speculation that it's perhaps international corporate mobsters of some type. It all makes sense. Why would some nice, legitimate, Eorupean investors cover their tracks like a thief in the night, and refuse to "show documentation" - as is expected with any project of this magnitude, like some low-life, but high-ticket robbers? Gee, the dog ate your financial statement? Well, come up with something you idiot, the Governor will be wanting some indication in hard copy that she won't go to jail if she works with you bozos. You'll have to come forward, so we can see you for what you are. בחיים לא (No way in hell.) . As far as anyone can determine: these guys are frauds, hustlers, and would-be water-barons, the type that the Western movies portrayed so faithfully many years ago in Clint Eastwood, John Wayne, and even Roy Rogers films. Where the bad guys mostly got blown to hell, and the good guys got the water, and their little places in the sun, and somehow life made sense. Because it was their water to begin with. Period. It's ancient stuff. And as usual, IT'S ALL ABOUT MONEY! Wake up ladies and gents. .
Why is a crook and liar like Michel Jichlinski
even allowed to do business in New Mexico? All these issues, and the evidence, is on this blog. .
. Go to posts from February-March and read about this character Michel Jichlinski. It'll make your skin crawl. He made millions bilking U.S. taxpayers as President and CEO of the Louis Berger Group, a sleazy bunch that got hit with the biggest fine ever for a war-time contractor - 69.3 million - for cooking the books and other shenanigans, that all involved stealing from American taxpayers on a whole new level - grandiose you might say. He's pure thief, pure con man. He's not American, he's foreign, and he's blatantly un-American, anti-American. You ARE if you steal from us.
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Oh, by the way. The Magdalena well was mismanaged,
not dried up, as the State Water Engineer
has stated clearly for all to read.
Wrong again, Michel. The underlying premise of your entire argument is bullshit, just like the letter itself.
More later.
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. "Water has been an important symbol in the legends and histories of many ancient cultures. Unlike people living in the urban, industrialized nations of the 21st century, most humans throughout history knew that their water resources could run out, and they developed a healthy respect for conserving whatever water they found. In biblical times, when Isaac returned to the land where his father Abraham had lived, the old wells he opened up were so important to life that they became a subject of dispute with other tribespeople. Later, Jacob's well was so highly prized and carefully protected that it was in use during the days of Jesus many centuries later." From BLUE GOLD by Maude Barlow & Tony Clarke STOP THE WATER GRAB! .
. There's a LOT OF REASONS why the proposal by Augustin Plains Ranch LLC is STUPID. Here are a few.
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1. The project is unproven science in action. There is serious disagreement by almost everyone who's looked this over about how much water is actually in the aquifer, and what the effects of pumping 54,000 acre feet of water per year would be. The very real possibility that the Rio Grande and Gila Rivers would be significantly, adversely, affected doesn't seem to phase the applicants, Augustin Plains Ranch LLC. Neither does the probability that everyone's wells in the area would go dry. . The New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources is currently conducting reasearch on the Rio Grande connection to the aquifer. Their "San Agustin and Alamosa Creek Study" will be finished in December of 2014. . 2. The project is all about money, period. The worth of the water - this volume, for up to 300 years - is absolutely incredible. You are literally talking billions and billions, and it's all tied to GROWTH, growth for Albuquerque, Rio Rancho, maybe Santa Fe, and wherever else developers and politicians decide will be blessed with more water - for what? Growth. Growth of what? For what? More of the mess they can't get a handle on now? More stripmalls? More neighborhoods that require grills and bars on windows and doors, or if you're rich enough you park the family and pets in a "gated community," so much safer - but either way, people look out at the world from the eye of an urban or suburban prisoner, because New Mexico IS dangerous now. It didn't used to be, well, not much, but it is now.
So let's grow...with no thought beyond a fast buck and a new lease on The Land of Enchantment!
More trash food....more teenage pregnancies.... more gang violence....more police shootings.... more stuff, and more stuff, that isn't being at all adequately addressed now, and sure as hell will never be dealt with intelligently if money rules the game. You have to love people more than money. We can't allow decisions about water to be made on the basis of cash (read: GROWTH). It's unethical; it's unconstitutional, (the words of an attorney, not a PR flack). . 3. The project is inherently NUTS. The very idea that somehow foreigners could get their hands on this much water, and then sell it back to us, the citizens of New Mexico, when we technically OWN the water according to LAW, is too bizarre for words. This is a Ripley's Believe It Or Not episode. . 4. It adds to the abysmal level of corruption. New Mexico's report card is dismal when it comes to honesty and ethics among office holders and state officials alike. All you have to do is look at the past of the LLC Project Director, Michel Jichlinski, to see possible problems here. He was the "Boss" at a company that got hit with the largest fine ever for a war-time contractor - they stole millions of tax dollars through fraud, bribery, accounting trickery, etc. This guy lies openly in "Letters to the Editor" concerning the issue before us. It's all on the blog. Things are bad enough here already - we don't need any additional ethical sewage. This guy knows a lot about bribery, and worse. . 5. Foreign ownership of our water is stupid. Water is life! We simply cannot allow a bunch of shadowy corporate thugs to get their hands on the pink slip for the agua. No one in their right mind would let this pass. Jichlinski got his degree from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Do you think the Israelis would allow a scheme like this on their soil? You'd probably be looking down the barrel of an Uzi if you even suggested the idea.
In Israel, a land owner DOES NOT OWN the water beneath his land, and is not free to speculate in "open-market" realities with the water - it belongs to the state. Period. Change the "state" to the "citizens" and you've got New Mexico. Period. . A foreign corporation/investors group trying to get their grubby hands on water in Israel? Best outcome: taken to the airport. Worst outcome: stupidity brings its own rewards. . 6. You don't make big deals with unknowns. The "investors" are headed by a man named Bruno Modena, along with his son Vittorio. Their last escapade in the States was a so-called eco-resort in Maine - the details are on the blog - it could basically be called an entirely new form of extortion. But almost no one ever saw them. Lawyers' offices in New York that no one can ever find, hidden away, on purpose obviously. The "investors" hang out overseas it appears. They just hire more characters here - PR flacks, lawyers, managers of various stripes, so-called experts - to do their bidding. . You don't go selling off the rights to pump water that's the equivalent of half of Albuquerque's thirst each year, without knowing something about who the hell is getting this water. There's no transparency here - no corporate financial statements, no tax returns, no nada. People that hide behind corporate veils are NOT people you want to do business with. Everything that's known so far is OFF BASE - you wouldn't sell these people a good dog, but just maybe a bad one if it was a biter. There's more if you'll scan the early posts on the blog - January forward. . 7. This would have horrible ramifications. No one has ever tried to get their hands on this volume of water in New Mexico. They don't parade this fact; they're at least smart enough to figure that certain realities don't need to be brought up. It'd be upsetting. Let's talk a "partnership" with New Mexico "stakeholders" is what they hype publically. They've never shown a business plan. We have no idea what they're thinking about what they'll give us as our portion of the profits....I'm sure they'll be shrewd. . Their claim is that they have the capital and resources to pull this off - three to five hundred million bucks has been mentioned in various sources, and that is used as an excuse basically, to let them in the door. We Can Do It. We're Big. We're International. . Jichlinski is their key on this. He could probably float the project under any number of corporate names - he's tied in to a big batch of multi-national contractors, and money boys, none of whom, you can be damn sure, have even the slightest interest in what's good for New Mexico, or America. This craziness will be popping up all over the state, if these guys get away with this. Once you let this kind of evil in the door, you're almost done for. You'll be fighting the tide for generations, and paying the piper. . International, big-time outfits are watching what happens with water very closely.... everywhere, but the American Southwest is a facinating point of reference because of the severity of the drought and the cash possible if you could pull something off.... It's all over the web....it's big MONEY action. The "comodification" of water is real, it's happening all over, including here in the States. Water....they also say it's what the future wars will be about, globally, regionally. . How do you think the Old West in Catron and Socorro Counties will react? This is a place where some of the VanishingWest vanished, and where some of it still lives on. I'll make you a bet.... I'll bet you a round for the house that.... .
"The Tenderfoot"
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Postscript . There's more that could be listed....such as the serious damage that this could do (is doing) to international relations. There's not much use for "foreigners" in this part of the country to begin with. If you add on the idea that these guys are basically seen as thieves, water thieves....well, you can see where all this could go....the Colts and Winchesters and god-only-knows-what kind of explosives (this is mining country) will come out in time, and before you know it you've got national and international media people sniffing all over the place - trying to get some background on who's who in the water war - which is the last thing, the very last thing, the Modena's and their co-investors want. Not all media outfits are bought, and/or sold. Some really are investigators. . In that sense, for the "investors," it's a Catch 22. If they get a green light to begin the project, the violence will probably start right up, which brings the spotlight of big time media attention. And if they got that attention, which they avoid like a vampire does the light of day, they'd probably either lose the project, once New Mexicans were AWARE of it, REALLY AWARE of it, or have one devil of a time getting it to completion. . There's everything from archaeological sites on the pipe route, any pipe route in this country, to "threatened" and "endangered" species issues, to plain orneriness on the part of some, to evenmore technical and legal arguments, that could tie this up for a long, long time. Or at least that's what logic tells us. Why do these characters insist on pressing on? The "good guys" need to remember this: stay calm. The lawsuits could fly as fast as the bullets. Get more money for the legal fund, get ready to "dig in." .
"Smoke of a 45"
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. STOP THE WATER GRAB! “Thus did a handful of rapacious citizens come to control all that was worth controlling in America. Thus was the savage and stupid and entirely inappropriate and unnecessary and humorless American class system created. Honest, industrious, peaceful citizens were classed as bloodsuckers, if they asked to be paid a living wage. And they saw that praise was reserved henceforth for those who devised means of getting paid enormously for committing crimes against which no laws had been passed. Thus the American dream turned belly up, turned green, bobbed to the scummy surface of cupidity unlimited, filled with gas, went bang in the noonday sun.” Kurt Vonnegut God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater .
. Update: 9/23 Since this post there have been numerous "changes" to the approach the foreigners are taking. Now they claim they won't drain the aquifer, but rather catch ALL the precipitation that falls in their domain, and RECHARGE the aquifer. Read more about it here: http://stopthewatergrab.blogspot.com/2013/08/dr-hydrologist-weighs-in-story-of.html .
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