State Engineer Denies Augustin Plains Ranch Groundwater Application
San
Augustin Plains community members were overjoyed by the State
Engineer's denial of the most recent iteration of Augustin Plains
Ranch’s application to mine 17 billion gallons of water annually.
We have been saying it for years:
Augustin Plains Ranch’s application for withdrawal of 54,000 acre feet
per year of groundwater is speculative. On August 1st, the State
Engineer agreed and denied the ranch's application to withdraw
groundwater from its property near Datil.
Speculation
means, simply, that an applicant has not clearly and specifically
stated "the purposes, places of use, or amounts of use" for the water
they are applying for, including details on how the water would be
delivered to any users.
The Law
Center and our clients convinced the State Engineer to deny the Ranch's
first application in 2012 and we also won on appeal in state District
Court in early 2013. Since then, the Ranch has filed multiple
applications, corrections and modifications.
This
has been a critically important fight for us and our clients. A bad
decision would have set a precedent that could dry up rural communities
throughout New Mexico.
So, after an ongoing fight of ten years+, one of the New Mexico delegation "steps up" as they say....good for Senator Marty!....Tommy Udall's probably daydreaming about how much money he could make helping the foreigners....just because he's a liberal and this is really an environmental and basic justice issue doesn't mean that he'll help the cause necessarily....rich liberals are just as bad as the flip side of the coin, rich conservatives....when these people smell more cash at the trough there's no bets on who's in your corner.... Here's the good Senator's op-ed piece from last Thursday's Socorro Defensor Chieftain. . http://www.dchieftain.com/opinion/columns/water-grab-on-the-plains-of-san-agustin/article_d329e5c8-32a6-11e8-b246-fbbb7f7947fc.html
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
(Dona Ana), said that he was not in favor of transferring
"that much water and hurting the small communities."
He further stated
"This transfer will likely impair existing water rights,
and I will not let it happen" In a personal email message
to this writer Rep. Gomez reported that he had "read out
the section of the reasons the state engineer could use to
turn down a request to move water from one region to
another. It states that if the change would harm the rights
of other people in the area it would be one of the main reasons
to turn down the request for transfer of water." ********
Bill McCamley, who represents the 33rd District
(Dona Ana), stated that he wants to see subsidence studies
first. State Engineer Blaine admitted that subsidence
would be a problem, but that no study was planned. ********
Senator Cisco McSorley from Dist 16 (Bernalillo),
asked for the OSE to do a psychological impact study
of the effect on the citizens losing the water. He pointed out
that there were multi-generational families ranching
the Plains, and that they had hopes of their children and
grandchildren continuing the tradition.
He is opposed to those families "losing their heritage." ******** Senator Peter Wirth, Santa Fe, asked about states that had legislation that put large transfers in the hands of the legislators. ********
******** And last, but not least,
Representative Candy Ezzell, a rancher from
District 58 (Chavez) stated:
"I'll fight this transfer with every bone in my body."
And here's an article from the Socorro Defensor Chieftain:
Supreme Court side-steps water grab issue
by John Larson | November 6, 2014 | Filed under: News
The New Mexico Supreme Court last week chose not to
consider
a petition filed by Ray and Carol Pittman of Datil to
order the Office
of the State Engineer to dismiss an application
from San Augustin Plains
Ranch LLC.
As outlined in its application, the company’s plan is to
pump
54,000 acre-feet of water per year from the San Agustin
aquifer and
transfer it by pipeline to sell to communities as far
north as Rio
Rancho.
The Pittmans had asked the Supreme Court to determine
whether public water shall remain open to appropriation for
beneficial
use or whether public water can be monopolized by
speculators, not for
their own use, but for profitable sales in
future markets.
The petition for the writ of mandamus was filed by New
Mexico
Environmental Law Center attorney Bruce Frederick for the Pittmans on Sept. 22.
In the petition, the Pittmans argue that a second
application filed by the company this summer is “identical in all
material respects” to its original application filed in 2007, which was denied by the state engineer.
Frederick said the court may have rejected it because of a
separation of powers issue. “We’re still in limbo,” Frederick said. “The application is still sitting there in the state engineer’s office.” Frederick said the state engineer must reject the 2014
application for the same legal reasons that he denied the 2007 application.
Carol Pittman said she and her husband still have recourse. “We are going to back to the court of Judge Reynolds, who
has
already denied the current application, and ask him to enforce it,”
Carol Pittman said. “We won’t give up until we absolutely have to.”
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The drought monitor is important for numerous
reasons. But in the San Augustin case it's helpful if
the foreigners can't use the drought to promote their
cause. It's scare tactics - not unusual for mafia types.
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A Storm Across the Valley, Tim Cox
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Long Range Precipitation/Drought Outlook The official NOAA Climate Prediction Center outlook for New Mexico precipitation during November 2014 favors above normal precipitation over much of the state. The outlook from November through January 20 also leans toward better chances of above normal precipitation, especially across southern New Mexico.
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1 Month Precipitation CPC Outlooks
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3 Month Precipitation CPC Outlooks
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ON THE RIO GRANDE - SAN ILDEFONSO, 1905, Edward S. Curtis
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Below is
an animation of the weekly U.S. Drought monitor for
2014 (through early
October) across the United States. Note
how the drought worsens over New
Mexico through most of
May before improving from late May through this
summer.
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11/16 The Sangre de Cristo Range in Colorado and New Mexico,
as well as the San Juan Mountains further west, all got their first major blast of winter this week.
The Rio Grande snowpack is off to a good start.
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STOP THE WATER GRAB!
“There can never be any real freedom on earth
as long as people try to exert ownership over
the natural resources of the world.” Bryant McGill, Voice of Reason
A
ranching family is asking the state Supreme Court to weigh in on a
fight over a $600 million proposal that calls for piping billions of
gallons of water from rural western New Mexico to more populated areas
of the drought-stricken state. Attorneys for Ray and Carol Pittman filed a motion Monday asking the
court to order the state’s top water official to reject the latest
application by Augustin Plains Ranch to pump and pipe water to
supplement dwindling supplies in the Rio Grande Valley. The commercial venture’s previous application was rejected two years
ago. It was one of the most contested filings in the history of the
state engineer’s office, and critics also have raised concerns about the
latest application. The court filing argues the application seeks to appropriate about
17.6 billion gallons of water a year but fails to indicate how or where
the water will be used. “By keeping the intended use vague, the ranch hopes to speculate in
future water markets and ultimately sell to whoever the highest bidders
may be in seven counties,” said Bruce Frederick, an attorney with the
New Mexico Environmental Law Center, which is representing the Pittmans. Frederick said that under state law, the state engineer has a duty to
dismiss applications that fail to state a purpose for the water or an
end user. The state engineer’s office is reviewing the latest application but has yet to make any decision. Officials with Augustin Plains Ranch said the court filing is an
attempt by opponents and special interests to block what would be a
public process if the state engineer grants a hearing on the
application. “Their desire to use the court to circumvent the state engineer
before that office has had a chance to do its job puts the cart before
the horse and wastes time and money,” said Whitney Waite, a spokeswoman
for the ranch. She said the latest application is more specific than the last one
and includes information about the feasibility of the project, technical
details and demand for drinking water.
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And here's a more detailed account from the
New Mexico Environmental Law Center:
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Residents ask state Supreme Court to rule in Augustin Plains water grab case
Santa Fe, NM — Today, a retired couple from western New
Mexico asked the state Supreme Court to order the State Engineer to
dismiss a massive speculative water appropriation application from
Augustin Plains Ranch, LLC (“APR”).
In their petition for a writ of mandamus, filed by attorney Bruce
Frederick of the non-profit New Mexico Environmental Law Center, Ray and
Carol Pittman state that a second application filed by APR this summer
is “identical in all material respects” to the application that APR
filed in 2007. The 2007 application was denied by State Engineer Scott
Verhines and a District Court after five years of litigation. Just like
the 2007 application, the 2014 application seeks to appropriate 54,000
acre-feet of water per year (afy), but fails to indicate exactly how or
where the water will be used, as required by the state Constitution. “By
keeping the intended use vague,” said Frederick, “the Ranch hopes to
speculate in future water markets and ultimately sell to whoever the
highest bidders may be in seven counties.”
Under state law, the State Engineer has a non-discretionary duty to
dismiss applications that that fail to specify any particular purpose or
place of use of water or end user. Courts use writs of mandamus to
compel recalcitrant government agencies to perform clear duties required
of them by law. In this case, the Pittmans petitioned the state Supreme
Court to “order the State Engineer to promptly reject [APR’s] 2014
application.” “The State Engineer must reject the 2014 application for
the same legal reasons that he denied the 2007 application,” said
Frederick.
The Pittman’s efforts come in response to legal maneuvering undertaken
by APR and the State Engineer this summer. The Pittmans along with 80
neighbors eventually persuaded the State Engineer and a District Court
to deny APR’s 2007 application because it was ‘vague, over broad, lacked
specificity, and the effects of granting it cannot reasonably be
evaluated.’[1] APR then appealed to the Court of Appeals, where the case was fully briefed.
INTERVIEWS, IMAGES and EXHIBITS ARE AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST Contact:
Bruce Frederick
Staff Attorney
New Mexico Environmental Law Center
505-989-9022, ext. 21 bfrederick@nmelc.or nmelc.org
The battle between the forces of light and those of darkness
is a subject/theme that's been explored by artists of all types - painters, musicians, writers, and now even television and film creators -
for as long as man's mortal mind has been aware of
spiritual realties that exist here on earth.
The battle is ancient, real, and ever-changing. And of course, the most well known soldier in the war against the forces of darkness, at least as far as Judeo/Christian mortals are concerned, is Saint Michael the Archangel.
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How fitting that today (9/29) we celebrate the feast day
of Saint Michael the Archangel, the protector and patron of the people of Socorro and the local region -
(San Miguel, Spanish for St. Michael).
The Socorro County Commission has
come out AGAINST the WATER GRAB.
"The fearlessness and fidelity of this mighty champion
roused
the faithful Angels, who rallied to his standard, repeating with
one accord: "Who is like unto God?" Then followed that
tremendous
battle between the good and the bad Angels which
St. John describes in
Revelation: "And there was a battle in
Heaven: Michael and his Angels
battled with the dragon, and
the dragon fought and his Angels. And they
did not prevail,
neither was their place found any more in Heaven. And
that
great dragon was cast down, the ancient serpent, he who is
called
the devil and Satan, who led astray the whole world" Revelations 12: 7-9
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San Miguel Mission in Socorro. Below, a whimsical wood carving of the saint from northern New Mexico.
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St. Michael the Archangel, illustrious leader of the heavenly army,
defend us in the battle against principalities and powers, against the
rulers
of the world of darkness and the spirit of wickedness in high
places.
Come to the rescue of mankind, whom God has made in His own
image
and likeness, and purchased from Satan's tyranny at so great a
price.
Holy Church venerates you as her patron and guardian.
The Lord
has entrusted to you the task of leading the souls
of the redeemed to
heavenly blessedness. Entreat the Lord of peace to cast
Satan down under
our feet, so as to keep him from further holding man
captive and doing
harm to the Church. Carry our prayers up to God's throne,
that the mercy
of the Lord may quickly come and lay hold of the beast,
the serpent of
old, Satan and his demons, casting him in chains into
the abyss, so that
he can no longer seduce the nations.
