Judge Roscoe Woods, Seventh Judicial District Court Judge,
denied the application from the Augustin Plains Ranch LLC to pump
54,000 acre feet of water a year from the San Agustin Plains basin at
the Catron County Court house this morning, April 5, in Reserve, New
Mexico.
There was standing room only with over one hundred people
present at the hearing in protest as lawyers shared their arguments for
almost five hours.
The State Engineer, the Carol Pittman protestants group,
the Catron county board of commissioners and the community protestants
argued the application was speculative, had no commitments from an end
user and lacked an imperative necessity for the water, among other
arguments.
In their defense, the Augustin Plains LLC’s lawyer argued
there was a demand, a thorough proposal of plans and listed six counties
as the targeted end users of the water.
The San Agustin Basin, about fifty miles west of Socorro,
supplies water to northwestern Socorro and northeastern Catron County.
The first drilling application was submitted by Augustin Plains Ranch,
LLC in 2007.
*Editor’s note: a detailed article will be available pending a written order from a judge.
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
My name is Matt Middleton. I live in Magdalena, NM and
have been working as a part-time activist on the San Augustin Plains
aquifer water grab for a little less than a year. I'm sure you're
aware of the issue, but to set the tone here let me
quote a paragraph or two from an article that came out
in the Green Fire Times in January of 2011.
.
"Scattered around the Plains of Saint Augustine are cattle ranches run by a curious breed of true individuals who prefer to govern their lives as they see fit through hard work and John Wayne-ian true grit. They prefer to be left alone in this enormous span of grassland that elicits fits of agoraphobia in visiting urbanites who happen to be driving from Magdalena to Datil. This is indeed a habitat perfectly suited to itself, a biotic community contained within a geophysical cradle sculpted by volcanic activity with an ancient tectonic nudge that resulted in an exquisitely defined watershed that apparently drains to either side of the Continental Divide. Both the Río Grande to the east and the Gila River to the west are fed by waters from the San Augustin aquifer.
*****
Today, a family of speculators is seeking legal right to drill thirty-seven wells deep into the San Augustin aquifer and pump 54,000 acre feet of water per year for 300 years, or until the aquifer runs dry, for undetermined purposes other than to sell this water to the highest bidder. Or, put another way, a family of modern-day carpetbaggers wants to pump the lifeblood of a living bioregion, create a water hemorrhage with no thought of tourniquet, despoil a vibrant habitat, rape the Earth—for money, lots of money to satisfy the insidious greed that has come to dominate so much of the darkening consciousness of Western culture. The privatization of common waters for profit is absolutely unethical."
The author is, of course, someone well known to you - longtime Udall family friend Jack Loeffler. Heck, you've probably discussed the issue with him. Senator, Jack's observations and analysis here are right on target.
This is an ethical issue.
.
Currently, everyone is waiting for the State Appeals Court
to announce their decision on the latest round in this mess.
However, while we wait, I think it's important that
people prepare for further battles in the "water war."
The opposition has been stubborn, and of course
they have all the time and money in the world.
Well, money at least.
Senator, while this is a state issue, there are certain
realities here that can probably only be addressed
on a federal level.
Let me explain. .
The Augustin Plains Ranch LLC is headed by Bruno Modena
from Milan, Italy. He and his son Vittorio and other
unnamed foreigners were behind an "eco-resort" and subdivision nightmare proposed a few years back on the Maine coast, adjacent to Acadia National Park. Needless to say the whole scheme horrified the locals and conservationists in the region,
and some well-to-do folks from the area (and state),
along with a timber company, bought the Modenas out.
The amount paid, according to someone in the loop,
was termed "exorbitant." It seems like a
whole new form of extortion.
.
The only other thing we've been able to find was that the family has ownership in some small, four-star, exclusive hotels, that cater primarily to extended family, business associates, etc. in a string of hostels in Italy. The business is under the umbrella of a holding company registered in England. Of course, under current British law, the cloak of secrecy is intact. Bruno Modena is Director. Someone else is Secretary. End of story. . However, that may soon change. The money-laundering problems in the U.K. are widespread and entrenched, undermining law enforcement efforts, and the Prime Minister has promised changes - transparency in ownership and sources of capital. Time will tell. . An article I found on the web from an Italian newspaper about the opening of a new hotel venture the Modenas apparently own, or control in some form, shed little light on the details, describing the Modena Family as one that is known for "confidentiality," and that their investors are people who "do not like being exposed." I'm including a link to this at the bottom. . Senator, as a former State Attorney General, I'm certain you're well aware of how this all looks. People who don't like their names or, more importantly, the sources of their money, known - by anyone - generally have something to hide, am I not right? I'm sure you're way ahead of me here. . The LLC is talking about a $500,000,000 investment in infrastructure and whatever else they need on the San Augustin project. Where's all this cash coming from? Are these people legit, or are they foreign "operators?" Is there foreign mob money here - money from sex slavery and child prostitution, drug money, gun-running money? Who knows? No one. . But isn't a deal like this an ideal opportunity to potentially launder one hell of a lot of cash - huge contracts in a state that already has problems in keeping its own books, much less overseeing the legitimacy of money flowing in and out of a half-billion dollar project. No way. No one would ever even come close to knowing what the hell these people might pull off. It's overwhelming. It could be. And it's scary. . They say nothing, offer nothing. There's absolutely NO transparency. NEVER has there been any info about their corporate background, their financial base, their past ventures, their successes, their corporate story. Nada. Zilch. No PR. No nuthin'. . Except for one guy. Their front man. And there is plenty known about the man they hired to be their "Project Manager" on the deal. And Senator, when these characters hired Michel Jichlinski, the former President and CEO of the Louis Berger Group, a federal contractor, they may as well have hired the devil. He was perfect. . The Louis Berger Group, while he was at the helm, stole millions of U.S. taxdollars involving contracts in war zones in Iraq and Afghanistan. A whistleblower came forth with five years of evidence of overbilling and "creative" accounting procedures. The company got hit with the largest war-time fine ever for a contractor. A few people went to prison, but not Jichlinski, even though he was the chief of an outfit that the whistleblower described as "a culture of fraud." Connected, obviously. . Senator, some months back I got two visits from law enforcement officials questioning me about the aquifer issue, and my role. There's a link to that post along with the others. . I believe it's time that we ask that the federal government use its resources and find out who the Modenas and their "investors" really are. We're talking about total strangers, who could have dark and dangerous connections, potentially getting their hands on 52,000 acre ft. of water, drinking water, per annum. It's imperative that the citizens of the State know exactly who these foreigners are before any papers are signed, before any wells are drilled. Actually, foreign ownership of our water is nuts, but that's something that will need to be addressed in the future, when we all have time (?). . We'd also like to know that Jichlinski hasn't been running around Santa Fe with a briefcase full of cash to grease the wheels. At the Berger Group bribery was apparently a way of life. This guy needs to be watched. He has to be watched. . Of course, if a person looks over the legal and hydrologic evidence, there is absolutely no way these guys should ever have gotten this far. When Dr. Fred Phillips of NMIMT explained the process of capturing ALL the rainfall falling on their ranch (cut down every living thing, sterilize the soil, and then SEAL it with concrete or plastic) then we realized how over the edge these people really are. A link to that post is also included. . Senator, I see that your staff is having "Udall Serving You" office hours at the Socorro Library on Thursday. I'll be delivering a hard copy of this letter to them at that time, but will be e-mailing your staff the link to the letter as soon as it's complete, with links. One way or another, I'm confident it should reach your eyes. I pray it does. . Thank you for your time, and good luck with trying to herd all those Capital cats. When you see Jack, please say hi. Now there's an amazing cat. . Sincerely, . Matt Middleton . 12/17 Links . Here's the link to the Italian newspaper article about the Modenas' hotel business in Italy (needs translation - I used Google, but certainly a staffer that knows Italian would be better): http://archiviostorico.corriere.it/2010/aprile/16/Vittorio_Modena_scopre_hotel_Scala_mo_0_100416022.shtml . Here's just one of the many articles from the McClatchy Washingto Bureau about the Louis Berger Group fraud case: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/11/05/103300/693-million-afghan-contracting.html . USA Today was one of many news organizations covering the Maine "eco-resort" the Modenas had planned: http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-08-03-3510033756_x.htm . Here's an intriguing part of an interview we conducted with Dr. Fred Phillips, Director of the Hydrology Program at New Mexico Institure of Mining & Technology: http://stopthewatergrab.blogspot.com/2013/08/dr-hydrologist-weighs-in-story-of.html . Here's the post (really a letter to the editor) after I found out I was the subject of a criminal investigation: http://stopthewatergrab.blogspot.com/2013/04/a-criminal-investigation-on-who.html . To send a message to Senator Udall here's his contact page: http://www.tomudall.senate.gov/?p=contact .
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.
.
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."
.
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”.
.
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. .
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. . . 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." . 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." . 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. .
. 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. .
.
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. . 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.
.
[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. . 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. .
.
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....
. 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. .
.
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!" .
. 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.
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. . 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. .
.
.
"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.
.
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.
.
As water supplies are stretched thin across the country,
this scenario is becoming increasingly familiar.
.
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
