On state and local levels, officials take action on water shortage.
Water availability will always be a question in New Mexico. What made 2004 different from past years was the willingness of elected officials to look at progressive bills and ideas to address pending water shortages.
It's about time. The last major changes to water law in the Land of Enchantment came in 1907-and New Mexico's population has quintupled since then.
In 2005, however, the number of water-related bills set to hit the Legislature may flood the Rotunda. "It's a big issue,
***image1***
we are starting to see that in the Legislature," Consuelo Bokum, director of the 1,000 Friends of New Mexico water project, says. And she's optimistic.
Two bills expected to resurface went unexpectedly far last year but died in the waning moments of the session. One would create the Strategic Water Reserve as a fund to buy up water rights rather than simply retire them [Cover story, Feb. 4: "Waiting for Rain"].
The bill asks for $3 million to $4 million per year for up to the next 20 years. The fund would then be used to avoid another endangered species debacle such as the one spawned by the demise of the Silvery Minnow. Rights could be bought on whatever river an imperiled species resided, thereby increasing the flow in that river. Secondly, when New Mexico is under-delivering water to thirsty Texas, water rights could be bought on the Pecos or Rio Grande to meet New Mexico's delivery requirements. "We have the support of businesses, environmental groups, agriculture groups and religious organizations," Fred Nathan, director of Think New Mexico, the organization that hatched the plan, says. "It's rare in water issues to have people from such differing perspectives be on the same page." Nathan also is optimistic the bill will pass this year. (Also, to help guarantee New Mexico supplies Texas with enough water, the State Engineer is asking for $30 million-with a possible additional $25 million-to keep the water flowing on the Pecos [Outtakes, Nov. 17: "Keeping Texas Wet"].)
The other bill that died last year, to reform domestic well laws, also will be back on the table. Activists are concerned the State Engineer's Office currently can't require well users to have water rights for their wells. They hope new legislation will force potential domestic well drillers to buy water rights first to more adequately account for how much water is being taken out of an aquifer [Outtakes, Nov. 24: "Well, Well, Well"].
At the local level, Santa Fe's City and County governments finally reached the long-awaited agreement on how to
***image2***
proceed financially with the Buckman Direct Diversion project. Each entity agreed to pay $30 million for the project which, when completed, will allow the City and County to grab water from the Rio Grande promised them in 1962 by the federal government. The County and City are hoping for federal funding to help finance the project, but it hasn't come yet, County Commissioner Jack Sullivan says. The total cost of the project is estimated at $120 million. "We may have to pony up more," he says. "But the City would have to equal us." On Dec. 8, the County and City took the next step by discussing the entity that would manage the project. They also decided to extend the wheeling agreement, a City-County deal, that splits up water rights promised by the federal government through the San Juan/Chama diversion-a network of tunnels and reservoirs that brings water destined for the Colorado River to the Rio Grande.
While everything may seem just a bit sunnier on water issues, New Mexico still needs rain. University of New Mexico Associate Professor William Fleming warns that the amount of water the feds said the County and City would receive are probably way off. "The allocations were done during an unusually wet period and now there is a new average flow," he says. "I think it is a mistake to count on Santa Fe's so-called allocations, we should be planning for the inevitable dry years and the new average flow."
