New Mexico & El Paso
The State Engineer issued her decision on August 20 denying Tulla Resources’ application to transfer water rights needed to reopen the Copper Flat Mine near Hillsboro in southern New Mexico.
The State Engineer noted the effects of climate change on New Mexico’s water resources.
What was once a concrete dumpsite in the drought-stricken southwest became a four-acre oasis, known as La Mancha Wetlands, along the Rio Grande near Las Cruces.
The La Mancha Restoration Project, a vision of Kevin Bixby who then lead Southwest Environmental Center, took years of planning, permitting, fundraising and hard work to come to fruition in 2010. It provides habitat for numerous species of waterfowl and other wetland dwellers.