| From New Mexico In Depth
Today more than ever, as the region warms – and both our surface and groundwater supplies become increasingly constrained – it’s a good time to check the facts and try to understand one another. In that spirit, here’s my crack at a “FAQ” about New Mexico’s beloved Rio Grande.
Who gets the water?
The Rio Grande flows almost 1,900 miles from Colorado to the Gulf of Mexico, passing through three states and two countries and providing water to millions of people. Its ...
By Allyson Siwik, Chapter Executive Committee and Gila Resources Information Project
With just a few months left before initiation of the environmental-compliance phase and with no proposed action identified yet, the New Mexico Interstate Stream Commission continues its push for a Gila River diversion project to capture as much water as possible.
The local New Mexico Central Arizona Project (CAP) entity, responsible for the design of a diversion under the Arizona Water Settlements Act, must decide on a proposed action by July 11 in order to meet its schedule under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
The ISC held a workshop recently to help the NM CAP entity reach consensus on a proposed action. Despite pushback from the entity, the ...
By Eric Patterson, Water Sentinels — Rios de Taos
It’s been a busy summer so far for Water Sentinels and our youth group, the Tiger-Salamanders. Here are some highlights:
May 6: The Taos High School Tiger-Salamanders attended a fishing derby at Eagle Rock Lake near Questa. They monitored water on the lake and on the Red River and did some fishing afterward.
May 20-21: Sentinels coordinators attended a conference in Washington, D.C., with other Water Sentinel leaders and Sierra Club staff to discuss the Club’s position on water quality. It was agreed that current leaders will help different chapters to establish water-monitoring.
May 21: Tiger-Sentinels presented their research projects at the annual Enchanted Circle Chapter of Trout Unlimited fundraising banquet. It ...
Join us for the launch of our series of 3 forums on the health impacts of oil and gas in the Four Corners area.
Part I: Mapping the Threats
Date & time: June 30th, 2016 at 6:30pm
Location: Step Back Inn, 123 W. Aztec. Blvd., Aztec, NM 87410
Our featured speaker is Dr. Jordon Johnson of Mckinley Community PLACE MATTERS – NM Health Equity Partnership. He will discuss some of the health issues related to oil and gas development in the region, as well as his approach for addressing community impacts.
Following his presentation, there will be a demonstration of a new online “Oil and Gas Threat Map,” created by a coalition of groups. The interactive tool shows what populations and schools ...
Attend a webinar on Tuesday, June 21, to learn about a new tool that maps the locations of the 58,777 oil and gas facilities operating in New Mexico and the populations, schools and hospitals within a half-mile radius of those facilities.
Click here to view the New Mexico map.
Peer-reviewed science shows that living near polluting oil and gas facilities is associated with negative health impacts, including fetal defects and respiratory ailments. The Oil and Gas Threat Map display data about the risk of increased cancer and respiratory health rates at the county level. In addition to the data that the Oil and Gas Threat Map presents, users can enter their own address to see if they live in a ...
Martin Heinrich,
NM Senator
In the Southwest, water is the lifeblood of our economy and culture. Access to adequate clean and affordable water means that our cities can bustle with activity, our farmers can grow local food, and our rivers can sustain the cottonwoods and wildlife we all know and love.
In exchange for developing water downstream in the Colorado River watershed, the Arizona Water Settlements Act of 2004 (AWSA) gave the State of New Mexico money to fund water supply improvement projects. This money could either partially fund a major dam, reservoir, and delivery project on the upper Gila River or instead pay for other types of water projects in the State’s Southwest Planning Region—Catron, Luna, Hidalgo, and ...
By Richard Barish,
Central Group Bosque Issues chair
Albuquerque Mayor Richard Berry has disregarded his agreement on a process for public involvement in Bosque decisions in order to rush through plans to extend the developed Bosque trail this winter for another 1.2 miles, from the I-40 bridge to Campbell Road.
The Administration created an uproar in February 2015 when it began construction of the first phase of its Bosque development in the middle of a promised public process, short-circuiting public involvement. In order to avoid such an uproar in the future, the Administration entered into an agreement with the Sierra Club and the Bosque Action Team that established a good public process for future Bosque projects. The agreement was finalized in ...
The Water Sentinels Rios de Taos are kicking off the 2016 water-monitoring season with a planning and training meeting in late May.
We are also interested in monitoring other parts of New Mexico outside Taos County. If you have a concern about a possibly contaminated stream in your area, please contact coordinator Eric Patterson at eepatt@gmail.com. We are particularly interested in possible pollution of streams from the dairy industry.
Highlights
The Taos High School Tiger Salamanders participated in stocking Rio Grande cutthroat trout at La Junta point on March 22. Students from Taos High School and Questa High School joined other volunteers to assist NM Game and Fish employees in carrying bags of trout fingerlings down the trail to the junction of the Red River and the Rio ...
