Archive for Water Resources

EBRA Annual Meeting Scheduled

by John Weckerle

The Estancia Basin Resource Association (EBRA) will hold its annual membership meeting on Saturday, January 24 beginning at 2:00 p.m. at the Moriarty Civic Center.  Speakers will include:

  • Ryan Schwebach, Chairman, Estancia Basin Water Planning Committee – Estancia Basin Regional Water Plan Update
  • Chuck DuMars, EBRA attorney – Current issues in New Mexico water law
  • Donzil Worthington, Wilson and Company – Status report on the proposed EMW regional water supply project.

Other events include the annual election for open Board of Directors seats, reports on issues and activities from the previous year, and door prizes.  For additional information, contact Art Swenka, EBRA President, at 384-0176.

First, Do No Harm (Part Two)

by Chuck Ring (GadAbout-BlogAlot ©2008)

Quote Freely From the Article — Leave The Pseudonym Alone

This Is Part Two Of A Two Part Article

Click Here For Part One Of This Article

Next to be examined are two big water projects known as the San Juan – Chama Diversion Project and the Buckman Well Field Project.  The scope of these two projects alone demonstrates the shear gall of those who have planned these projects with their use of taxes from Edgewood to fund a large portion of the projects. Whether the projects prove to be viable and cost effective at this juncture is speculative, but it can be said that in the eyes of many Southern Santa Fe County and Torrance County citizens, the deal or deals, smell of selfishness and disregard. Memories of the City of Santa Fe’s attempt to import some 7500 acre feet of salty water from mid-Torrance County to Santa Fe still leaves a brackish taste in their mouths. One of our Santa Fe County commissioners seems so enamored of the tax and the straws that could be placed in the rivers and aquifers that he wrote a letter extolling the virtues of the project to the Santa Fe City governing body. Here is an excerpt from the February 6, 2003 letter:

….Santa Fe County government and the public took a big step toward dealing with the water shortage last year with the approval of a ¼% gross receipts tax increase, 75% of which will be used for water system and supply improvements. Fully one half of the total county tax proceeds will go to projects that are in the City or that serve City residents. City projects are reviewed and recommended for funding by the Regional Planning Authority (RPA).  Already the RPA will go to projects that are in the City or that serve City residents. City projects are reviewed and recommended for funding by the Regional Planning Authority (RPA). Already the RPA earmarked $1.25 million, or one half of the total expected gross receipts tax for the current fiscal year for the construction of Buckman wells 10 through 13 to supplement the existing Buckman well field during drought conditions , and to rest existing wells during normal years….”

The entire letter can be accessed here by clicking Santa Fe Twins Water And Other Projects Deal  The excerpt above is just a very small sample of the revelations to be found in the letter. 

If the letter and the ordinance are studied with a clear head and sharp eyes, it can be determined that most of the funds accrued or accruing from the tax will be spent by and for the County and City. Reading the entire letter, the mind of the reader can be transported to the Los Angeles of the Owens Valley era  and its erstwhile superintendent of the Los Angeles Water and Power Department, William Mulholland. Visions of the movie, Chinatown, which is loosely based on Los Angeles’ rape of Owens Valley and Los Angeles’ hand in the final demise of the water once to be found there, Maps,Photos And General Information About Owens Valley also rise to the mind’s surface. But, a read of he book or a look at the PBS series of the same name, The Cadillac Desert, The American West And Its Disappearing Water, will perhaps meld the Santa Fe events with those revealed  in the book and tell a much broader story of how big money and bad politics often destroy those with whom they play fast and loose. A Google © search can provide links to suppliers of the book and video.

Has anyone in the Edgewood area heard of the Top Of The World Farms (TOW). If not, be assured that folks in Taos County have heard about Santa Fe County and their purchase of at least 588 acre feet per year (afy) of water rights from TOW. I say at least, because it is not clear when and exactly how much water was actually purchased by Santa Fe County.  An article from the La Jicarita Times of Northern New Mexico has indicated the transfer, if approved, will be for a minimum of 588 afy Click For Article but could be for substantially more. An article from the Taos Daily Horse Fly  has indicated that   Click For Article  Taos County has stated they will protest these transfers and have passed a resolution to do so.

The entity created by Santa Fe City and County that handles the disbursement of most of the many millions of dollars generated by the tax is known as the Regional Planning Authority (RPA). The RPA has an executive director and five additional staff; though to be fair some staff members serve through their regular employment with the City or County.  A  board consisting of four county commissioners and four city councilors governs the RPA. Conspicuously and suspiciously, there are no board members from the other taxed entities that contribute to the pie. Other disbursements of money can occur outside the purview of the RPA should individual County commissioners put forth projects for funding. There have been several such projects, but none have been finalized for Edgewood. At one point, over two years ago, there was to have been a $400,000 allotment for Edgewood to assist with the completion of the Edgewood wastewater treatment facility, but the County insisted on an ownership scheme in the facility and no funds were ever forthcoming.

»» First, Do No Harm (Part Two)

What? A 36″ Giant Sucking Sound!

by Chuck Ring

Just when you thought that the City Different, AKA Santa Fe or Disneyland, was through being outrageous, comes the story that they want to add to their water supply.  Maybe not bad on the surface, but this deal involves sucking or pushing water through a 36″ pipeline from Ft. Sumner.  Such sucking and/or pushing would be over a distance of 145 miles and a lift in elevation from 4049 feet altitude to an elevation of 7320 feet altitude.  A lift of 3271 feet through a 36 inch pipeline will require enormous energy, materials and “mucho dinero.”  Similar problems did not deter Santa Fe City several years ago when they hatched a similar scheme to import water from the Estancia Basin in Torrance County to Santa Fe. A very vocal Estancia Basin contingency and a well-attended Santa Fe City Council meeting put a dam up to halt that particular project.

I am preparing a series of articles that will shed light on some of  the two Santa Fes’ (The Twins) water deals and gimmicks. The articles will be published here and will be utilized elsewhere in an attempt to halt the craziness of The Twins and their like, especially as their actions apply to taxing entities that will not see benefit of such taxation and similar actions. Until I post the first article in the series, you can  slake your thirst by accessing and reading an article on the subject which appears in today’s (Sunday, November 2, 2008) Santa Fe New Mexican:

http://www.santafenewmexican.com/Local%20News/Private-water-pipeline-proposed-for-S-F-

That’s it for now.

GadAbout-BlogAlot


We Are Known By Our Deeds – Not By Our Words

by Chuck Ring

One can find allies in the oddest places. Take most any war or human conflict. It seems there is always someone to be found that will agree to ally themselves with another for a price or the sake of a credo. So it is with Santa Fe Commissioner Jack Sullivan and myself – although the Commissioner is likely oblivious to our partnership.

I first met Jack Sullivan just after he started his first term as a Santa Fe County Commissioner. I suppose it was around the beginning of 2000 when he attended our first town event approximately one year after Edgewood’s incorporation. I was a neophyte Edgewood Town Councilor and found Sullivan’s then stated concepts regarding taxation and assistance from the county to Edgewood, to be akin to my own. The ensuing years were to offer less than positive reinforcement to my opinion of Commissioner Sullivan’s actual taxing policies.

Fast forward to 2002 when Santa Fe City and Santa Fe County initiated efforts toward placing a quarter cent gross receipts tax on a referendum for or against the tax which was commonly referred to as a water/wastewater tax. This referendum passed and with what appeared to be a “hands across the waters” attempt, Commissioner Sullivan penned a letter dated February 6, 2003 wherein he enumerated what each of them (county and city) could have if they could but agree one with the other. Click Me To See The Letter The goodies subsequently received and action taken by each entity is a study in provincialism and greed on the part of Santa Fe City and Santa Fe County. An in-depth study of Commissioner Sullivan’s letter will leave no doubt that the process of doling out the money to Santa Fe County and Santa Fe City, along with a few paltry crumbs to to other Northern Santa Fe County entities, was meant to be tight-fisted unless the benefactors were “real” players in the process.

A cursory examination of the minutes and work history of the Santa Fe County/Santa Fe City Regional Planning Authority (RPA) Some Examples Of RPA Work will serve to reinforce what is stated above. Additionally, the governing board of  the RPA consists of Santa Fe County Commissioners and Santa Fe City Councilors. What’s the point in all of this nagging?

Here’s the point. In all the years that the “water/wastewater tax” (actually titled “County Capital Outlay Gross Receipts Tax”) has been in place, no monies from the fund created by the tax has accrued to Edgewood or the greater Edgewood Community. Instead, to put a twist on an old observation, the money has flowed uphill. It has flowed uphill to the two Santa Fe entities’ joint projects. Edgewood tax proceeds have unfortunately proceeded post-haste to Santa Fe to the tune of close to a million dollars.

In several letters and observations made by Commissioner Sullivan in recent months, the eighth cent gross receipts transportation tax has been denigrated by Commissioner Sullivan as “taxation without representation.” Commissioner Sullivan cites the one-sided composition of the Regional Transit Authority’s board as proof of under representation from Santa Fe City and County. Of course, I agree that the tax is another case of taxation without representation and I am opposed to the tax for that reason and a few other reasons. But, I have to wonder where Commissioner Sullivan and the rest of the Santa Fe County Commission (excepting Commissioner Mike Anaya who has fought an uphill battle for Edgewood) have been when Edgewood Town Government members and staff have journeyed to Santa Fe to get a thin slice of the pie that we in the Edgewood Community have helped to bake.

I will vote against the eighth cent transportation tax on November 4, 2008 and will work to convince others to oppose the tax, but just as important, I will continue to “rail” against the unfair taxing policies of Santa Fe County and their city partner regarding the water/wastewater tax and other similar taxes where Edgewood gives, but Edgewood does not receive.

Anyone desirous of stopping the unfair treatment of Edgewood in the future might consider penning their own letter or email to their county commissioners, state representatives and senators pointing out the sheer inequities foisted on Edgewood through taxing policy that allows taxing of small communities for the sole benefit of counties and larger communities.

“When The Water Is Gone, It will Be Too Late”

by CHUCK RING

That’s just one of the statements from the bench that Judge J. C. Robinson, a Silver City District Judge made during his ruling that could change the rights of citizens to drill domestic wells within the State of New Mexico.

If the ruling is upheld during appeal or appeals, it will likely have costly and devastating results for those who seek water for residential use where there are no private or public water supplies. In some cases, those who currently have domestic wells where there are public or private water supplies available, might be forced to “plug” the domestic wells.

Those interested, AND I suspect many will be, can access a rather short, but complete article at this link:

http://www.santafenewmexican.com/Local%20News/Judge-upends-state-well-permit-law

or, if you subscribe to the Albuquerque Journal, you can access their online version or if you aren’t a subscriber you can utilize a trial scheme. In any case, here’s the link for the subscription scheme provided by the Albuquerque Journal:

http://www.abqjournal.com/news/state/121147107-12-08.htm