WildernessProtection - New Mexico Wilderness Alliance

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Nature Made the Gila RiverBy Dutch SalmonOf New Mexico’s six mainstemrivers, only the Gilastill fl ows free. Of ournation’s many wilderness areas,only the Gila is our nation’s fi rst. Ofsporting fi sh, only the smallmouthbass earns the accolade “thegamest fi sh that swims.” I standin the free fl ow of the Gila River,fl y rod in hand, in pursuit of thewild bronze bass and the scene isso bucolic, and the concurrence ofqualities so rare, it is hard to imaginethat over the mountains turmoilbrews over this water. Is this whatGod intended for the Gila River?A 1968 Congressional Act (PublicLaw 90-537) authorized as part ofthe Central Arizona Project (CAP),18,000 acre feet (af) of Gila Riverwater for New Mexico, providedthe project did not cause “economicinjury” to downstream usersin Arizona. To protect these downstreamentities (mostly Gila RiverIndian tribes), Arizona users wereto be compensated by 18,000 acreNew Mexico Wildlife FederationPresident Appears on“Hippest Comedy Show in America”Makes America Laugh forthe Good of Otero MesaIf you don’t have cable or satellitetelevision, you’ve probably neverheard of “The Daily Show With JonStewart.” The Daily Show has beencalled the “hippest show in America”and has become extremelypopular as a comedy program thatfi nds the funny side of real news—delivering laughs to millions ofAmericans every evening.Nobody appears on The DailyShow without being poked fun at,but NMWF President Oscar Simpsondidn’t hesitate when he gotthe call requesting that he appearon the nationally televised comedyshow.Simpson appeared on the programalong with New Mexicorancher Tweeti Blancett to tellAmerica that hunters care deeplyabout protecting our environmentand wildlife for generationsto come. In particular, Simpsonand Blancett talked about OteroMesa and the federal government’sunfortunate lack of respect for thewildlife and groundwater resourcesfound there. The Daily Show sent areporter and cameraman to NewMexico to cover the story.The television program showsSimpson telling the reporterpoint blank, “President Bushdoesn’t care about Otero Mesa.”The reporter’s response will giveyou an idea of how The Daily Showdiffers from standard news.“Won’t people just say it’s all sopredictable?” the reporter asksSimpson, “Aren’t you just anotherone of those gun-toting, NRA-supporting,pickup-truck driving, anti-Bush people?”Missed the program? Youcan still see the clip online atwww.comedycentral.com/tv_shows/ds/Click on “correspondents,” then“Samantha Bee,” then “Kill Drill” toview the clip.feet from the Colorado River, andonly surplus “fl ood fl ows” from theGila were to be captured in NewMexico. Many readers will recallthe Conner Dam proposal of the1980s, which sought to captureand develop this water while satisfyingthe economic injury clauseand fi scal and environmental concerns.Ultimately, this project wasshelved by the Bureau of Reclamation(BOR) and the 18,000 af,though technically still “authorized,”was never funded. Thatcould change with the currentArizona Water Settlements Act(S. 437) which has reached theU.S. Senate fl oor. Designed tosettle long-standing water issuesbetween Indian tribes and waterusers in New Mexico and Arizona,the New Mexico delegationis working hard to seethat funding for the act includesmoney to build the New Mexicounit of the CAP.Recent meetings in Silver Cityhave sought to establish a JointPowers Commission of local 4-county representatives (Grant,Luna, Hidalgo and Catron Counties)to contract for this water.Grant County Attorney Jack Hiattspoke of a “window of opportunity”provided by S.437 to giveNew Mexico its rightful shareof the Gila River. Catron Countyrepresentative Howard Hutchinsonsaid, “There is no doubt –this is not only our best chance(to capture the water), it’s ourlast chance.” All of the municipaland county representativesfor the 4-county Joint PowersCommission were unanimous insupport of New Mexico’s effortsto capture the 18,000 af via theArizona Water Settlements Act.Many citizens in the audienceweren’t in agreement with theirelected offi cials, however, andit’s too bad the New Mexico delegation,and Governor Richardson,weren’t in attendance tohear their reasons why the projectshould not proceed. I will tryto sum up their concerns, andmine.First, it is worth noting whythe Conner Dam proposalespañolRepresentantes legislativosde los condados de Grant,Luna, Hidalgo y Catronesperan obtener 18,000pies de acre de agua del RíoGila que fueron autorizadosen el Acta de Congresode 1968 como parte delProyecto Arizona Central.Los anteriores intentos decapturar el agua fueronabandonados, pero esopodría cambiar con el actualActa de Establecimientode Agua de Arizona, la cualestá en consideración porel Senado Estadounidense.Diseñado para resolver losasuntos de agua históricosentre los pueblos indígenas ylos consumidores de agua enNuevo México y Arizona, ladelegación Nuevo Mexicanaestá trabajando duro paraasegurar que los fondos parael Acta incluyen dinero paracapturar el agua del Río Gila.Actualmente, una coaliciónde ciudadanos preocupadoscree que dejar él Rió Gila en suestado natural es en el mejorinterés de la gente. Debemosde reconocer que en fin esnuestra responsabilidad decuidar y proteger el Río Gilapara las generaciones futurasen vez de discutir sobre quiendebe tener el acceso a estaprovisión de agua natural yposiblemente destruir esteregalo precioso.failed. I was a member of the NewMexico Interstate Stream Commissionat the time and I well rememberwhen the BOR pulled the plugon the Conner Dam. The agency,as required by law, did a cost/benefi t analysis, comparing the feasibilityof developing water on theriver via the $100 million ConnerDam vs. the possibility of local governmentpurchase of existing waterrights. They found that there werethousands of acre feet of unusedwater rights lying fallow in both thePage 8 Summer 2004
Volunteer ProfileBob Willisby Stephen CapraMimbres and Gila basins and thatpurchase of such rights would beabout half the cost per acre foot ofdeveloping river water. Where thenwas the rationale for a $100 millionwater project?Nearly 20 years later that rationaleappears even weaker. Accordingto the recently completedSouthwest (NM) Regional Waterplan, Chino Mines (Phelps Dodge)groundwater rights in the MimbresBasin total approximately25,000 af; actual use in 2002 –about 5,000 af. Over the ContinentalDivide in the Gila Basin, TyroneMines (Phelps Dodge) holds nearly11,000 af of water rights (plus 2100af in the Mimbres basin); actual useat their mine and Gila farm – about6,000 af. The total unused allotmentequates to over 25,000 af.This is not to criticize the miningcorporation, which has done a generallygood job of land and waterstewardship in the Gila Valley,but to point out the obvious: asmall portion of what the corporationis not now using would satisfyMunicipal and Industrial use inGrant County for decades to come.Indeed, there are more local waterrights lying fallow than could beprovided by the New Mexico unitof the CAP.Meanwhile, the cost of newwater development has jumped.In a statement to the Senate Energyand Natural Resources Committeein September, 2003, New MexicoState Engineer John D’Antonio said:“We believe we can build a suitableproject for approximately $220million —In the settlement, NewMexico has proposed, and Arizonais considering $150 million infunding for the New Mexico unit …New Mexico would have to makeprovision for at least $70 million inconstruction costs plus substantialannual costs.”Seventy-plus million dollars is avery substantial sum in the statebudget of New Mexico. For thelocal (4-county) taxpayers, upfrontenergy costs were considered atthe Joint Powers meeting of $74/af – about $1.3 million per year, ascary sum at the local level. Shouldlocal and state taxpayers be askedto pony up this kind of money fora water project that is clearly notneeded, just to keep Arizona fromgetting that water?Remember: in a region with littlegrowth, costs will have to be paidyearly whether there are buyersfor the water or not. And Demingand Lordsburg, and Catron County,would appear to be too distant geographicallyto make use of GilaRiver water. Finally, constructioncosts alone would leave the 18,000af costing more than $12,000/af.A discussion of possible environmentalconflicts and concernswould take another column. I willnote here that a mainstream damis not being considered, but ratheran off-stream reservoir in MangasCreek with a large pumping stationon the river to capture the occasionalflood events. Mangas Creekis a perennial flow in its own right,a prime riparian area that may holdone or more threatened or endangeredspecies.A more serious concern may bethe “capture” of flood flows by alarge pumping station. It is wellknown that flood events rejuvenateriparian habitats and thereby speciesup and down the food chain.The Gila River persists throughdroughts and counts its floods asrevival events. It is the last majorflow remaining in the state that canteach us what a natural river shouldlook like.Rather than new diversion andconsumption, New Mexico shouldtake its funding from the ArizonaWater Settlements Act and use itfor watershed and riparian restorations,in-stream flows, and the purchaseof idle water rights for eventualallocation according to needs.Standing in the free flow of theGila River in pursuit of sporting fish,the in-stream values of the Gila areincumbent in the view. A coalitionof anglers, hunters, birdwatchers,hikers, river runnersand fiscal conservatives– believes it best servesthe people left in its natural state.Nature made the Gila River. Itsfuture, however, is in our hands.There are many people who stepin at critical moments to help theNew Mexico Wilderness Alliancein our efforts to protect wildlandsin our state. However, few peoplehave stepped forward and given asgenerously as filmmaker and headof The Image Exchange, Bob Willis.I met Bob in the early days of ourfight to protect Otero Mesa. With30-second commercials averaging$28,000 it was unlikely we wouldbe getting our message out on theairwaves. Bob Willis stepped upand put together not one- but twocommercialsat no cost to our organization.These commercials had adramatic impact on our ability toget the issue of Otero Mesa to abroader audience. But Bob did notstop there. When our Otero MesaPublic Forum was held at the Kimoin January, it was again Bob whowas there to record the event andlater to edit the event into a compelling8-minute piece that has hada big impact on viewers and fundingresources.Bob is an accomplished filmmakerwhose clients include theState of New Mexico, the Universityof New Mexico, the NewMexico Department of Forestry,the City of Gallup, Senior Arts, RioGrande Jewelry and the list goeson. Recently, Bob’s latest film “RioGrande, Live River or Ditch,” airedon KUNM-TV. The Image Exchangewas established in 1986 in Albuquerque.It specializes in producingdocumentary, educational andtraining programs for non-profit,government and corporate clientsin New Mexico. They offer full servicepre-production, productionand post production.Bob Willis has given a gift to thepreservation of wildlands acrossNew Mexico. He is a great friendwhose generosity and hard workhave made a real difference!New Mexico WILD!Page 9
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WildernessProtection - New Mexico Wilderness Alliance

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