Cervantes criticizes governor’s water proposals

State Rep. Joseph Cervantes of Las Cruces is one of a bipartisan group of legislators complaining that the governor’s water agenda for the legislative session doesn’t do enough for water conservation.

This might show that Cervantes isn’t backing down on issues in order to gain support for his bid to become House majority leader, and that he would be part of a leadership team that would exercise independence from the governor – something the House has done little of in recent years.

Cervantes, according to the Associated Press, said at Thursday’s meeting of the Water and Natural Resources Committee that Richardson’s proposed package for the 2007 session doesn’t deal with agricultural conservation, though that accounts for 75 percent of water use in the state.

“We’re throwing money at the problem, which government always does,” Cervantes said, according to the news service. “That’s one solution, but it’s not a very comprehensive solution and it doesn’t show the leadership we need to show on this issue. I don’t see the conservation component to this.”

Cervantes comes from a farming family and said because farmers who don’t use water lose it, his family opted against expanding a water-saving drip irrigation system.

“Frankly, what’s happening is farmers are trying to hold on to their land long enough to cash in on their water rights,” he said. “That’s the mentality – use every acre-foot. Avoid conservation, because it’s not being recognized as a benefit to them.”

Rep. Andy Nuñez said he will introduce a tax credit to encourage such conservation this session. But he’s already done that four times without success, according to the news service.

“I never could get it through my own committee, Taxation and Revenue,” Nuñez was quoted as saying. “If I put one in there for oil and gas, it would have gotten through, but I never could get one through for agriculture.”

Richardson’s plan proposes $25 million for the Water Trust Fund, $10 million for statewide leak detection and repair, $10 million for water innovation projects, $15.3 million for a pipeline that will connect systems on the Navajo Nation, $12 million for Indian water-rights lawsuit settlements, $7.5 million to restore river ecosystems, $5 million to design a pipeline from the Ute Reservoir, $5 million for the Strategic Water Reserve, $2.2 million to study the Salt Basin, $1.5 million for new staff, and $1 million for agricultural easements, according to the news service.