{"id":572271,"date":"2018-05-01T14:49:25","date_gmt":"2018-05-01T20:49:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=572271"},"modified":"2018-05-03T15:50:28","modified_gmt":"2018-05-03T21:50:28","slug":"with-lawsuit-pending-texas-watches-nms-groundwater-management","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2018\/05\/with-lawsuit-pending-texas-watches-nms-groundwater-management\/","title":{"rendered":"With lawsuit pending, Texas watches NM\u2019s groundwater management"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_572280\"  class=\"wp-caption module image alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 771px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-572280\" src=\"http:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/IMG_1193-771x485.jpg\" alt=\"Rio Grande\" width=\"771\" height=\"485\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/IMG_1193-771x485.jpg 771w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/IMG_1193-336x211.jpg 336w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/IMG_1193-768x483.jpg 768w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/IMG_1193-1170x736.jpg 1170w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/IMG_1193.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 771px) 100vw, 771px\" \/><p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Laura Paskus \/ New Mexico Political Report<\/p><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Rio Grande is currently dry for about 17 miles south of Socorro.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>As drying in the Middle Rio Grande spreads, and a lawsuit over the river\u2019s waters moves through the U.S. Supreme Court, a top Texas official is calling out New Mexico\u2019s water boss.<\/p>\n<p>Texas\u2019 commissioner on the Rio Grande Compact Commission, Patrick Gordon, wrote a letter to New Mexico State Engineer Tom Blaine earlier this month. In it, he noted that certain actions by Blaine could put New Mexico at risk for even greater damages if Texas prevails in its case on the Rio Grande.<\/p>\n<p>Specifically, Gordon is concerned Blaine will approve a copper company\u2019s plan to pump more than a billion gallons of groundwater each year from near Hillsboro, N.M.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"module align-left half type-aside\">\n<h3>About this article<\/h3>\n<p>This article comes from\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/nmpoliticalreport.com\/831391\/given-scotus-lawsuit-texas-keeps-an-eye-on-nms-groundwater-management\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">New Mexico Political Report<\/a>,\u00a0a nonprofit news organization\u00a0focused on promoting a greater public understanding of politics and policy in the state of New Mexico.<\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p>Doing so would would violate the Rio Grande Compact of 1938, Gordon wrote, adding: \u201cThese ongoing violations reinforce Texas\u2019s action in the United States Supreme Court and add to its recoverable damages against New Mexico.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Five years ago, Texas sued New Mexico and Colorado, alleging that by allowing farmers in Southern New Mexico to pump groundwater near the Rio Grande, New Mexico failed for decades to send its legal share of water downstream. Texas filed the lawsuit\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/nmpoliticalreport.com\/794163\/does-no-141-original-texas-v-new-mexico-and-colorado-have-you-befuddledits-okay\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">after New Mexico sued<\/a>\u00a0over a 2008 operating agreement between the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, Southern New Mexico farmers and Texas water users. This year, the<a href=\"http:\/\/nmpoliticalreport.com\/811284\/breaking-u-s-supreme-court-issues-opinion-on-texas-v-new-mexico-colorado\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u00a0Supreme Court allowed<\/a>\u00a0the U.S. government to intervene in the case against New Mexico, too.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTexas is not trying to take New Mexico\u2019s water, at all,\u201d Gordon said to\u00a0<i>NM Political Report<\/i>\u00a0of\u00a0<i>Texas v. New Mexico &amp; Colorado.<\/i>\u00a0\u201cWhat we\u2019re hoping is New Mexico will manage its groundwater in a manner that does not impact deliveries of surface water to Texas, which is what the problem is now.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>Like water for copper<\/h3>\n<p>Eight years ago, New Mexico Copper Corporation (NMCC) started lining up permits to re-open an abandoned copper mine near Hillsboro. It planned to use groundwater rights purchased in the 1980s, but last year, a state judge found\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/nmpoliticalreport.com\/792260\/judge-tosses-out-water-rights-mining-company-was-banking-on-for-copper-flats-en\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">most of the water rights claimed by the company are no longer valid<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>NMCC appealed that decision and filed a new application with the Office of the State Engineer to pump 5,234 acre-feet of water each year.<\/p>\n<p>Opposed by some local residents and landowners, the mine also attracted attention from downstream water users along the Rio Grande. Elephant Butte Irrigation District and the New Mexico Pecan Growers opposed the project, commenting that pumping groundwater for the mine could affect the water rights of its members.<\/p>\n<p>In a 2016 letter to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM), which was studying potential impacts from the mine\u2019s reopening, the<a href=\"http:\/\/nmpoliticalreport.com\/146649\/questions-remain-as-company-seeks-to-re-open-long-defunct-copper-mine\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u00a0New Mexico Interstate Stream Commission<\/a> (ISC) noted that BLM didn\u2019t adequately consider impacts on New Mexico\u2019s ability to meet its Rio Grande water delivery requirements to Texas.<\/p>\n<p>In the BLM\u2019s 2017\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/eplanning.blm.gov\/epl-front-office\/eplanning\/planAndProjectSite.do?methodName=dispatchToPatternPage&amp;currentPageId=112704\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">environmental impact statement<\/a>, the agency noted the predicted reductions in groundwater will have a \u201cmore notable effect on the Rio Grande, reducing surface water flows and potentially the amount of water stored behind Caballo Reservoir.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Caballo Reservoir is just downstream of Elephant Butte Reservoir; the two\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/uttoncenter.unm.edu\/pdfs\/water-matters-2015\/20_New%20Mexicos_Major_Reservoirs-An_Overview.pdf\">store water<\/a>\u00a0for downstream users in New Mexico and Texas.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_572281\"  class=\"wp-caption module image alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 771px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-572281\" src=\"http:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/unnamed-1-771x513.jpg\" alt=\"Rio Grande\" width=\"771\" height=\"513\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/unnamed-1-771x513.jpg 771w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/unnamed-1-336x223.jpg 336w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/unnamed-1-768x511.jpg 768w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/unnamed-1.jpg 1015w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 771px) 100vw, 771px\" \/><p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Laura Paskus \/ New Mexico Political Report<\/p><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Orchards in Southern New Mexico rely upon water from the Rio Grande.<\/p><\/div>\n<h3>&#8216;I feel like we had no choice&#8217;<\/h3>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re concerned about the actions of the state engineer,\u201d Gordon told\u00a0<i>NM Political Report<\/i>, adding that Texas isn\u2019t trying involve itself in how New Mexico manages its groundwater. Gordon also noted that the problems didn\u2019t start with Blaine, but have been ongoing since \u201cway before\u201d Blaine became state engineer in 2014.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is not about New Mexico\u2019s groundwater,\u201d Gordon explained. \u201cBut if you read the environmental impact statement, it talks about river flow and storage in Caballo. That\u2019s surface water. And surface water is what\u2019s delivered to Texas.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The proposed mine could also affect water quality, he said. \u201cThe tailings ponds are [in the watershed] right above Caballo: what happens if those leak?\u201d he asked. \u201cThat\u2019s not just a Texas issue.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In his letter to Blaine, Gordon also disputed that the company\u2019s acquisition of water rights from the Jicarilla Apache Nation is a solution.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>In a 2015 agreement, NMCC proposed leasing San Juan-Chama water from the Jicarilla Apache Nation. (That is water piped from the San Juan River, a tributary of the Colorado River, into the Chama, which feeds into the Rio Grande.) That water wouldn\u2019t be used at the mine, but would replace water lost to the river due to groundwater pumping.<\/p>\n<p>According to Gordon\u2019s letter, that 15-year lease \u201cwould not come close to remedying the immediate and long term depletions\u201d to the river and the reservoir.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re in a drought, we understand that we all need to manage water, and we think the operating agreement has done a good job in managing the water that\u2019s available from the project,\u201d he said, referring to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation\u2019s Rio Grande Project, which delivers water stored in Elephant Butte and Caballo reservoirs to Southern New Mexico and Texas.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen New Mexico sued the two districts and the U.S. over the operating agreement, that\u2019s when Texas decided we had to go to the Supreme Court,\u201d he said. \u201cI feel like we had no choice.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>No end in sight to drying<\/h3>\n<p>In the Middle Rio Grande south of Socorro, about 17 miles of the river are currently dry, at a time of year when the channel should be full of snowmelt and spring flows. Water managers anticipate\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/nmpoliticalreport.com\/822352\/its-only-april-and-a-stretch-of-the-rio-grande-has-already-dried-en\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the drying<\/a>\u00a0will expand north, <a href=\"http:\/\/nmpoliticalreport.com\/824746\/public-should-be-ready-for-the-rio-grandes-bad-year-en\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reaching Albuquerque this summer<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are working closely with our partners to do everything we can to keep this stretch wet as long as we can,\u201d said Mary Carlson, spokeswoman for the Bureau of Reclamation\u2019s Albuquerque Area Office.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe extreme difficulty will come when MRGCD stops or curtails regular operations and is operating strictly with P&amp;P water for the Pueblos,\u201d Carlson said, referring to the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District and \u201cprior and paramount\u201d water the federal government delivers to tribes along the Rio Grande.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur modeling shows that could happen as early as the end of June or early July,\u201d she said. \u201cBut we\u2019re hopeful that with the help of some summer storms and close coordination with our partnering agencies, we might be able to push that back further to mid-August.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, water managers anticipate New Mexico will enter Article 7 conditions on the Rio Grande in May.<\/p>\n<p>Under the Rio Grande Compact, New Mexico cannot store water in upstream reservoirs if Rio Grande Project storage drops below 400,000 acre-feet in Elephant Butte and Caballo reservoirs.<\/p>\n<p><i>NM Political Report<\/i>\u00a0reached out to the public information officers for both the Office of the State Engineer and the Office of the Attorney General, seeking comment on Gordon\u2019s letter. Office of the Attorney General Spokesman James Hallinan sent an emailed statement.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe New Mexico Attorney General takes very seriously New Mexico\u2019s ability to meet its Compact obligations. The Office of the Attorney General has reviewed Mr. Gordon\u2019s letter, and is working both with the Office of the State Engineer and the Interstate Stream Commission to assess whether, if approved, the proposed permit would impact Rio Grande surface flows or New Mexico\u2019s Compact compliance obligations,\u201d Hallinan wrote. \u201cThe Attorney General is also working with the OSE and ISC to ensure that actions related to groundwater permitting do not adversely affect New Mexico\u2019s litigation position in the\u00a0<i>Texas v. New Mexico<\/i>\u00a0case.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hallinan also noted that the permit application in question is not \u201cin the process of being approved,\u201d but rather is \u201cin the process of being evaluated, with these concerns and others in mind.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Consistent with the agency\u2019s past actions under Blaine, the public information officer for the Office of the State Engineer did not respond to\u00a0<em>NM Political Report<\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As drying in the Middle Rio Grande spreads, and a lawsuit over the river\u2019s waters moves through the U.S. Supreme Court, a top Texas official is calling out New Mexico\u2019s water boss.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":572280,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[147,2260,3272,277],"class_list":["post-572271","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","tag-environment","tag-texas","tag-u-s-supreme-court","tag-water"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/572271","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=572271"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/572271\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/572280"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=572271"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=572271"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=572271"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}