{"id":578004,"date":"2018-05-11T12:00:03","date_gmt":"2018-05-11T18:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=578004"},"modified":"2018-05-10T09:36:23","modified_gmt":"2018-05-10T15:36:23","slug":"cooperation-is-the-only-answer-to-nms-water-woes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2018\/05\/cooperation-is-the-only-answer-to-nms-water-woes\/","title":{"rendered":"Cooperation is the only answer to NM\u2019s water woes"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Rio

Laura Paskus \/ New Mexico Political Report<\/p>

The Rio Grande is currently dry for about 17 miles south of Socorro.<\/p><\/div>\n

COMMENTARY:<\/strong> The snow didn\u2019t come this winter. The Rio Grande is drying up early<\/a>. We\u2019re tapping into our groundwater to compensate. New Mexico is in a complex legal battle for water<\/a> involving Texas, Colorado and the federal government that we\u2019re unlikely to win. That could have dire consequences, especially for people in Southern New Mexico.<\/p>\n

And fire season started early this year, at least by historical standards. Our region is already visibly experiencing the effects of a warming climate. Plus we screwed up forest management for a century. Now we\u2019re losing our pine forests<\/a>. They aren\u2019t growing back.<\/p>\n

\"Heath

Heath Haussamen<\/p><\/div>\n

Over the past few years, as I\u2019ve watched this play out, one thought has come to mind over and over.<\/p>\n

Thanks, Gary King.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s a bit glib, of course. New Mexico\u2019s former attorney general is hardly to blame for the planet\u2019s warming climate, cyclical drought, forest mismanagement, our confusing and disastrous water laws, and decades of growth without a sustainable water plan. We all share that blame.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s clear that the only way to address these issues, at least the only option that gives New Mexico any chance at a better future, is cooperation \u2013 across the political aisle, between local government agencies, with businesses and residents, and with other states and nations.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s where King blew it.<\/p>\n

A decade ago, when the reservoir levels dropped at Elephant Butte and Caballo lakes, local water and irrigation districts in Southern New Mexico and El Paso County, Texas, signed a new agreement with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, agreeing to share the pain through drought.<\/p>\n

Neighborly and reasonable.<\/p>\n

King\u2019s office didn\u2019t like it. The N.M. attorney general sued the federal government<\/a>, alleging Texas was getting too much water from the Rio Grande.<\/p>\n

The war began. Texas sued back, alleging that New Mexico had for decades taken more water than allowed by letting farmers pump groundwater, which drains the river. \u201cI feel like we had no choice,\u201d Texas\u2019 commissioner on the Rio Grande Compact Commission, Patrick Gordon, recently told New Mexico Political Report<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The federal government joined in, arguing that New Mexico was also hurting the United States\u2019 ability to meet its obligation to deliver water to Mexico.<\/p>\n

In other words, when King threw a grenade at a cooperative agreement, Texas and the federal government responded with nukes.<\/p>\n

Folks who understand water law generally don\u2019t expect New Mexico to win this battle. We may owe Texas $1 billion to compensate for past years. Farmers and others, particularly in Southern New Mexico, may have to stop pumping groundwater. Farms may vanish. Economic development projects could be halted<\/a>. Cities may struggle to serve residents.<\/p>\n

The future of the Mesilla Valley is in jeopardy.<\/p>\n

What now? Our current attorney general, Hector Balderas, with a team of local and state agencies by his side, has continued the war King started, even hiring his old law firm, no experts in water law or U.S. Supreme Court cases, to argue the case. I\u2019d like to see Balderas put down New Mexico\u2019s guns and try to negotiate a truce. Maybe there\u2019s still a chance to share the pain in dry years, which are becoming increasingly common.<\/p>\n

And we must elect leaders who understand the need for cooperation. While history may not remember King kindly, perhaps we can learn from his mistake.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re going to lose our forests<\/a>, at least as we know them today. Our rivers will flow less often<\/a>. But that doesn\u2019t mean our state has to shrivel up and die.<\/p>\n

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Heath Haussamen<\/a>\u00a0is NMPolitics.net\u2019s editor and publisher.\u00a0Agree with his opinion? Disagree? We welcome your views. Learn about submitting your own commentary\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

COMMENTARY: Maybe it’s not too late to learn from former Attorney General Gary King’s big mistake.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":572280,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1192,10],"tags":[147,224,1283,3272,277],"class_list":["post-578004","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-commentary","category-haussamen-columns","tag-environment","tag-gary-king","tag-hector-balderas","tag-u-s-supreme-court","tag-water","prominence-top-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/578004","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=578004"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/578004\/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=578004"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=578004"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=578004"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}