N e w s & V i e w s f r o m t h e S u s t ai n ab l e S o u t h w e s t
New Mexico’s Watersheds Forest Health and Landscape Resiliency Minding the Chama Río Grande Diversion Local Food vs. Urban Water
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4 Green Fire Times • April 2016 www.GreenFireTimes.com Vol. 8, No. 4 • April 2016 Issue No. 84 Publisher Green Fire Publishing, LLC Skip Whitson News & Views from the Sustainable Southwest Associate Publisher Barbara E. Brown Winner of the Sustainable Santa Fe Award for Outstanding Educational Project Editor-in-chief Seth Roffman Contents Art Director Determining the Future of New Mexico’s Watersheds Dakini Design, Anna C. Hansen . – Steve Harris, Joanne Hilton, Rosemary Romero . 7 Copy Editors Stephen Klinger, Susan Clair Forest Health and Landscape Resiliency in the San Juan-Chama Watershed Webmaster: Karen Shepherd – Monique DiGiorgio...... 9 Contributing Writers Minding the Chama – Jack Loeffler...... 11 Herman Agoyo, Michael Aune, Monique DiGiorgio, Nate Downey, David Federal Agreement on Gila River Triggers Review ...... 15 Groenfeldt, Steve Harris, Joanne Hilton, Japa K. Khalsa, Jack Loeffler, Alejandro López, Sanders Moore, Quita Ortiz, Seth Op-Ed: Water in New Mexico – Sanders Moore ...... 18 Roffman, Hilario E. Romero, Rosemary Romero From Survival and Sustainable Agriculture to Río Grande Diversion:
Contributing Photographers The History of Santa Fe’s Water Supply Anna C. Hansen, Steve Harris, Japa K. Khalsa, Alejandro López, Quita Ortiz, – Hilario E. Romero and Michael Aune...... 20 Rich Schrader, Seth Roffman The Aamodt Settlement Conundrum ...... 23 PUBLISHER’S ASSISTANT Cisco Whitson-Brown Linking Santa Fe’s Local Food Demand to Urban Water Demand Management Advertising Sales – Quita Ortiz ...... 24 John M. Nye 505.699.3492 [email protected] Op-Ed: El Agua Bendita / Sacred Water – Alejandro López . 27 Skip Whitson 505.471.5177 [email protected] Self-Healing and the Water Pathways of the Body – Japa K. Khalsa. . . 30 Anna C. Hansen 505.982.0155 Could Rainwater Harvesting Solve Flint’s Water Crisis? – Nate Downey . 31 [email protected] Water Newsbites ...... 19, 25, 35, 37 Lisa Powers, 505.629.2655 [email protected] What’s Going On...... 38 Gay Rathman, 505.670.4432 [email protected]
Kurt Young 505.913.0699 [email protected] Distribution Linda Ballard, Barbara Brown, Susan Clair, Co- op Dist. Services, Nick García, Leo Knight, Niki Nicholson Andy Otterstrom (Creative Couriers), PMI, Daniel Rapatz, Tony Rapatz, Wuilmer Rivera, Andrew Tafoya, Skip Whitson, John Woodie Circulation: 30,000 copies Printed locally with 100% soy ink on 100% recycled, chlorine-free paper Green Fire Times c/o The Sun Companies P.O. Box 5588, SF, NM 87502-5588 505.471.5177 • [email protected] © 2016 Green Fire Publishing, LLC Green Fire Times provides useful information for community members, business people, students and visitors—anyone interested in discovering the wealth of opportunities and resources in the Southwest. In support of a more sustainable planet, topics covered range from green businesses, jobs, products, services, entrepreneurship, investing, design, building and energy—to native perspectives on history, arts & culture, ecotourism, education, sustainable agriculture, regional cuisine, water issues and the healing
arts. To our publisher, a more sustainable planet also means © Alejandro López maximizing environmental as well as personal health by Water from an acequia flows through a farm in Santa Cruz, NewM exico minimizing consumption of meat and alcohol. Green Fire Times is widely distributed throughout north- central New Mexico as well as to a growing number of COVER: Río Chama west of the village of Abiquiú, New Mexico New Mexico cities, towns, pueblos and villages. Feedback, announcements, event listings, advertising and article Photo by Anna C. Hansen submissions to be considered for publication are welcome. www.GreenFireTimes.com Green Fire Times • April 2016 5 Free Solar Power!
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6 Green Fire Times • April 2016 www.GreenFireTimes.com Determining the Future of New Mexico’s Watersheds arris Local Strategies Generated at Regional Water-Planning Meetings H
teve arris and osemary omero
S H R R © Steve Río Chama near Benson Bar, where it intersects with the Río Gallina
ío Grande Restoration, an Embudo, New Mexico-based nonprofit resources. They also reviewed the watershed-partnership initiative and discussed focused on improving the health of rivers and watersheds, has received a set of future projects and activities that could support improvement of streams, a WaterSMART grant from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to explore wetlands and aquifers. creationR of a Río Chama Watershed Partnership. The project’s goals are to develop a citizen’s voice in water-management decision-making processes and develop an implementation plan for improving conditions in the Río Chama and its tributary streams such as the ríos Cebolla and Gallina.
Río Grande Restoration (RGR) sees its watershed plan as supplementing and informing planning processes already being undertaken by the Carson and Santa Fe national forests, Interstate Stream Commission (ISC), Río Arriba County and Upper Chama Soil and Water Conservation Districts and helping to address the region’s future efforts to resolve important water- and land-use issues. Chama, Abiquiú and Cebolla In August 2015, with the community-organizing support of Rosemary Romero, who is also working with the ISC on regional water planning, RGR hosted well- attended public meetings in Abiquiú, Chama and Cebolla to hear from neighbors, Chama Peak Land Alliance stewardship field tour in the Brazos Watershed community groups, scientists and managing agencies. They discussed the impacts of flooding, pollution, land use, wildlife habitat, recreation, the role of science Local citizens with diverse perspectives were asked to develop ideas about what a and local knowledge in public health and safety, and the conservation of vital healthy watershed would look like and what values were most important to them. Among the specific issues they identified were environmental releases from El Vado and AbiquiÚ reservoirs and their impacts on fish, wildlife, recreation and riparian ecology; groundwater depletion in the Río Cebolla; wastewater treatment in the village of Chama; landslides, flood damage, forest conditions, wildfire in certain areas; oil and gas exploration; rural development and cultural preservation. A citizen’s voice in water-management decision-making and implementation
People expressed that they want healthy forests, active thinning, more water in the river, protection of drinking water, control of sedimentation and noxious weeds, forage for animals, wildlife corridors, management of livestock populations, floods, erosion and landslides, as well as better management of oil and gas development, fracking and contamination of wells from septic tanks. They were also concerned about lack of water rights and water storage. Río Chama Watershed Congreso Seeking opportunities for collaboration and to develop recommendations for the region’s water- and land-management challenges, on Feb. 26 and 27 students and other citizens, agency planners and nongovernmental organizations—Río Grande Water Fund, Trout Unlimited, Chama Peak Land Alliance—came together at the Río Chama Watershed Congreso, held at Ghost Ranch in Abiquiú. continued on page 8 www.GreenFireTimes.com Green Fire Times • April 2016 7 Determining the Future continued from page 7 Land Stewardship While land ownership, management and use are very diverse in the region, Local mediator/facilitator Rosemary landowners share a common desire to keep this spectacular landscape healthy Romero welcomed the group, reviewed through stewardship efforts. Given adequate support, landowners are in a unique the purpose of the meeting and position to respond quickly, implementing management practices that proactively provided a summary of the outcomes address threats such as drought, catastrophic wildfire, historic overuse of the land and degradation of bird and wildlife habitat. from the previous three meetings. Río Chama Watershed Partnership project A full-time coordinator for the Chama Peak Land Alliance’s (CPLA) Stewardship manager Steve Harris thanked the Program works side by side with private landowners to further their management project’s partners (Chama Peak Land and conservation goals: • Coordination of landscape-scale, multiproperty conservation projects Alliance, The Nature Conservancy, including river and wetland restoration and forest health New Mexico Wildlife Center and • Connecting landowners to economic and technical resources River Source), mentioned that there • Sharing ecologically and economically sound land-management practices are several planning efforts with a through peer networking, landowner-expert problem solving, and local land- variety of funding sources going on management workshops that overlap with the project, and • Presenting a unified response to issues such as oil and gas and other development that threaten the rural landscape presented an overview. He described the region as a “hydrologic commons” Some of the Alliance’s major accomplishments: that needs to be protected and restored • Restoration along 6.75 miles of the Navajo River with nine landowners and and noted that the word “Chama” two miles of the Río Chama ich Schrader • Planting of 450 native willows, bareroot seedlings, alders and cottonwoods R in Keres means tomorrow, and, in
© along the Navajo River and its tributaries to increase riparian health, water Coronado High School students measure Tewa, wrestling place. “We are in the quality and wildlife habitat water depth on the Río Gañones. wrestling place of tomorrow,” he said. • Engaging 30 landowners in conservation, restoration and agricultural projects affecting hundreds of thousands of acres in key private lands • Reaching out to more than 2,000 landowners throughout the region, inviting Rivers like the Chama should be viewed as a them to participate in CPLA’s stewardship efforts “hydrologic commons” to be protected and restored. • Over 30 nonprofit, state and federal partners are working with CPLA on private lands stewardship To set the foundation for issues identified from the previous public meetings, six • $530,000 in private dollars raised for habitat restoration presentations, followed by questions and answers, were prepared by the Congreso’s • $125,000 of in-kind professional and volunteer match raised supporting key partners: planning and implementation of on-the-ground projects • $150,000 raised in staff capacity and support of stewardship efforts • Forests Health/Restoration—Monique DiGiorgio, San Juan-Chama • 10 workshops held across the Colorado/New Mexico landscape, connecting Partnership private landowners with technical and financial resources through experts • Education/Economic Development—Rich Schrader, River Source and partners • Water Management/Streamflow—Steve Harris, Río Grande Restoration • Landslides, Flooding, and Erosion—Keenan Boliek-Poling I nterstate Stream Commission • Fish and Wildlife —Katherine Eagleson, New Mexico Wildlife Center Regional Water Planning • Río Grande Water Fund—Laura McCarthy, The Nature Conservancy by Joanne Hilton and Rosemary Romero In 2013, the New Mexico Office of the State Engineer and the ISC initiated an Students from Gallina, New Mexico’s, Coronado High School presented their study of approach for updating 16 regional water plans that could help inform the State water quality in Cañones Creek and offered recommendations for watershed management. Water Plan, as required by the authorizing legislation. Surrounding states have been actively planning for dwindling water supplies due to prolonged drought in In small groups of their choosing related to each issue, the participants brainstormed the Southwest that, despite a respite in 2015, studies suggest is likely to continue. So a variety of strategies such as providing environmental flows, developing wildlife it was timely to begin to update the regional water plans. Many were 10 years old. corridors, fencing projects, reducing the elk population by working with agencies such as New Mexico Game and Fish, creating jobs, educational opportunities, Critical for the plans has been the funding aspect of projects or programs needed rehabilitating acequia diversions and improving fisheries. to meet long-term water supply and demand. Many regions used New Mexico Environment Department funding for addressing water-quality issues, while others depended on U.S. Forest Service Collaborative Forest Restoration dollars, Soil and Water Conservation dollars and National Resources Conservation Service support.
Another important funding source for many projects is the Water Trust Board. This funder prioritizes proposals that are in an ISC-accepted Regional Water Plan, which includes publicly funded water infrastructure, conservation, flood prevention, watershed and endangered species projects.
The ISC Regional Water Planning Update includes the following objectives:
• Updating 16 regional water plans in a common timeframe • Providing a better process for informing funding agencies of water-project needs • Informing future updates of the State Water Plan • Providing opportunity for local collaboration The ISC has used several consulting teams to help the 16 regions with their Rich Schrader works with students to identify aquatic insects called benthic updates. The planning team of Joanne Hilton, hydrologist, and Rosemary Romero, macroinvertebrates that provide insight into the health of a stream. continued on page 16
8 Green Fire Times • April 2016 www.GreenFireTimes.com Fo rest Health and Landscape Resiliency ansen H in the San Juan-Chama Watershed Monique DiGiorgio © Anna C. La Plata Mountain Range, Pagosa Springs, Colorado hat do southern Colorado recreation, including hunting and percent of Bernalillo County’s water habitat and support a sustainable and northern New Mexico outfitting opportunities that attract supply. Three watersheds—the Navajo, biomass industry that creates jobs and have in common? In international visitors. Little Navajo and Blanco—are tapped boosts the economy. addition to sharing a border, the for water that is transferred under the W In the center of the region is the Bureau As part of the partnership, the Chama southern San Juan Mountains contain Continental Divide to the Chama of Reclamation’s San Juan-Chama Peak Land Alliance and The Nature forested watersheds of high value River and then to the Río Grande. Diversion, which moves 110,000 acre- Conservancy’s New Mexico office have to both states. The area supports feet of water annually from the San teamed up under the auspices of the traditional agricultural operations, Juan Basin to the central Río Grande The waters of the Río Grande Water Fund to, over the substantial wildlife populations, Valley, providing approximately 50 next three years, conduct prescribed fire tourism-based economies and public San Juan-Chama percent of Santa Fe County’s and 90 Diversion support and thinning on 800 acres to improve forest health and restore wildlife habitat. Prescribed Burning on Private Lands nearly a million people, To accomplish this, they plan to 1) Intentionally putting fire on the ground as a land-management practice is, at as well as native fish create fire plans for private lands and best, a complex and responsibility-laden endeavor. One only has to look at federal coordinate fire-management activities government nomenclature to get the first wisp of this complexity. Early on, as federal and migratory birds. land managers were beginning to use fire, they called the burns “controlled fires” across jurisdictional boundaries to include local, state and federal agencies but, because control was an oxymoron, given the chaos of fire behavior, the term The waters of the San Juan-Chama including the U.S. Forest Service, as “prescribed fire” quickly won favor. When control was lost on some prescribed fires Diversion support nearly a million that became very large wildfires in the early 2000s, the federal name shifted to “fire- well as tribal and other jurisdictions people, as well as native fish and use.” Still, most resource managers heard their seventh-grade English teachers scold responsible for fire management in the migratory birds. Like much of the them each time they said “the fire-use fire.”T oday, the feds refer to their intentional project area; 2) share lessons learned from fire as a “managed fire,” and they are less concerned whether they started the fire or western United States, it ignited naturally; they are managing the fire for resource benefit. wildfire risk for these watersheds is high. Based Most private landowners on similar regions that have are less concerned with being politically experienced catastrophic correct, and so the term fire, large-scale erosion, “prescribed fire” is still landslides and post-fire preferred with private debris such as dead trees land managers. What will challenge the operation landowners are extremely of this diversion. Not only concerned with is the liability that comes with does this threat affect the purposefully igniting a consistent delivery of clean fire with the intention of water to New Mexico providing better forest communities; floods and management. In New debris-flow will also affect Mexico, the liability for open burning lies with the landowner, and it is the communities like Chromo responsibility of the landowner to ensure that such activities are conducted in a safe and responsible manner. Should a prescribed fire escape control and become a and Edith, in Colorado. wildfire, then the state has a responsibility to fully suppress the fire. The landowner To proactively address these can be liable for all associated costs and penalties. issues, the Chama Peak Navajo River The landowner is also responsible for acquiring all applicable permits, including Land Alliance launched smoke permits from the New Mexico Environment Department and burn permits the San Juan-Chama Watershed cross-boundary management in this issued by each respective county where the burn is taking place. For less complex Partnership (www.sanjuanchama. landscape with others restoring forests fires, such as burning isolated piles with snow on the ground, many ranchers org) in 2014. This community-based in the Río Grande Water Fund area conduct these activities on their own. For more complex broadcast burning, most partnership is working to increase and with other members of the national private land managers will hire consultants to write burn plans and implement the burns with qualified staff. the resiliency and ecosystem health Fire Learning Network; and 3) increase of the watershed. Through thoughtful the ability of local ranches, community Although many landowners choose not to use fire on their lands, those who do restoration and management, the members and government partners generally find fire is more economical for slash disposal and keeping forest stands partnership intends to improve the to conduct prescribed burns through healthy than using mechanical operations. In addition, burning recycles nutrients health of forests, increase water yield, trainings and workshops in the region. in the forest and helps put forest ecosystems into more natural conditions. improve water quality and wildlife continued on page 16
www.GreenFireTimes.com Green Fire Times • April 2016 9 10 Green Fire Times • April 2016 www.GreenFireTimes.com Minding the Chama Jack Loeffler arbara Turner has penned a superb essay entitled “Thinking Like the Río Chama Watershed” thatB appears in a finely designed chapbook of the same name and published by the Río Arriba Concerned Citizens. In this essay, she clearly defines what a watershed is, the nature of the water cycle, the biogeographical characteristics, the diverse cultural characteristics—the compelling beauty of this Chama River bioregion.
Barbara Turner points out that almost the entire watershed is contained in the geopolitically defined region presently known as Río Arriba County of northwestern New Mexico. And she ansen (2) H conveys the current faces of jeopardy— including “fracking”—that threaten this watershed, which conjoins with that of © Anna C. the Río Grande further downstream. She The Brazos in the San Juan Range in the Chama Valley provides us with an excellent model of how to look at homeland in a balanced and educated fashion, a true bioregional it is a way of doing justice to the complexity of the situation actually on the ground. approach that would moderate the threat of turning habitat into money—the So the way I would define a bioregion is, I would imagine a GIS [Geographic hallmark of the prevailing monoculture. I love this little chapbook, a tastefully Information System] layer [on a map]. And the first layer is a watershed. And handcrafted way to convey information in this time of digitized techno-fantasy. then I would imagine that you would add to that a series of layers that have to do with plant distributions. And then a series of layers that would have to do with The watershed of the Río Chama animal territories. And over that you would put layers that have to do with human culture. And over that, maybe lastly, you would put air-shed types of things. So, remains a jewel of Nature. then, imagine you are up above, and you are looking down through the layers. “Thinking Like the Río Chama Watershed” is also a model of perceiving a What you would have then, if you imagine some opaqueness to the watershed, watershed as a commons. However, the European definition of commons differs is that each map has some opaqueness that defines the territory of what you are from that of the Tewa-speaking people who are indigenous to this region. The big talking about. Then, if you imagine looking down through these series of GIS difference is that the sons and daughters of Europe perceive the commons as a layers or transparencies, then at some center you would have a very dark area. And region of common-pool resources freely available to all humans, whereas the Tewa then gradually, the denseness, the darkness would decrease as you went outward people perceive the commons as everything in Nature as an integrated system on until at the level of air shed, you would have the thinnest layer. which everything therein reciprocally relies for subsistence. This is a valid holistic perception that is much more in keeping with the flow of Nature. “So, then, for practical purposes, the bioregions are the very dense areas toward the center. Clearly, you could never precisely define the boundaries of the bioregions. As a point of reference, the last Ice Age, known as the Pleistocene, ended about That would be good because, in fact, things are complex. And, eventually, you 11,700 years ago. The warming trends ushered in what is known to science as the would get out at last to the entire Earth, and that would acknowledge the fact that Holocene epoch. Quite recently, there has been a move to change the name of we are all part of one system. So that is how I would go marking out a bioregion. the present epoch yet again to Anthropocene because our anthropocentric species And one of the reasons for it, of course, when you come back to the practicalities is regarded by many as the greatest force now shaping the flow of Nature on our of the situation, is getting people involved in your bioregion. Watershed is a nice planet Earth and even beyond. My personal preference would be that we simply continued on page 12 change one letter in Holocene, to Holicene, to ratify a much broader perception of what wholeness really means.
Fifteen years ago, I was busily producing a six-part radio series for Public Radio entitled “Moving Waters: The Colorado River and the West.” In my travels, I chanced to meet Dr. David Robertson, a professor at the University of California- Davis, who was then teaching aspects of bioregionalism. I asked him to provide his view of bioregionalism:
“I would start off with the notion of a watershed. And the term watershed is used around the country, probably more frequently than bioregion. Watershed is a nice place to start because it doesn’t have the political overtones of bioregion. Also, watershed can be pretty easily delineated. You can mark it off on a map with great accuracy.
“One of the reasons to pursue a bioregional approach from my point of view is that Longhorn cattle in the Chama Valley www.GreenFireTimes.com Green Fire Times • April 2016 11 Minding the Chama continued from page 11
behalf of our planetary habitat each adopt an endangered species, and then work relentlessly to restore these creatures to their native homelands, we may yet piece our shattered ecosystems back together into some state of balance. Dr. Melissa Savage is a highly regarded scientist who responds to her intuitions and aesthetic sensibilities as well as her intellect.
Downstream from the dam, the Río Chama passes into the Abiquiú Valley, where Hispano farmers have tilled the soil for centuries, rooting themselves to a new arid homeland made more benign by the river. Acequias abound, and the ansen
H river runner must take care to avoid entering an acequia mistaken for the main channel. I did that once, back in 1970, with my old friend Jimmy Hopper, who gave me an ironic grin as we dredged to a halt at the edge of a cornfield and,
© Anna C. thereupon, had to drag our raft back to the river.
The landscape is somewhat tamed by the riverine communities downstream from place to start because, as you are talking to people trying to get them involved, Abiquiú until one reaches Ohkay Owingeh, formerly known as the San Juan you can give them a fairly precise definition of it. So there is some practicality to Pueblo. It is just downstream from there, east of Chicoma Peak, that the Río being simple as you start out.” Chama conjoins with the Río Grande, and the two rivers become one.
This is good advice, especially for a simple-minded fellow like myself. I asked my Many years ago, I visited the Tewa Pueblo of Ohkay Owingeh and met with Herman old pal Melissa Savage, who is a world-class biogeographer, if she could define Agoyo, a highly venerated community elder, who gave me permission to record him reading “watershed.” She replied, “That’s easy because you’re just following the raindrops his river poem, “P’o-Kay” . i downhill. So you just draw a line around where the raindrops are rolling down to a convergence with the sea.” P ’o-Kay Simplicity within complexity. “To us you are P’o-kay. Strong water. jjj You are the source of life and joy. Many are the times that I’ve You nurtured us with swimming and fishing holes. floated down the Río Chama, having camped for the night at You cleanse us now, and in 1680. the whim of a late-afternoon When you overflowed, there was an abundance moment. All told, I’ve run the of trout, carp, suckers, minnows Herman Agoyo river from just downstream and catfish. from El Vado all the way to We gather your gifts with bows and arrows, .22 rifles, pitchforks, nets, fish the confluence with the Río lines Grande, albeit in separate and by hand. journeys. Running the river downstream from El Vado You water our corn, squash, chile, wheat, alfalfa, hay, pumpkins, fruit trees brings to my mind a flute and all of life along the riverbanks. concerto by Mozart. One You are home to the O-yo. Beaver. passes through the bottom Oh-kano. Otter. of the watershed in a state of absolute delight, where wildlife Oh-kooh. Turtle. is abundant, the forested Oh-maku hedeghe. Watersnake. terrain is healthy, the air Diditi. The water spider, sparkling. The river gradually riffles past the piedmont of and numerous unknown creatures. the plateau east of Dead Man’s And in recent time you brought in the elk, bear and eagles. Peak into one of the most Steve Harris on the Río Chama You are Avañu. Sacred water serpent. beautiful regions of the North You fed our sacred springs, ponds and wells. American Southwest, el Valle de la Piedra Lumbre, or the Valley of the Shining Stone. Downstream, Abiquiú Dam stoppers the Río Chama and forms Abiquiú Because of you, Oh-kay Owingeh, Village of the Strong People was born. Lake. I remember the valley before the dam was built, before the harsh hand of Because of you, we are all connected. man had reduced the magic that permeates this mythic landscape, before developers We are still connected to our place of birth and emergence.” and their political counterparts claimed this commons as their own. Even so, the watershed of the Río Chama remains a jewel of Nature in spite of the limited perception of monocultural humankind.
As my friend Melissa Savage so aptly put it, “We are so presumptuous, we can’t Jack Loeffler is an aural historian, author and radio producer whose even imagine ourselves outside of our range of presumption.” perspective includes bioregionalism and systems thinking. He has recently completed a 10-part documentary radio series entitled Melissa has spent the latter half of her life restoring river otters to their appropriate “Encounters with Consciousness.” www.loreoftheland.org habitats. She has concluded that if those of us who are inclined to work in
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14 Green Fire Times • April 2016 www.GreenFireTimes.com Fede ral Agreement on Gila River Triggers Review
n approving a procedural an agreement with the newly formed agreement with state water New Mexico Central Arizona Project managers in November 2015, the Entity (CAP Entity), which sets in U.S.I Dept of the Interior emphasized motion a process for evaluating the that final approval of a proposed merits of the river diversion that diversion of New Mexico’s Gila River includes both economic and ecological will require a thorough environmental considerations. The review process will review, including looking at water- not conclude until 2019. management alternatives, before any next steps are taken on the In a watershed where Aldo controversial project. The DOI signed Leopold established our nation’s first official Wilderness Area, the Gila, a snow-fed tributary of the Colorado River, provides habitat for wildlife, including seven endangered Photo courtesy Gila Conservation Coalition (2) species, and numerous archaeological The proposed Gila River diversion site, located just below the confluence withT urkey sites. It is a paradise for outdoor Creek, would turn this popular recreation area for hunters, fishermen and river runners recreation and tourism, as well into an industrial zone. as an economic driver for local communities. Conservationists would which is estimated to cost from $775 Albuquerque’s drinking-water project, like to keep the state’s last wild river million to $1 billion. The New Mexico and the Navajo Reservoir—were two- exico
M free and undammed. They believe Interstate Stream Commission (ISC) and-a-half times over budget. that the review process will show has already been using AWSA funding to that the diversion is not feasible conduct studies and contract engineers, The Gila diversion, which technical experts environmentally or financially and consultants and attorneys. “Recent say would take decades to complete, that the area’s long-term water needs findings by the would divert up to can be met through conservation, independent Project The Gila is the last 14,000 acre-feet groundwater management, water on Government of water annually, recycling and watershed restoration. Oversight have main-stem river in moving it around Photo courtesy Audubon New estimated the costs New Mexico without mountainsides Conservationists’ opinions were Federal funding of $100 million, of the diversion, as through a series ignored by the New Mexico Interstate based on the 2004 Arizona Water proposed by the diversions or dams. It is of dams, concrete Stream Commission in 2014, when the Settlements Act (AWSA), has been CAP Entity, at $1 canals, pipelines commission moved forward with the Gila home to more than 360 earmarked for the two-phase project, River diversion project. billion,” said Sen. species of birds. and three reservoirs. Howie Morales of The water would Gila Trout Silver City. “New Mexico taxpayers ultimately be moved to Deming. Restoration would be on the hook for 90 percent of Diversion supporters, including the it. Our tax dollars would clearly be better ISC, appointed by Gov. Martínez, The Gila trout, a pretty fish spent elsewhere.” claim the project is vital to supplying that has a yellow or coppery head and black spots, grows water to drought-bound communities to an average length of 11.8 Three recent New Mexico water and irrigation districts in southwestern inches and a maximum length projects—the Buckman Diversion, New Mexico. i of 21.7 inches. It is native to tributaries of the Gila River, but, by the late 1950s, fishing for the trout had been banned because its numbers and range had been seriously curtailed due to competition and hybridization with non-native fish and because of habitat loss due to wildfires, human destruction, overgrazing by livestock and agricultural irrigation and diversion.
Wildlife biologists have been working to reestablish the Gila trout in New Mexico and Arizona waters. On the endangered list until 2006, it is listed as threatened now, and limited fishing is permitted. It has so far been established in 62 miles of stream. To help reestablish the trout, the New Mexico Game and Fish Department wants to use rotenone, a controversial pesticide to kill invasive fish species along 24 miles of Whitewater Creek and associated tributaries. A spokesman for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says it poses few risks because it degrades quickly.
www.GreenFireTimes.com Green Fire Times • April 2016 15 Determining the Future continued from page 8 facilitator, has been working with regions mostly in the northern part of the state. resolve significant issues that affect many downstream planning efforts. They may Their efforts have dovetailed with other projects such as the Río Chama Watershed instigate significant policy changes that will address long-term needs throughout Plan development and the San Juan Partnership, led by the Chama Peak Land the state of New Mexico. i Alliance, which is focused on addressing watershed issues on private lands. Steve Harris is an Embudo-based outfitter and guide, as well as executive ISC’s team, in addition to the above-mentioned meetings, also held stakeholder director of Río Grande Restoration, a river protection nonprofit. meetings in Española and Hernández. In 2014 and 2015, five ISC-facilitated Hydrologist Joanne Hilton has more than 25 years of experience conducting meetings focused on developing a steering committee and an outreach plan in water resource investigations. She has been the project manager for coordination with the designated chair of the steering committee, led by Lucía development of water plans for seven New Mexico regions and worked on Sánchez, director of the Río Arriba Land Use Department. technical portions of updates for 16 regional plans.
The next phase of ISC’s program will be for the steering committee and consultants Rosemary Romero has worked on natural resource issues for 30 years and to review the projects, programs and policies of the Regional Water Plan update has co-written nine Watershed Plans for New Mexico. She is a former city and the public input. The draft plans will then be submitted to the ISC for approval. councilor and planning commissioner for the city of Santa Fe.
Related Programs: San Juan-Chama Partnership—brings together public and private landowners to address watershed-restoration projects: 970.335.8174, [email protected], http://chamapeak.org/programs/san-juan-chama/
Collaborative Forest Restoration Programs—provide funding for projects on federal, tribal and state lands: 505.842.3425, [email protected], www.fs.usda. gov/detail/r3/workingtogether/grants/?cid=fsbdev3_022022
Interstate Stream Commission—facilitates regional water planning: 505.827.6167, [email protected], www.ose.state.nm.us/index.php
New Mexico Land Conservancy—helps develop agricultural/conservation easements to protect rural lands: 505.986.3801, ext. 107, bmills@nmlandconservancy. org, www.nmlandconservancy.org
Río Grande Water Trust—helps build sustainable funding for a 10- to 30-year program of large-scale forest and watershed-restoration treatments in the Río Grande basin: www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/regions/northamerica/unitedstates/ newmexico/new-mexico-rio-grande-water-fund-2015-highlights.xml The Brazos River in the Chama Valley Chama Flow Project—Río Grande Restoration, in consultation with a broad Gr ant, Hidalgo, Catron and Luna Counties range of stakeholders, seeks to mimic the natural hydrology of the river with water releases from El Vado and other reservoirs. On March 13, a public meeting was held in Silver City to help the four-county region of Grant, Hidalgo, Catron and Luna develop strategies for their regional water plan. The ISC’s contractors will put the proposed strategies into a draft form and return it to the stakeholders for comments. The contractors have also updated the Projects, Programs and Policies list, including all proposals on the Forest Health continued from page 9 Infrastructure Capital Improvement Plans. Chama Peak Strategies reached by consensus included the following items: Land Alliance portions of the Continental Divide The CPLA, launched in 2010, is a that cover approximately 250,000 acres. • Watershed restoration including erosion control, water-quality protection diverse group of conservation-minded CPLA’s conservation efforts are further and post-fire riparian restoration landowners committed to practicing enhanced by the official participation • Grant County regional water supply and its distribution responsible land, water and wildlife of the Jicarilla Apache Nation. • Education for the four-county area on issues such as septic-system impacts stewardship in southern Colorado CPLA’s Fire Ecology and Resiliency including conservation, capacity building, resources and energy efficiency and northern New Mexico for the project is an on-the-ground example • Gila Diversion Projects (Arizona Water Settlements Act) benefit of the region’s multicultural of the Alliance’s goals. The CPLA and • Flood-control dams and infrastructure repair heritage and future generations. the Nature Conservancy-New Mexico • Use of effluent water for aquifer recharge, irrigation and recreation CPLA members share ideas and help hope to build on the project with future • Hydrogeological investigation of the Plains of San Augustín, which impacts the educate one another in areas of land investments and additional resiliency Tularosa, Alamosa and Gila rivers and connected ground waters management, promote conservation work, guided by the development of the • Water conservation, source water protection, drought mitigation and of open space and help deter landscape Navajo-Blanco Resiliency Plan, which rainwater harvesting fragmentation, and coordinate is building additional partnerships for • Development of a Food Hub, which includes protecting and acquiring landscape-scale management efforts future landscape-scale treatments. This agricultural water rights and purchase of mining water rights for other uses such as forestry, prescribed fire and work is also part of the effort in the such as agriculture and economic development wildlife stewardship. • Maintaining and optimizing existing diversions and infrastructure on the Río Chama along with Río Grande San Francisco, Mimbres and Tularosa rivers CPLA members represent a land area Restoration and the other partners. i that ranges from 7,000 feet to over Monique DiGiorgio is executive director of These various initiatives hold the potential to create the momentum needed to 12,000 feet in elevation, including the Chama Peak Land Alliance.
16 Green Fire Times • April 2016 www.GreenFireTimes.com New Mexico’s ReplaceMeNt wiNdow expeRt
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! $ $ $$$$$$$$$ $ www.GreenFireTimes.com Green Fire Times • April 2016 17 Op-Ed: Water in New Mexico Sanders Moore
Clean water is essential to New Mexicans’ health, happiness and economic vitality.
From the San Juan to the Río Grande, rivers provide us with drinking water. When that water is polluted, even at relatively low levels, we increase our risk of liver disease, kidney disease and even cancer. All of us are affected by unhealthy
water quality. rtiz O Because clean water is so essential to our families’ health, recreational opportunities The Río Grande
and way of life, GreenLatinos, Environment New Mexico and a host of allies © Quita celebrated the Obama administration’s new Clean Water Rule, which was announced last May and will restore federal protection to more than 88 percent of New Mexico’s Environmental Protection Agency had to drop 1,500 cases against polluters who streams, sources of drinking water to more than 280,000 New Mexicans. were dumping into or otherwise harming these waters.
For the past decade, these New Mexico streams, along with streams that feed A broad coalition of clean-water advocates, farmers, mayors, health professionals drinking-water sources for one in three Americans, lacked clear protections under and small businesses, such as brewers and outdoor outfitters, heralded the rule. the nation’s Clean Water Act because of Supreme Court decisions issued in 2001 and 2006. Americans across the country submitted more than 800,000 comments in support. And a recent poll showed that 80 percent of Americans favored it. Particularly important in New Mexico, Latino support for the Clean Water Rule is especially high. The 2012 Sierra Club and National Council of La Raza poll found that 92 percent of Latino voters agree that we have “a moral responsibility to take care of God’s creations on this earth—the wilderness and forests, the oceans, lakes and rivers.”
The only opponents to the final Clean Water Rule are the same polluting interests that poked holes in the Clean Water Act in the first place. Agribusinesses, oil and gas companies, developers and other polluters have waged a bitter campaign in Congress and the courts to block restored protections to our streams and wetlands.
For restored clean-water protections to make it across the finish line, we’ll need both of our senators, who’ve stood up against the polluters every single time, to continue to be forceful champions for clean water. The quantity and the quality
offman of the water that sustains us is simply too precious to R squander. i
© Seth Sanders Moore is the state director of Environment New Mexico, Looking down from the Río Grande Gorge Bridge in Taos, New Mexico a statewide, citizen-based environmental advocacy organization. Together with its national federation, Environment America, These polluter-driven court rulings meant that, all too often, developers could Environment New Mexico has been working to restore Clean build over our wetlands, oil companies could dump into our streams, and the Water Act protections for a decade. Moore has a master’s degree in federal government couldn’t stop them. In fact, according to an analysis by The Environmental Law and Policy from the Vermont Law School and New York Times, over a four-year period following the court decisions, the U.S. a bachelor’s degree in Government from Wesleyan University.
18 Green Fire Times • April 2016 www.GreenFireTimes.com Interior Department Report Underscores Lawsuit Seeks Accounting Impacts of Climate Change on Western for Río Grande Water Use Water Resources Last month, the U.S. Interior Department warned that supplies in the upper Río Putting the national spotlight on the importance of water sustainability, the U.S. Grande are expected to decrease by one-third in New Mexico over the course of the st Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Reclamation has released a basin-by-basin 21 century. That means even less water than previously predicted for municipalities, report that characterizes the impacts of climate change and details adaptation farmers and endangered species. A report from the department stated, “The strategies to better protect major river basins in the West that are fundamental to reliability of the river to meet future needs is severely compromised by a growing the health, economy, security and ecology of 17 Western states. gap between demand and availability and the potential for diminishing supplies due to climate change and competing uses.” The SECURE Water Act Report identifies climate change as a growing risk to water management, citing warmer temperatures, changes to precipitation, snowpack More than 6 million people depend on the Río Grande to irrigate more than 3,100 and the timing and quality of streamflow runoff.O ther ecological resources that square miles of farmland in the U.S. and México. New Mexico and Texas are in remain at risk during the 21st century include water supply and quality; operations a legal battle before the U.S. Supreme Court over management of the river and and hydropower; groundwater resources and flood control; recreation; and fish groundwater pumping. and wildlife. The Middle Río Grande Conservancy District (MRGCD) delivers water to 65,000 Specific projections include a temperature increase of 5 to 7 degrees Fahrenheit acres of croplands. Last month, WildEarth Guardians filed a lawsuit in New Mexico by the end of the century, a precipitation decrease over the Southwestern and district court seeking an accounting for Río Grande water use. WEG claims that, south-central areas, and a 7 to 27 percent decrease in April to July streamflow in “despite clear mandates,” the MRGCD has failed to prove that it is putting all river basins. In the Colorado River Basin, reductions in spring and early summer the water it is permitted—since 1925—to beneficial use. EGW demands that the runoff could translate into a drop in water supply for meeting irrigation demands state engineer have MRGCD prove its use or cancel the district’s permits. WEG and adversely impact hydropower operations at reservoirs. In the Río Grande Basin, contends, “The state has given the district a blank water check, which is depriving reduced snowpack and decreased runoff likely will result in less natural groundwater the Río Grande, the bosque and their native fish, wildlife and plants the water they recharge. Additional decreases in groundwater levels are projected due to increased need to thrive.” WEG also filed applications to appropriate for storage in Abiquiú reliance on groundwater pumping. Reservoir any water not put to beneficial use by the conservancy district. That water would be reserved to protect and restore flows, habitat and ecosystems. The report, fact sheets on projected climate change impacts and a visualization tool are available at www.usbr.gov/climate/secure.
Santa Fe County Treasurer Patrick "Pat" Varela Announces:
PROPERTY TAX OUTREACH PROGRAM
The Santa Fe County Treasurer's Office will be following the below schedule for Property Tax Payments
Eldorado Ken & Patty Adam Senior Ctr. Pojoaque Satellite Office Edgewood Senior Center Benny J. Chavez Center 16 Avenieda Torreon 5 West Gutierrez, Suite 9 114 Quail Trail (CR‐9) 354A Juan Medina Rd. Monday April 11, 10:30am‐1pm Tuesday April 12, 10:30am‐1pm Wednesday April 13, 10:30am‐1pm Thursday April 14, 10:30am‐1pm Monday April 25, 10:30am‐1pm Tuesday April 26, 10:30am‐1pm Wednesday April 27, 10:30am‐1pm Thursday April 28, 10:30am‐1pm
Mary Esther Gonzales Senior Center La Cienega Community Center Glorieta Fire Station Nancy Rodriguez Comm. Center 1121 Alto Street 50‐A San Jose #43 Fire Station Rd. 1 Prairie Dog Loop Friday April 15, 10:30am‐1pm Monday April 18, 10:30am‐1pm Tuesday April 19, 10:30am‐1pm Wednesday April 20, 10:30am‐1pm Friday April 29, 10:30am‐1pm
Rancho Viejo Fire Station Turquoise Trail/Lone Butte Fire Station 39 Rancho Viejo Blvd. #03 Turquoise Court Thursday April 21, m10:30am‐1p Friday April 22, 10:30am‐1pm
*Extended Hours at 102 Grant Ave. Location: 8am‐6pm, April 4 ‐ May13*
The Treasurer's Office will only accept: Check, Money Order, Credit Card, and Cashier's Check. Due to Security Concerns, Cash will not be accepted. The Treasurer's Office does not contact Tax‐Payers for payment over the phone. For additional information, Contact the County Treasurer's Office: (505) 986‐6245. www.GreenFireTimes.com Green Fire Times • April 2016 19 F rom Survival and Sustainable Agriculture to Río Grande Diversion The istoryH of Santa Fe’s Water Supply Hilario E. Romero and Michael Aune
he earliest residents of Santa diversions and dig irrigation Fe settled along a river corridor ditches. Their new location because of its riparian life, also presented challenges Tflowing river, cold springs and shallow such as a slightly shorter aquifers that could bring fresh, clean growing season, which caused water to the surface. For centuries, them to develop techniques Pueblo people survived in the area until to compensate for the rise in severe perennial droughts arrived in elevation and proximity to the A.D. 1400 and forced them out. Over mountains. They possessed the next three-and-a-half centuries, the drought-resistant seeds— climate changed, gradually increasing corn, squash and beans. the river flow and recharging the Their extensive experience aquifers. Spanish settlers arrived, and with the environment and soon the area became the capital of ability to relocate made Sketch of Santa Fe in 1846-1847 by Lt. Albert their new province. The needs of the them adaptable to natural disasters. The early Pueblo people knew from Drought conditions contributed to Pueblo people and the settlers never Eventually they again moved on, to the centuries of existence in northern New the Pueblo Revolt. Once concessions outgrew the river’s capacity to provide. Río Tesuque, and were living there when Mexico that water was life—that each were made and the encomienda— the Spanish arrived. precious drop was important and that patronage or tribute—was abolished, The beginning of the the springs were sacred. They adapted the Pueblos were able to practice their water wars to this environment and became one religion freely. The Spanish and Pueblos In 1881, 33 years after the United with it. Their knowledge of the flora then maintained a civil relationship States-México signing of the Treaty and fauna gave them an advantage over throughout most of the remaining colonial period. The Spanish now of Guadalupe Hidalgo, the river was Avanyu (water serpent) petroglyph detail understood that, especially in New dammed, and, with the support of from the Río Grande Gorge © Curtis Schaafsma Wells were drilled a Board of County Commissioners, deeper and deeper Mexico, “agua es vida”—water is life. The a private monopoly formed and river and perennial springs flowed in the The early Spanish expeditions journeyed attempted to take over the water rights plaza area. Further downstream, in Agua near that area in 1540, with Coronado into aquifers. Natural that had been granted to Agua Fría Fría, La Cieneguilla, Alamo, La Ciénega and followed by several others, until the and Santa Fe residents by the Spanish springs and many and La Bajada, the settlers watered original colonists arrived with Oñate in Crown and Mexican government. In their crops, more from the springs than 1598, settling in the Pueblo of Okeh’ individual wells dried 1914, the Hydrographic Survey of from the more variable flow of the river. Owingeh and later moving across the Río Santa Fe showed 38 acequias irrigated up as the water table Near the Parroquia de San Francisco de Grande, where they built San Gabriel, over 1,200 acres of farmland. Slowly Asís—Santa Fe’s original church—there New Mexico’s first Spanish settlement. dropped. but surely, however, those acequias were was a large spring that fed the Río Some of those colonists moved south shut off, one by one, as water became a their new neighbors, who eventually Chiquito, which ran to a confluence to settle near what is now Agua Fría commodity instead of a human right. learned to survive in an unpredictable with the Río Santa Fe a little south of for the same reasons as the early Pueblo It would become owned and managed environment. Life in Santa Fe during the Santuario de Guadalupe. In the people. The colonists encountered the by a private monopoly. This was the the colonial period required work that 1730s, there was a decade of drought, remains of the pueblos from an earlier beginning of the water wars. took up most of the day and night. but it was not as severe as those in the era, a flowing river, ciénegas and ojitos Soldiers and Pueblo warriors were 15th and 16th centuries. fríos and pastura, despite a severe drought of an constantly on alert to protect pueblos E arly History Area that had gripped the area for 40 years. In on and small Spanish communities from Santa Fe grew to a small community Founded Water 1610, Pedro de Peralta located a plaza Pueblo people began to settle the area attacks by the Apachis, Nabaju and of about 230 families and 1,500 people, near the river southeast of an abandoned as early as A.D.1100, appreciating Yuta tribes. During droughts, the according to the 1750 Provincial pueblo. He chose that location because it the cultivable soil and relatively long community had to work together Census. Included in that count were was elevated and good for defense, near growing season. Centuries later, that to locate and share sources of water. the 100 or more soldiers and their abundant springs, firewood, hunting hospitable place would become the Some dug deeper wells or searched the families who were on alert at the grounds, pastures for horses, cattle and village of Agua Fría. By A.D 1200, mountains for springs. presidio. There were approximately goat herds. the Pueblo people moved upstream to 1,000 to 1,200 horses, available for what is now downtown Santa Fe. They Drought returned in the 1670s and military expeditions that grazed in This new capital required the assistance probably relocated as a result of cosmic 1680s, causing hunger and suffering. areas surrounding the town. Water of the Indian and Spanish farmers signs and drought. The new site gave The Spanish military forced the Pueblo was allocated for pasture and alfalfa from the Tesuque Pueblo and Agua them better access to water, firewood, people to share their food stores. fields for small herds of cattle, sheep Fría areas, who provided food, shelter hunting and security. However, they Franciscan missionaries continued their and goats. By 1790, the population and knowledge of hunting, fishing and had to build a new pueblo, create river attempts to wipe out Pueblo religion. was 2,396, including the presidio agriculture. and its families but not including the
20 Green Fire Times • April 2016 www.GreenFireTimes.com table dropped.The city of present new problems for water Santa Fe had reached its and infrastructure. The city must capacity to provide water now provide services to these areas, to its residents. With the including water. Santa Fe County current drought that began is building a pipeline and water- in 1996, Santa Fe County storage tank to provide water from and the city collaborated the Buckman Direct Diversion to on getting 5,605 acre-feet Eldorado. Los Alamos has committed of water from the San Juan- $27 million to build three access Chama Project through the points to collect 1,200 more acre-feet Buckman Direct Diversion per year from the San Juan-Chama on the Río Grande. Project. Nambé and Pojoaque also are slated to receive 4,500 acre-feet Op-Ed: as a result of the Aamodt water suit. The Potential The Middle Río Grande Conservancy Impact of District is allocated 20,900 acre-feet, Wildfires Albuquerque already receives 48,200 1882 Bird’s-eye map of Santa Fe published by J.J. Stoner In recent years, Santa Fe’s acre-feet, and Santa Fe, 5,605 acre water supply, both city and county, feet. That is a lot of straws drinking surrounding villages. This increased acequias delivering 5,701 acre-feet of has become dependent on three from a small cup. population still had not outgrown the water to over 1,250 acres of farmland main sources: wells; the San Juan- area’s water capacity. For the following in the city. Keeping the river running Chama Project/Río Grande; and The San Juan-Chama century, droughts were less frequent. recharged the aquifer and kept city the Santa Fe River, which supplies and the reservoirs Spanish and Pueblo communities grew and community wells from drying up. the Nichols and McClure reservoirs. and generally prospered. To provide for needs during the dry The San Juan-Chama and those have been in annual season, two reservoirs were built in the reservoirs have been in annual jeopardy jeopardy due to the The arrival of the first caravans from headwaters of the Santa Fe River. From due to the risk of wildfires in the Missouri, after the opening of trade 1925, until the end of World War II, watersheds’ headwaters, which could risk of wildfires in the between the United States and México, when surviving parciantes, who had destroy water-delivery infrastructure. created substantial increases in the enlisted, returned to their lands along Depending on water demand, if one watersheds’ headwaters population and the use of water. More the river, the city, with the aid of the of those sources is taken out, the other This winter started out well for agriculture and ranching were necessary private water company, began to take two may provide sufficient capacity snowpack, but warmer temperatures to sustain the new residents. Santa Fe’s their water away, at a time when the for the short term. Both the city and and record heat, clear skies and winds population in 1850 was 4,846, but city was nearing its water capacity. county have taken admirable steps during the second half of February and during the following decade it declined. Residents began to dig wells near towards water conservation, but it is March melted and evaporated a large Still, the watershed was able to provide the river, the effect of which was to conceivable that even more stringent amount of snow. The Santa Fe Ski sufficient water. By 1880, when the gradually dry out many natural springs requirements could become necessary Basin's north facing slopes reported population had grown to 6,635, the downstream in Agua Fría, according if there is an emergency situation. 100 to 103 inches, or an average of Board of County Commissioners tried to residents’ accounts. In 1951, it Though water rights have been 8.4 feet on February 7, 2016, and, on continued on page 22 to empower the Santa Fe Water and was estimated that 68 percent of the acquired by local governments Improvement Company “…with the drinking water was coming from wells. to supplement these options, exclusive right and privilege of erecting very little concerted action dams and reservoirs for impounding The river and perennial has taken place to safeguard water on the Santa Fe River,” according springs flowed in the the sources of Santa Fe’s water to documents cited in a 1996 report by supply. Local and state elected Karen Lewis and Douglas Campbell. plaza area. officials avoid acknowledging The city then unilaterally granted Recent History the very real possibility of itself the right to divert 1,540 acre- In 1962, the San Juan-Chama Project worst-case scenarios. feet per year for a domestic water began to provide water for communities delivery system, without the consent along the Río Grande by diverting water Op: -Ed of downstream parciantes, or irrigators, from the San Juan Mountains through Growth’s Impact who had prior rights. In June 1881, a tunnels to Willow Creek and on to on Water Supply citizen’s committee was appointed to Heron Lake. Since that time, the need With over 67,000 inhabitants settle the matter with the Water Works for water has increased among many and an abundance of hotels and Board. The company announced that communities along the Río Grande. motels, apartment complexes, it would not interfere with the flow When the Buckman well field was luxury developments and of the river, day or night, and would brought online for Santa Fe in 1972, it other large water users, it is remunerate all persons whose property became the city’s major source of water. questionable as to whether was in any way injured by the laying of Santa Fe can continue to water mains. The Two-Mile Dam was As demand increased, these wells guarantee enough water for offman R erected in 1893 when the Stone Dam were drilled deeper and deeper into the future. Recent annexations reservoir had become laden with silt. aquifers. Natural springs and many to the west and south, which According to the 1914 Hydrographic © Seth individual wells dried up as the water added almost 14,000 residents, Aftermath of the 2011 Las Conchas fire Survey of Santa Fe, there were over 30 www.GreenFireTimes.com Green Fire Times • April 2016 21 Santa Fe’s Water Supply continued from page 21 ansen H © Anna C.
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[email protected] 505-470-1969 H ©
Heron Lake, 2015, from the north side where Willow Creek enters into the lake
March 23, it was at about 53 inches, long-range water management, local or an average of 4.4 feet. This has also food production, reducing dependency occurred in the San Juan Mountains on fossil fuels and developing long- Anna Hansen that feed San Juan Diversion Project range alternative energy plans. i County Commission ★ Dist. 2 water into Heron Lake. Each fall from 2010 to 2015, Heron Lake has almost Hilario E. Romero, a New Mexican mestizo been empty. The latest photo shows (Spanish/Basque/Jicarilla Apache/Ute), is a A passionate community former New Mexico that, on the north side of the lake, organizer, working for you state historian. He has Willow Creek flows through a dry boat spent the past 40 years dock. A total of 80,405 acre-feet will in higher education, ★ Vote Anna Hansen ★ be allocated to major users, including as an administrator June 7, 2016 Albuquerque, Santa Fe, the Middle and professor of history, Río Grande Conservancy District, education and Spanish at Northern New ♦ Responsive to your concerns Los Alamos and the Pojoaque Valley, Mexico College, and ♦ Supports local businesses ★ when they start receiving water. The adjunct at New Mexico Highlands University ♦ Regional Planning—protecting our water snowpack at Wolf Creek Ski Area's and University of New Mexico. north facing slopes was at 96 to 136 ♦ Improve our infrastructure inches, or an average of 9.6 feet on Michael Aune has explored the headwaters ♦ Roads and transportation February 7, 2016, but, on March 20, it of Western watersheds for over 40 years and studied wildfire’s ♦ was at 81 to 119 inches, or an average Broadband and internet access destructive impact ♦ Renewable energy and green jobs of 8.4 feet, and shrinking due to warm on watersheds. He ♦ Support a public bank and electric utility temperatures. has testified before legislative committees ♦ Preserve and support our traditional Santa Fe will probably continue to and served on communities and sustainable agriculture grow, but by how much will depend on the New Mexico ★ Public Regulation the capacity of its watershed, wells, the Commission Wildfire flow of the Río Grande and additional Task Force. www.AnnaHansenSantaFe.com users that draw from it. Looking to the Paid for by Anna Hansen for Santa Fe • Treasurer: Brad A. Gallegos future in this time of global warming, 1301 S. St. Francis Dr., Suite A • Santa Fe, NM 87505 • 505.920.0957 communities need to rely more on
22 Green Fire Times • April 2016 www.GreenFireTimes.com T he Aamodt Settlement Conundrum A complex situation involving water and property rights in the Pojoaque Valley Seth Roffman
he Aamodt water-rights case, named after a party in the original litigation, was filed T50 years ago to settle “Aboriginal” claims of four pueblos that are vying for water with hundreds of non-pueblo farmers and well owners in the Nambé- Pojoaque-Tesuque stream basin. If the
final settlement agreement, signed in ansen H 2013, withstands the challenges that have been filed in District Court, a Pojoaque Valley Regional Water © Anna C. System (RWS) will be built to replace the pumping of existing wells in the L- R: U.S. Congressman Ben Ray Luján, A. Blair Dunn of Western Agriculture, Resource and Business Advocates, LLP (attorney for Northern New Mexico Protects), State Rep. Carl Trujillo, County Commissioner Henry Roybal, Santa Fe County Assessor Gus valley north of Santa Fe. Martínez and others made up a panel that took questions about road easements, property rights and water rights at a community Non-pueblo residents, who own about forum hosted by Northern New Mexico Protects on March 19. 2,600 private wells in the Pojoaque Otowi Bridge. The pipeline would end seats on the regional water authority and reportedly has driven down Basin, have to make a choice before at Bishop’s Lodge. Some of the water board. The pueblos have agreed not to property values. Property owners from Sept. 17, 2017: give up their wells and diverted would come from the Upper make priority calls against non-pueblo El Rancho who have been unable to get connect to a pipeline; keep their wells Colorado River Basin, made possible users in most circumstances. Non- titles from insurance companies and but significantly reduce their usage; or by the San Juan-Chama Project, which pueblo well owners, who account for thus obtain loans, have filed a federal reduce their use and agree that when now provides about half of Santa Fe’s 85 percent of the basin’s population, lawsuit. the well is eventually transferred—such water supply. will have access to between 1,500 and A Pojoaque Valley community as through inheritance or sale—the 2,300 acre-feet per year of a reliable advocacy organization, Northern new owner will be obligated to connect The project has water supply. Families who lose water New Mexicans Protecting Land, Water to the pipeline. rights will not have the same amount alienated Pueblo and and Rights (“Northern New Mexico of water to irrigate their land. The $245 million Bureau of non-Pueblo people and Protects”) picketed Santa Fe County Reclamation-built project could be In order to make the system financially administrative offices and last month completed by 2024. Sixty percent of governing entities that viable, at least 1,500 well owners must held a panel discussion to discuss these the cost is to be covered by the feds; have largely cooperated agree to give up their wells. So far, only issues with local and national leaders. of the remaining 40 percent, New about 120 non-pueblo residents have The group has appealed a federal Mexico would pay 28 percent and for generations. agreed to do that and connect to the judge’s dismissal of their lawsuit over Santa Fe County, 12 percent. The The settlement agreement hands pipeline. About 800 have refused, and the right-of-way roads dispute. The Río Grande diversion, treatment and over 6,100 acre-feet of water to the 30 to 40 percent of well owners have judge said the court lacked jurisdiction pumping facilities would be built on four pueblos, who would control the not responded. to hear the complaint and that the Pueblo of San Ildefonso land, about pipeline by holding four of the five group had not fulfilled requirements to In dividing non-pueblo people from three-quarters of a mile east of the sue under the federal Quiet Title Act, the pueblos, the project has which protects the U.S. government alienated friends and governing from lawsuits when Indian lands are entities that had largely involved. cooperated for generations. The Pueblo of San Ildefonso, citing In August 2015, Santa Fe County the Pueblos Lands Act (1924) commissioners, fearful of high and plans for future expansion, easement and litigation costs, voted has asserted sovereignty over to not approve payments toward the [and thus ability to charge for] water system unless the disputes over Santa Fe County easements the roads are resolved. The county, in that the pipeline would use. federal court, defended its resolution, Some non-pueblo residents, in linking the public roads right-of-way accessing homes in the area via dispute with the Aamodt water-rights county-maintained roads they litigation. have traversed for years, have Rep. Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), who encountered “no trespassing” had tried to work with the Bureau of offman signs. The uncertain legal R Indian Affairs to resolve the tribal roads status of those roads has made easement dispute, has asked Interior
© Seth lenders unwilling to fund Secretary Sally Jewell to intervene.i The Río Grande near where Regional Water System infrastructure may be installed mortgages and construction
www.GreenFireTimes.com Green Fire Times • April 2016 23 L inking Santa Fe’s Local Food Demand to Urban Water Demand Management Article and Photos by Quita Ortiz
espite an increase in state whose water rights have been population, the city of Santa fully appropriated—meaning there are Fe has reduced its annual no new water rights available—Santa waterD consumption by more than Fe must acquire the right to use water half since the mid-1990s, when it by purchasing and transferring rights purchased the water utility from Public from existing senior water users. This Service Company of New Mexico can result in water conflicts between (PNM). Nationally, Santa Fe has cities and rural communities. The become a model among cities for water water rights Santa Fe and other cities conservation. Its utility is charged with seek to acquire belong to many of the delivering a safe and reliable water same farmers who are attempting to supply to its customers. maintain their traditional culture and meet increasing local food demands. Many of those customers support a vibrant local-food economy, as This means that water conservation evidenced by the success of the has an important role to play in the Santa Fe Farmers’ Market and demand for local food. If Santa Fe local CSAs (community supported wishes to build and maintain a strong agriculture). The Santa Fe Farmers’ local-food scene, residents need to Market is the state’s oldest and continue decreasing their water use largest outlet for the sale of locally so that the city will not have to obtain produced food. Many restaurants in additional, expensive agricultural water Santa Fe cater to locals and tourists rights. This will allow more area farms alike who enjoy participating in the to stay in production. farm-to-table experience. The city of Santa Fe’s current annual The city and county of Santa Fe have water demand is about 10,000 acre- worked to acquire senior water rights to feet. In a normal year, the city is able ensure their ability to have an adequate to meet most of that demand with its Snowpack from Lake Peak in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains feeds Santa Fe Lake at supply in times of drought. But in a two surface-water sources, the Santa Fe the headwaters of the Santa Fe River. River and the Río Grande. In drought groundwater, the Office of the State years or when demand is very high, Engineer requires that the city purchase the city also has two groundwater “offset” water rights to ensure that any well fields. Due to the hydrologic adverse impacts to senior surface-water connection between surface water and users due to groundwater pumping
Water for Nature or Economic Development? David Groenfeldt
Conserving water can relieve pressure on water ecosystems, which is an environmental benefit, but this is not necessarily the case. Household water- conservation programs in my city of Santa Fe, New Mexico, for example, have been pursued as a way of providing “new” water to support the construction of more houses and businesses in the water-scarce city. Economically, the community is better off because the same amount of water is providing more net benefit, at the same cost, but the river and aquifer from which the water is taken have not benefited from the increased efficiency.
Benefiting the river through urban water conservation would require a deliberate shift in priorities away from economic values to environmental ethics. For example, the community could adopt a policy of reducing the amount of water diverted from the river by 10 percent. A soft path of water conservation would then be pursued with the aim of meeting the present—and perhaps future—water demand from houses and businesses plus a 10 percent water rebate to the river.
Economics is a tool for management that can be usefully applied to finding efficient solutions to the challenge of meeting nature’s own water demands. But the The Santa Fe River flowing through La Cienega. Downstream from the city, the river questions of how saved water should be allocated and whether the river deserves is dependent on effluent from the water treatment plant. some or all of that water are fundamentally ethical decisions.
24 Green Fire Times • April 2016 www.GreenFireTimes.com Linking Local Food continued from page 24 SEVENTH RAY SKIN CARE by junior users is accounted for, i.e., in groundwater pumping, utilizing offset, by the purchase and retirement that resource as a last priority during utting edge technology customizes every of senior surface-water rights. critical drought periods. This means facial to help you look your best! that water conservation and reuse C It’s important to note that, although of treated wastewater effluent will We specialize in: Santa Fe has done commendably well inevitably take on larger roles with • non-invasive anti-aging facials in its water-conservation efforts, there respect to future water demand. • acupoint facial & micro current lifting is always room for improvement— In a state with a limited water • microderm abrasion particularly as it relates to the local food supply, greater understanding of • LED light therapy system. The city’s Water Division has the the relationship between regional 2019 Galisteo St. N8 responsibility to meet customer water agriculture and urban water needs can In Business Since 1992 SantaFe, NM 87505 demand, but residents and businesses provide a foundation from which to that advocate for local food would be foster dialogue among stakeholders. www.seventhrayskincare.com • 505.982.9865 remiss in overlooking the connection Santa Fe is one of the most water- between their urban water footprint conscious cities in the arid Southwest. and simultaneous desire for local and If city residents are willing to perpetuate regional food. rigorous conservation efforts and support the use of new technology, The Santa Fe Food Policy Council’s pressure to acquire expensive senior food plan calls for implementation of agricultural water rights will be strategies that help offset residential reduced, minimizing the impact to water use such as installing graywater surrounding rural communities that and rainwater-harvesting systems, are the breadbaskets of our farmers’ which collect rainfall to reduce markets and the demand and reduce the severity of basis of New stormwater flows. The SFFPC also Mexico’s cultural advocates working with the city and heritage. i county on land-use plans that support agricultural activities. Additionally, Quita Ortiz is a water resources analyst for the city’s long-range water-supply the city of Santa Fe plan calls for a substantial reduction Water Division.
Acequia NEWSBITEs
Federal Funding Awarded for Acequias traditional irrigators consider essential T he federal government is providing and $68,522 to dredge and collect funding for projects to improve traditional, sediment from a small reservoir that is community irrigation ditch systems in New clogging the outlet to the Acequia de Mexico. In February, Senate Appropriations la Ciénega and threatening to flood a Committee member Sen. Tom Udall, Sen. county road. Many of the designated Martin Heinrich and Rep. Ben Ray Luján projects have never received capital announced that the U.S. Corps of Engineers outlay funding. has awarded more than $2.5 million for the state’s acequias. The first project to be The governor called many of the vetoed funded is the design of the Chamisol y projects “local pork” that “often don’t Ojito acequia, near Peñasco, in northern create jobs or develop the economy.” New Mexico. She suggested that the parciantes seek money from the Interstate Stream The new funding marks the third consecutive Commission or the Water Trust Board.
year the Corps has included acequia funding offman The commission requires a 10 percent R in its work plan. The 2015 work plan included match, which small, rural farmers $3.35 million for the Llano acequia’s would have trouble paying. The trust construction costs and other projects. In © Seth board generally funds large projects 2014, the work plan included $530,000 for the Crops drip-irrigated with water from a such as municipal water systems. © Alejandro López A waterless acequia landscape Villanueva acequia in San Miguel County. Chimayo, New Mexico acequia The acequias are the lifeblood of New Mexico’s centuries-old agricultural traditions, Governor Vetoes Acequia Funding one of the oldest forms of government in existence and key to the identity, health and Last month, without warning, among the $8.2 million in capital outlay Gov. Susana well-being of communities. Though strong, especially in the northern part of the state, Martínez vetoed was nearly $1 million for acequia maintenance and repairs. The the mostly volunteer organizations lack resources to be self-sufficient. Rep.S tephanie 25 projects around New Mexico for which legislators had appropriated funding García Richard (D-Los Alamos) called the governor’s veto “a near fatal blow” to the included $100,000 for a new diversion dam on the Santa Cruz River that the affected acequias. If small farmers don’t irrigate, they can lose their water rights.
www.GreenFireTimes.com Green Fire Times • April 2016 25 26 Green Fire Times • April 2016 www.GreenFireTimes.com Op-Ed: El Agua Bendita / Sacred Water Article and photos by Alejandro López “Water, rain were the greatest of blessings, and all was asked in their name, and in their image, gesture and sound by the Pueblo peoples who invoked them…for upon their coming, the lives of plant and person and animal alike depended.” — Paul Horgan, Great River
he state of New Mexico has to radioactive substances has contaminated relatively little water compared nearby watersheds, rendering it dangerous to states further east, north and for human and animal consumption. In Tnorthwest. It may be partly because of other areas of the state, such as in Cebolla this that the founding Native American and Dulce, fracking presents us with yet and Indo-Hispano cultures, to this day, another set of problems relative to water hold significantly different attitudes use and quality. and understandings about water than contemporary mainstream culture, which Because the natural resources of the originally made its way here from the vast North American continent seemed water-drenched East Coast and northern limitless and inexhaustible at the time of Europe. Having arrived equipped with westward expansion by American settlers Acequia-irrigated chile plants in Santa Cruz, New Mexico the technologies of drilling, dredging, and businessmen, little regard was given to pumping and water storage, mainstream coexisting with nature. People sought to consumption of water is our current temperatures and increased rates of culture has largely relegated water to the conquer nature to exploit and harness her vulnerability to a host of unprecedented evaporation will only exacerbate the role of a commodity with utilitarian and many resources. The decimation of the vast natural disasters. In recent years, these have growing scarcity of water. commercial purposes. However, at this herds of buffalo on the Great Plains is a ranged from freak snowstorms on the time of growing water scarcity, we New case in point. Such attitudes and strategies East Coast to increasingly more powerful Both Native American and Indo-Hispano Mexicans find ourselves facing the urgent made life easier for the multitudes arriving hurricanes and tornadoes in the South people possess a much humbler and more challenge and opportunity to develop from Europe and their descendants and and Midwest, earthquakes in Oklahoma, reverential relationship to water because, a different and deeper consciousness richer for a select few industrial barons. increasing numbers of forest fires and aside from historically having had access regarding this vital substance, one closer prolonged droughts in the West, as well to only springs and streams, water jars and to that of the original peoples, who did Dams were built, rivers redirected, artificial as the sinking of the ground upon which buckets, as well as gravity-fed acequias not take it for granted. lakes created, wells dug and precious California sits. for crop irrigation, these communities resources accessed to serve the growing used relatively little water for their daily population. Even clouds were artificially Unless we adopt wiser and more needs and used it judiciously. Indigenous New Mexicans are seeded to provoke the release of moisture sustainable approaches to water use for a facing an urgent in response to drought. The desert was statewide population that now numbers challenge to develop a made to bloom with monocrops, and well over two million people, together Global warming and whole cities were plunked down on with a radically different understanding increased rates of deeper consciousness the desert floor. The worldview that and appreciation for this vital liquid, we in New Mexico may be forced to evaporation will regarding water. drove these initiatives, with its radical reengineering of the physical world, abandon our current mode of living. We only exacerbate the The dominant culture’s reliance on buying has now resulted in the United States may perhaps even be forced to migrate and selling water from aquifers, rivers and becoming the biggest contributor in elsewhere, as many sub-Saharan peoples growing scarcity. streams is reflected in their progressive the world to global warming. Another have had to do in the wake of the loss of depletion. In recent years, it has not been consequence of our country’s insatiable their traditional water sources. Global communities devised ways of sharing at all uncommon for the legendary Río warming and the expected rise in mean water supplies, both in times of plenty and Grande to be totally dried up by the time scarcity. Otherwise, they would not have it reaches Las Cruces, where only a wide survived. They also adapted to droughts swath of sand serves to remind us of the and deluges as best as they could and formerly robust río. Elephant Butte and incorporated into their culture reverence Caballo lakes in southern New Mexico and thanksgiving for this miraculous are today only a fraction of the size they substance. were just 15 years ago. This is due to less snow and rainfall, the diversion of water Before the advent of deep wells, water in service to increasing urban sprawl, and pumps, dams and piped water, the peoples the highly water-consumptive industries of Nuevo México had honed a keen sense such as coal and uranium mining and the of all of the places where water could be production of beef and pecans, chiefly for found, in all its states and throughout every export. season. By looking up at the snowpack high in the Sangre de Cristos in the In some areas, such as parts of the Pajarito springtime, the people of Taos Pueblo Plateau downstream from Los Alamos and Las Truchas could predict how much National Laboratory, the exposure of water runoff they might have in the summertime for watering continued on page 28 www.GreenFireTimes.com Green Fire Times • April 2016 27 El Agua Bendita continued from page 27 fields and livestock, as well as for domestic with folded arms for the person to drink purposes that included driving wooden it. Only after having shown this form of water wheels submerged in the acequias, respect to both the water and the elder which caused shafts to turn and rotate would the young person exit the room. hefty grinding stones of the ever-present gristmill located in nearly every village. In many families, when people drew water Villagers customarily took their wheat and from wells in buckets, instead of pouring all chile pods for grinding there and, after a of its contents out into containers, some was few hours, retrieved whole-wheat flour for given back to the well, to reciprocate with bread baking or red chile powder for the its source. Another tradition, observed until concoction of fiery sauces. quite recently, was for the bearer of bad news to a household to ask the person to whom it was about to be disclosed to take a seat, while offering him or her a glass of water to drink. Aside from this being an act of kindness, it was thought to lessen the likelihood of trauma and shock, and perhaps it did.
Before the advent of modern medicine, the majority of the remedies the people of this cultural community employed were in the forms of baths, herbal teas, infusions and the inhalation of vapor, all of which utilized the healing and restorative agent of water. Now that we know that the body is primarily water, these approaches to helping people regain health make all the more sense.
Before crises precipitated by shortages of water across our cherished land worsen, The native people consistently aligned we may perhaps want to work toward themselves with the great powers of the creation of a different collective the universe, especially the clouds for consciousness around water that includes rain, through offerings and prayers to the profoundly social, metaphysical Mother Earth and Father Sky, as well and poetic, as well as the ecological and as through concentrated forms of dance practical. To be sure, some of this is in which every movement and detail already taking place. Annual water-blessing of dress bespoke the life-giving ways of ceremonies are held along Agua Fría Street water. In the Spanish-speaking Catholic in conjunction with the revivification of villages, people observed the release of the Santa Fe River. More scientifically water into the acequia system through minded people have been developing a the recitation of special prayers or songs. variety of water-conserving technologies. They ritually observed a date close to the Each of us could start directing conscious summer solstice—around June 21—by thoughts of gratitude toward water every taking a statue of San Juan Bautista out time we use it and by using it more in a procession, oftentimes to a site along judiciously and consciously offering it to an acequia, to shower praise and agua other living beings—plants, animals and bendita, or water blessing. On this day, other people—as the sacred gift it is. By many people also immersed themselves in effecting such changes, we might not only the flow of the acequia or river, recalling succeed in warding off conflict and be the ritual of baptism. able to better quench our thirst; we also might, for all time, plant in our minds the In the Catholic rite, the belief that water conviction that agua is more precious than blessed by priests could become holy and any other substance, curative allowed people to conceive of for it provides us with the possibility that water in and of itself life. i might also be sacred. Consequently, it was treated as such. One of the most time- Alejandro López is a honored customs among Nuevo México’s northern New Mexican educator, writer and Mexicano people was for a young person photographer. to offer a glass of water to an elder and wait [email protected]
28 Green Fire Times • April 2016 www.GreenFireTimes.com www.GreenFireTimes.com Green Fire Times • April 2016 29 Self-Healing and the Water Pathways of the Body Japa K. Khalsa
he heart of self-healing is awakened when we perceive the body as more subtle sensation of fear, the emotion of than just scientific functions. In indigenous healing traditions, like Chinese the Kidneys, when we are dehydrated. Medicine, the internal organs are jewels of consciousness; they affect Have you ever felt an undercurrent of notT only our physical health but also our emotions and how we perceive reality. worry or fear in your mind that vanishes The organs are considered energetic in nature, with energy-sensing pathways— after you drink a glass of water? If yes, meridians—that stretch out over the entire body and even sometimes beyond you are lucky it was that easy, perhaps the body. The organs do not exist in isolation inside the torso. They are part of a simply being dehydrated. Some people vast meridian network on the body that works in harmony. We can understand are more sensitive to this than others. For the body’s metabolism and needs in a new way when we take into account the example, when visitors to New Mexico emotional and spiritual component of a particular organ and its meridian network. first arrive, the level of dehydration they In this article, the name of the Chinese organ is capitalized and in italics to show experience can be shocking to them. We that we are discussing the Chinese organ, not merely the physical organ. do have to remind ourselves constantly to drink water and teas here. It’s so Water Metabolism in Chinese Medicine important to have a water bottle with The two main organs in Chinese medicine that metabolize water are the Kidneys you everywhere because it’s so easy to and the Urinary Bladder. These two organs have energy pathways that stretch slip into dehydration due to the desert climate and high altitude. all over the entire body. The Urinary Bladder meridian, which is the largest and longest meridian in the body, stretches from the eyes all the way to the back of It’s essential to drink enough water not just for the body. The Kidney meridian begins on the feet and flows up the inner leg and up the torso. All meridians are bilateral, so the body mirrors itself. These two health but to keep an elevated state of mind. meridians can be seen as a parallel to how water pathways stretch all around the Earth, encircling the Earth with ocean and waterways. A Beautiful Bottle Makes All the Difference Here are ways to make water taste better and help you stay on top of your water K idney Energy: Bank Account and Trust Fund consumption. First of all, buy yourself a water bottle that you really like and TheKidneys , in Chinese Medicine, are known appreciate. This is important because, in New Mexico, you really should carry a as the energy bank account or energy reserves bottle with you everywhere so you stay hydrated. I have a nonplastic water-bottle in our body. This is a connected function to collection including a blue one and a purple one, and I always like to mix water in the adrenal glands that rest on top of the clear mason jars with peppermint leaves and orange or lemon slices. Think of your kidneys and are responsible for our flight-or- water bottle as an accessory item, like a scarf or a purse. Also, avoid being part of fight response. Perhaps this explains why the the industrialization of water where gobs of plastic bottles are piling up in landfills. Kidneys are responsible for the emotion of fear. The plastic itself is toxic, does not decompose and pollutes the earth. You avoid The Eastern interpretation of the Kidneys is contributing to this by carrying your own water with you in a safe and stylish bottle. that they act as both a trust fund and checking Another fun flavoring for water is adding a little Bragg’s Apple Cider Vinegar and account for your daily energy. The left Kidney Honey drink (available premixed) to your daily water for the health benefit. Apple stores all of the accumulated Qi, or energy, that cider vinegar is known for multiple health benefits including weight loss, digestive you brought in with you from your ancestors support and more. At first, it may taste somewhat strong, so the premixed drink and parents. This is the life force that comes with honey is delicious and makes it easy and even enjoyable to drink. from your genetics and DNA. It is our deep reserve of energy, stretching back through How Much Water Is Enough? generations. The standard maxim is eight glasses of water a day, or divide your weight in half and that number is the amount of ounces you should drink daily. All clear liquids that The left Kidney is responsible for all of the you drink, other than caffeinated beverages, count towards your total. Tea, broth, The Kidneys and the Urinary liquid substances in the body. It is responsible liquid soups, juices and water all help you stay hydrated, but caffeine is a diuretic Bladder meridian for the nourishing secretions such as mucus, and amplifies dehydration. See if you can determine the right amount of water sweat, urine, sexual fluids and saliva. If we keep for you to feel elevated, content and grounded. In other words, do you recognize ourselves healthy with good food choices, plenty of exercise, water and rest, then a connection between your mood and state of mind and how much water you we can avoid taxing this trust fund, and the interest accumulates and builds up, drink? Even basic health problems like constipation or menstrual cramps can be which gives us a healthier life. To maintain healthy function, it is ideal to avoid eased with more water, so try drinking more for yourself as a general pick-me-up. dipping into the energy of the left Kidney but instead live from the collected And when you drink water, remember the depth of the organs in your body and energy in the bank account, or right Kidney. This organ helps the bladder to move how water influences consciousness flowing through all of us and connecting us and discharge urine and supports digestion and the movement of breath into the to the Earth and its waterways. i Lungs. The right Kidney is nourished by the daily effort of healthy living. Japa K. Khalsa, Doctor of Oriental Medicine (DOM), is co-author of Enlightened T he Joy of Guzzling Water Bodies: Exploring Physical and Subtle Human Anatomy (enlightenedbodies. com). She teaches a weekly yoga class for people with chronic pain at Sacred Plenty of water is needed to keep our bodies from being dehydrated, but more Kundalini, in Santa Fe. She completed her Master of Oriental Medicine degree at water may be needed to create a fluid sense of consciousness. It’s possible that the Midwest College of Oriental Medicine in Chicago. She combines traditional being even slightly dehydrated can affect mood and create a sense of overwhelm acupuncture with herbal and nutritional medicine, injection therapy and energy and even depression. Too many toxins in the bloodstream can lead to disjointed healing. Her work with patients and students emphasizes optimal health and thinking, and it’s essential to drink enough water not just for health but to keep personal transformation through self-care and awareness of the interconnectedness of all life. www. an elevated state of mind. If we are sensitive to this, sometimes we can feel the drjapa.com.
30 Green Fire Times • April 2016 www.GreenFireTimes.com Could Rainwater Harvesting Solve Flint’s Water Crisis? Nate Downey
wenty-something years Manhattan Project canyons. But for now, ago, when my wife started all eyes are on Flint—myself included. her career in landscape Tarchitecture, she was sent to a pre- Unless you’ve been floating, bloated, bid meeting in Los Alamos Canyon. in a cistern for the last couple of At one point during the site tour, the months, you should be aware that laboratory representative stopped the 100,000 people—the entire city of group of contractors to make sure Flint, Michigan—were poisoned when everyone was listening. Governor Snyder wanted to save some money by creating an emergency- “This might be the most important management task force that would take thing I’ll tell you today. Of course, over Flint’s water supply. The scheme it’s highly unlikely, but, if you or any that Snyder’s appointees cooked up of your workers are digging or just was that the city would abandon its walking around and by chance…” the contract with Detroit Water. They’d guide slowed his upbeat to an adagio, connect up with a different pipeline “you notice any debris, such as pieces of from Lake Huron and, while that pipe metal or odd-looking containers, please was getting built, they’d pump water evacuate the area, and let me know as from the Flint River. soon as possible.” I don’t know if Flint’s main focus should extremely Unfortunately, all of the chemicals be rainwater harvesting. Replacing all cautious We could get ample in the river corroded the lead pipes of its lead pipes with plastic ones would general in the city’s infrastructure. Now, you likely be priority number one. But I do rule for potable water to any turn on the tap, and you might get wonder. What about all of those people sizing a house in Flint much Legionnaires’ disease. If you’re a child, who are last on the list for new pipes? cistern your fate is permanent brain damage. Authorities say it could take years to in Flint quicker than the get potable water to every Flintonian. would “years” that officials What would I do if I had a presidential Did you catch that? Years. be 25 percent are talking about. candidate’s ear, if I controlled the emails of the mayor of Flint, or if I had the That’s a long time to drink bottled of a roof ’s Wise idea. You never know what a pen of Governor Snyder’s replacement water. That’s a long time without a total disgruntled nuclear scientist might toss (at press time, he had not resigned)? I’d shower in your house. That’s a lot of average in an arroyo. I can’t say it’s refreshing strongly consider rainwater harvesting takeout—and it’s probably not takeout annual harvest. This means that to consider that my hometown’s own as a good option for many parts of that from the restaurant down the street cistern systems would average in the Buckman Direct Diversion Facility battered city. with the same water problem as yours. 6,000-gallon range. At an estimated is located downstream from those We owe the innocent victims of this installation cost of $3 per gallon, you atrocity something better. Don’t we? get an approximate cost of $18,000 per household. Finally, if you multiply The good news is, we could get ample $18,000 by 40,000 households, you get potable water to any house in Flint $720 million. much quicker than the “years” that officials are talking about. According According to Mayor Karen Weaver, the to the U.S. Census Bureau, there are pipe-replacement project could cost 50,000 households in Flint. Given an as much as $1.5 billion—more than average household size of 1,200 square twice as much as my cistern plan, so the feet, approximately 25,000 gallons of answer is no. The problem isn’t money. precipitation hits the roofs of Flint residents in an average year. According What, then, is holding us back from to the World Health Organization solving Flint’s water crisis with harvested (WHO), that’s more than twice as precipitation? For one thing, few people much water needed per person for ever think of it. Although cistern- drinking and general household needs. system technology is over 5,000 years old, it hasn’t been a mainstream concept The problem isn’t water. Is the problem for about a century. Ever since deep money? groundwater pumping became relatively cheap, people have just stuck their big It rains and snows relatively regularly straws in the ground and sucked. across the Great Lakes region, so an continued on page 33 www.GreenFireTimes.com Green Fire Times • April 2016 31 Eco-Delivery Services • 505.920.6370
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32 Green Fire Times • April 2016 www.GreenFireTimes.com Water Harvesting continued from page 31 Water harvesting is in a stage of evolution Water-harvesting jobs also support similar to that of solar panels in the 1970s. local manufacturing. Because it can be expensive to ship empty water tanks Another challenge is that Americans from China or even México, it’s often use an average of 127.3 gallons of water best to build cisterns onsite or nearby. 4 per day—8.5 times more water than the WHO average of 13.2 gallons. Speaking of nearby water systems, most water harvesting occurs on private A third issue relates to a concept called land, so these systems turn out to be “natural monopoly.” The reason that much less disruptive to commerce than cities usually have one water system projects that require digging up and with no competition is that it would rebuilding almost every street in a city. be more expensive to have more than one system of reservoirs, pumps, When the Buckman Diversion pipes and mind-boggling billing Project was installed, some wise souls systems. It’s simply too expensive to demanded that the intakes be shut off have competition when it comes to whenever a lot of runoff was storming community water systems. off of the canyons around Los Alamos. That’s nice—as long as you don’t have But in a place like Flint where it would the level of water-systems oversight be good to create some decent jobs, similar to that which the people of people should realize that a rainwater- Michigan have suffered. i harvesting job is a local job. It’s a reasonably good career as well. There’s Nate Downey skill involved, as well as the potential for is the author of Harvest the Rain creativity. And there is the knowledge and has been a that your job is providing nothing less local permaculture than what’s necessary for life, liberty landscape designer and the pursuit of happiness. since 1992. Visit www.permadesign.com. Your Confidence starts with a Beautiful Smile…
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NEWSBITEs Uranium Tainting Drinking Water Systems throughout the West Retail Groundwater provides much of the water used to irrigate crops in major farming regions. With ongoing drought, underground reserves are being overpumped. Uranium is increasingly showing up in drinking-water systems of the U.S. West. In California’s Central Monthly rent and square footage open Valley farmland, up to one in ten public water systems have untreated drinking water with uranium levels that exceed safety standards, the U.S. Geological Survey has found. Nearly 2 million people in that region, as well as in the U.S. Midwest, live within a half-mile of groundwater containing uranium exceeding health limits, according to a study by University of Nebraska researchers. State agencies and schools in California are attempting to deal with tainted public wells by installing on-site uranium-removal systems or by diluting the tainted water to safe levels. The price of uranium- removal equipment can range from $65,000 to millions of dollars. Uranium removed from local water systems is taken away by workers in protective clothing and processed into nuclear fuel for power plants. The main danger of uranium in water comes from the metal’s toxic chemical effects, not radioactivity. Uranium can adhere to root vegetables if they’re not properly washed. Studies have confirmed that livestock and people can ingest high levels of uranium by eating contaminated vegetation. Scientists know that long-term exposure—over a year or more—can damage the kidneys, raise cancer risks, and cause reproductive and genetic damage. The potential dangers of exposure to uranium through drinking water are still being researched. Over 74 percent of the public water supply in New Mexico comes from groundwater resources, according to a 2010 report from the State Engineer’s Office. Levels of uranium, some occurring naturally, can be found in the state’s groundwater. Last month, the New Mexico Environmental Law Center, representing residents of Church Rock, New Mexico, joined the Natural Resources Defense Council and two other organizations in petitioning the EPA to repeal its aquifer pollution exemptions nationwide. With the federal exemption, along with a state permit, a mining company has, for more than 20 years, been discharging chemicals into an aquifer, contaminating a Navajo Nation drinking-water source with uranium. New Mexico has 182 aquifer exemptions from the EPA, mostly for oil and gas operations. Federal Funding for Eastern NM Water Pipeline The Bureau of Reclamation is funding a pipeline that, to ease the strain on the Ogallala aquifer, will bring billions of gallons of water from the Ute Reservoir to Cannon Air Force Base, Clovis, Portales and other communities along the New Mexico-Texas border. It is projected to serve 70,000 people. The project’s cost has been projected to be $550 million, but the Bureau has said it could be as much as $750 million. Approval Hearings for Santolina Master Plan Continue The plannedS antolina Development, on more than 14,000 acres of Albuquerque’s West Mesa, is symbolic of a larger battle that pits small farming communities against large corporate interests. Concerns have focused on an allegedly inadequate water supply, possible dewatering of wells used for small farming, potential health problems for valley residents, unneeded development due to low population growth, and a greater economic burden on taxpayers. It was recently announced that the developers are seeking both Tax Increment Development Districts (TIDDs) and Property Improvement Districts (PIDs), contradicting statements made during previous hearings that TIDDs and PIDs would not be sought. Two lawsuits are pending against the developers (Western Albuquerque Land Holdings and Bernalillo County)—one filed by a smallS outh Valley farming family and the other by the New Mexico Environmental Law Center on behalf of organizations including the Southwest Organizing Project, South Valley Regional Association of Acequias and the New Mexico Health Equity Working Group. Despite the lawsuits, the approval process is underway at the Bernalillo County Planning Commission (CPC). The next public hearings will be on April 27, May 26 and July 21. www.GreenFireTimes.com Green Fire Times • April 2016 35 910
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36 Green Fire Times • April 2016 www.GreenFireTimes.com Water NEWSBITEs Gold King Mine Spill Study More than three million gallons of wastewater discharged on Aug. 5, 2015, from the The project’s catchment basins, boulders and other features were also designed to Gold King Mine, north of Silverton, Colo., spilled into the Ánimas River. The toxic slow down stormwater rushing through an arroyo and to make the area more like a metals flowed into theS an Juan River, which runs through the northern region of park, where residents can hike or bike. Reclaimed water from the nearby city of Río the Navajo Nation. Spring snowmelt is expected to increase water flow into those Rancho now irrigates native vegetation throughout the area. The project’s funding rivers. That could stir up lead, arsenic and other contaminants. came from a federal loan and a grant and is the first time clean-water funds had been used for such a project in New Mexico. A study being conducted by researchers from the University of Arizona and Northern Arizona University is focusing on three Navajo communities affected by the spill: This year, the Army Corps of Engineers will provide $7 million to continue building Shiprock, in New Mexico, and Aneth and Upper Fruitland, in Utah. The study will the initial five miles of structural levee in the RíoG rande Floodway’s Socorro assess changes in sediment, agriculture, soil, river and well water. In partnership segment. The floodway will eventually replace 43 miles of existing levee along with the Navajo Community Health Representatives program, the researchers the Río Grande’s western bank in order to prevent flooding and protect aB ureau are recruiting 30 households in each community to determine differences in toxic of Reclamation channel. In addition, Corps funding will be used for watershed exposure among the communities. Blood and urine samples will be tested for lead assessment in the Río Grande Basin, including $200,000 for a Río Grande and arsenic. The researchers will also evaluate the association between the perception environmental management program to create a basin-wide database. of risk from the mine spill and the actual risk. Southern New Mexico Irrigation Allotments The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) plans to return to the mine this In March, southern New Mexico farmers learned that, this year, they will be receiving spring or early summer to resume preliminary cleanup work. Last month, EPA less than a third of their normal allotment of water. They were told by the Elephant Regional Administrator Ron Curry wrote to New Mexico’s congressional delegation Butte Irrigation District (EBID) that they are scheduled to get about 10 inches per that the agency is providing $2 million for the states and tribes to apply to long-term acre of farmland, with a possible increase to 12 to 14 inches before the season ends. monitoring and planning. The agency is also reviewing the state’s and the Navajo That’s significantly higher than the 3.5 inches in 2013 but much less than the 3 feet Nation’s millions of dollars in reimbursement claims. of water that’s considered a full allotment. The wet cycle was particularly generous in the 1980s and ’90s. Farmington Drinking Water The Ánimas River supplies most of the drinking water for Farmington, New Mexico. A hydrologist credits the wetter winter—the fifth wettest inN ew Mexico history— The city has safeguards in place to make sure the river water does not have heavy for the increase this year but says the watershed hasn’t reached its full potential, in metals in it when it enters the water treatment plant. This involves not pumping part due to a warm and dry February and March. Río Grande reservoirs are all well water during times of high turbidity and using Farmington Lake to settle metals below half-full. out of the water. Water began to be released to southern New Mexico, and—to comply with the Río Grande Compact—to El Paso, Texas, from the Elephant Butte and Caballo reservoirs As part of an investigation by the USA Network, the Farmington Daily Times in late March, two months earlier than last year. Water for EBID users will be released examined drinking water in the New Mexico cities of Farmington, Aztec and in mid-April for the Hatch area and mid- to late-May for the Mesilla Valley, where Bloomfield. Every year, those cities release water quality reports that include test many vegetables are grown. results for lead and copper contamination. Recent reports have not had any samples test above action levels. Elephant Butte, which is near Truth or Consequences, had 427,500 acre-feet of water, up from 345,000 acre-feet last year. Caballo, 15 miles south of Elephant Butte, had Unlike Flint, Mich., waterlines in the area are not made of lead. However, during the 31,253 acre-feet, down from 35,798 a year ago. An acre-foot of water is the amount 1970s and ’80s, lead solder was commonly used in plumbing. Farmington has been needed to cover an acre at the depth of a foot. testing the water at 90 residences built during that time period. Only one sample has come back above the action level. That may be because, over time, deposited minerals Water Groups Ask State Supreme Court have created protective coatings on the pipes’ interiors. Because Farmington’s water to Invalidate Amended Pit Rule is not acidic, it has not eaten away at those mineral deposits. On March 24, the New Mexico Environmental Law Center filed a petition with the The Clean Water Act state Supreme Court asking the court to review a decision handed down by the state Court of Appeals upholding the amended Pit Rule. The rule governs the storage and In January, President Obama vetoed legislation that would have nullified a new disposal of liquid and solid wastes at oil and gas drilling pits. It is intended to protect federal rule designed to clarify the scope of the 40-year-old Clean Water Act and soil and groundwater from toxic contaminants. protect smaller streams, tributaries and wetlands. Obama defended the rule, saying that pollution from upstream sources ends up in the rivers, lakes and coastal waters In 2013, the Oil Conservation Commission, appointed by Gov. Susana Martínez, near where most Americans live and that the rule would protect those resources. eliminated most of the substantive provisions of the rule, allegedly at the behest of the oil and gas industry. In their petition, public interest groups represented by the Many alarmed businesses and farmers had called on Congress to intervene, alleging NMELC say that, as amended, the rule does little to protect the state’s water, public that expanding the scope of the waters subject to the act’s jurisdiction was a power health or wildlife and that commission violated the Separation of Powers Doctrine grab that would lead to additional permitting requirements, expenses and increased when it amended the rule while it was under appeal in state District Court. legal liability for landowners. EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy denied the rule would expand the act’s jurisdiction but said—given drought pressures in the West Copper Rule Update and the effects of climate change—it is time to clarify some of the act’s provisions The Copper Rule regulates the discharge of pollutants into groundwater. Freeport to establish regulatory certainty in regard to drinking water supplies. McMoRan, the world’s largest publicly owned copper-mining company, allegedly worked closely with the New Mexico Environment Department to draft the Copper Almost 94 percent of New Mexico’s waters are intermittent or ephemeral, flowing Rule, which was adopted in 2013. In 2015, the Court of Appeals upheld the state’s only during rainstorms. Small tributaries that often go dry feed rivers such as the Río adoption of the rule. Grande or the Pecos. Before the rule change, industrial activity near those streams could discharge chemical runoff from a work site and did not have to comply with The state attorney general and a former state Groundwater Bureau chief filed briefs federal regulations. with the New Mexico Supreme Court requesting that the rule be thrown out. On March 7, the New Mexico Environmental Law Center, on behalf of Amigos Bravos, Río Grande Flood Control Projects the Gila Resources Information Project and Turner Ranch Properties, filed a Reply EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy visited New Mexico in September 2014, when Brief before the court regarding the rule. It was one of the NMELC’s last steps before she helped mark the start of a $2 million flood-control project to keep sediment out the court hands down a ruling that could decide how groundwater is protected—or of the Río Grande and alleviate flooding concerns for the village of Corrales. sacrificed—at industrial sites in New Mexico for years to come. www.GreenFireTimes.com Green Fire Times • April 2016 37 What's Going On! Events / Announcements
April 16, 4-6 pm SANTA FE April 8-9 ABQ Hours Community Potluck April 1, June 3, Aug. 5, 10 am–1 pm NM Mission of Mercy ABQ Center for Peace & Justice, Free Legal Clinics SF Convention Center 202 Harvard Dr. SE First Judicial Court The convention center will be transformed Community service exchange based on a 225 Montezuma Ave. into a 120-chair free dental clinic to provide Time Banking model where members trade For low-income New Mexicans. First Friday first-come, first-served care to anyone with services without money. abqhours@gmail. every other month. Attorneys provide free le- oral health issues. Community volunteers com, www.facebook.com/abqhours gal advice on civil matters only (no family law, will work alongside 400 dental professionals. no criminal law) on a first come, first served Presented by the NM Dental Association ALBUQUERQUE April 21, 12–1 pm basis limited to the first 25 people.B ring rel- Foundation. To volunteer, provide a dona- April 2, 9 am-12 pm Building a Straw Bale Garden evant paperwork for attorney to review. NM tion or for more info: nmmom2@nmdental. Backyard Farming Series ReStore, 4900 Menaul NE Legal Aid’s Volunteer Attorney Program. org or visit www.nmdentalfoundation.org 505.814.5033, [email protected] Gutiérrez-Hubbell House Free class covering conditioning, planting April 9, 9 am–12 pm 6029 Isleta SW and watering straw bales. Snacks provided. April 4, 6 pm Sponsors: State Farm and Bank of the West. Simple Graywater Systems S uccessful Water Practices and the Role of Dr. Kurt Anschuetz Plants. Learn the basics needed to plan and 505.359.2423, [email protected] SF Community College Hotel Santa Fe Household wastewater is a resource that design your home garden landscape guided April 22-23, 9 am–5 pm by sustainability, permaculture and wise use A Contested Landscape: Tewa, Keres, Tano can be used safely for creating gardens and of our limited natural resources. Info/regis- NM Leaders in Mindfulness & Spanish Homelands of Las Bocas Can- wildlife habitats in our dry climate. This tration: 505.314.0398, www.berncom.gov/ Conference yon. Lecture presented by SW Seminars. class, taught by Amanda Bramble, covers NM graywater code, appropriate soaps and openspace FatPipe ABQ and Tamaya Resort $12. [email protected], South basic gravity-fed systems. Fee: $35. Course Santa Ana Pueblo westSeminars.org #HG321 01/CRN 30952 April 2 4/22: FatPipe ABQ Business Incubator, 200 New Museum Opening April 5, 10 am–12 pm Broadway NE: Application of mindful busi- Words that Work! April 9, 10 am–2 pm Indian Pueblo Cultural Center ness practices. 4/23: Tamaya: An exploration of Storm Water Harvesting, 501 Halona St. 2401 12th St. NW what it means to cross boundaries for inclusion Rooftop to Riverbed The IPCC’s first new permanent exhibit in and diversity in purposeful ways. Focus areas A nonprofit communications workshop by 40 years: We Are of This Place: The Pueblo include “Mindful Goverance,” “From Mind- the SF Community Foundation with Hol- SF Community College Story. Indianpueblo.org ful Self-Compassion to Mindful Community lis Walker. Sliding scale: $75, $135, 195. Course #HG306 01/CRN 31456, taught by Compassion” and “Mindfulness and Social 505.988.9715, www.santafecf.org/what-we- Aaron Kauffman, introduces local rainwater April 7 start Action.” www.newmexicomindfulness.com. do/event-calendar resource harvesting opportunities, followed Herbal Intensive by visiting projects implemented by Rainwa- April 24 April 5, 6–7:30 pm ter Resource Partnership members. Fee: $45. Red Root Acupuncture Clinic La Montañita Co-op Earthfest Culture Connects S ix-week intensive with Tomás Enos cover- Neighborhood Meeting April 9, 10 am–12 pm ing health and herbs using local plants, med- Silver St. behind Nob Hill Co-op Citizen’s Climate Lobby icine-making, etc. 505.242.2032 3500 Central SE SF Public Library–Southside Free community celebration. Environmen- 6599 Jaguar Dr. La Montañita Co-op, 913 W. Alameda April 8-9 tal, economic and social justice, farming & Community-wide effort to shape the culture Monthly meeting to focus climate activism Water Quality Testing gardening booths, education, information, future of SF. Residents, cultural organiza- and enact politically palatable and effective juried local artists, music, dance, plants and tions and community groups are invited to solutions. [email protected], newmexi McGrane Safety Complex food. 877.775.2667 share ideas and input. 505.955.6707, www. coclimateaction.org 48 Public School Rd., Tijeras CultureConnectsSantaFe.org The NM Dept. of Health and the NM Envi- April 26, 8 am–4:30 pm April 10, 11 am ronment Dept are offering free testing of water Native Youth Empowerment April 6, 11:30 am–1 pm Journey Santa Fe from domestic wells. 4/8: 12–6 pm; 4/9: 9 am–12 Symposium Green Lunch Morning Conversation pm. Bring a 1-liter sample to be tested for com- mon water concerns plus arsenic. 4/8, 5:30–7:30 Isleta Convention Center SFAHBA, 2520-B Camino Entrada Collected Works Bookstore pm and 4/9, 9:30–11:30 am: short course on pri- 11000 Broadway SE How can we best showcase NM’s wonders of 202 Galisteo vate wells. 505.224.1614, Conference for tribal leaders and staff,N a- nature, culture and conservation? Presenta- A presentation on the 100th anniversary of https://nmtracking.org/en/environ_exposure/ tive youth and advocates for financial literacy. tion by Mike Friedman of Adventure Part- the National Parks System with Sandy Buf- water-qual/private-wells/water-test-fairs/ Free. Presented by the Office of theS pecial ners, LLC, designer of recreation and learn- fet and Denise Fort. Free. 505.988.4226, Trustee for American Indians in partner- ing programs for resorts and destinations. www.journeysantafe.com April 13, 8–10 am ship with the Pueblo of Isleta. https://www. Presented by the SF Green Chamber of Com- NM Incentive Programs for eventbrite.com/e/native-youth-empower- merce. $20/$15. Reservations: 505.982.1774 April 11, 8:30 am Start Small Businesses ment-symposium-tickets-21433141102 PRC PNM Rate Case Hearing April 6, 4–11 pm PERA Building, 1120 Paseo de Peralta Sandoval Economic Alliance May 9-11 Earth Consciousness & 1201 Río Rancho Blvd., Río Rancho NM Public Regulation Commission hearing Native American the Lore of the Amazon on Public Service Company of NM’s appli- Fee: $39. 505.238.3004, http://sandoval Economic Summit economicalliance.org/category/events/ Synergia Ranch cation. For a detailed review, download the Hotel ABQ at Old Town S ymposium/salon. Conversations with PNM 2015 Rate Case Summary.pdf. New April 15 Registration Deadline 10th annual conference, small business Ralph Metzner, Dennis McKenna, Rick Energy Economy protest: 8:30–9:30 am. Raft the Río awards, trade fair. American Indian Cham- Doblin and others. Symposium 4–6:30, fol- #EyeOnPNM, NewEnergyEconomy.org lowed by dinner and evening salon with vi- eet in ernalillo ber of Commerce of NM. Info/registration: M B sionary art, poetry, music & dance. www. April 11, 6 pm T amarisk Coalition’s interpretive 9.5 mile 505.766.9545, www.nmnaec.com synergeticpress.com Dr. Eric Blinman lecture float trip on the RíoG rande on April 30, Through 2016 Hotel Santa Fe 9am–3 pm. $95/$80.Proceeds fund ripar- Las Huertas Farming April 6, 7:30 pm ian restoration. 970.256.7400, www.tamarisk A Contested Landscape: Galisteo Basin Ar- Training Courses Supreme Court Justice chaeology, Archaeologists’ Migration Models. coalition.org/about-us/events/raft-the-rio Sonia Sotomayor Bernalillo County Ext. Office Presented by SW Seminars. $12. southwest [email protected], SouthwestSeminars.org April 16, 9 am-12 pm 1510 Menaul NW St. John’s College Student Backyard Farming Series ctivities enter Intro to Horticulture in Aridlands covers A C April 12, 7–9 pm Gutiérrez-Hubbell House basics of farming in NM’s varied climate Talk and question and answer session. Free. 505.984.6050 Gardening Good Enough to Eat 6029 Isleta SW and seasons. Other classes offered include Successful Plant Practices and Selecting Growing Techniques, Summer Growing SF Community College Materials. Learn the basics needed to plan Season (farm visits), Business management April 7, 10 am–4 pm Bob Pennington will talk about how to raise and design your home garden landscape and planning. [email protected], SF Chamber of Commerce a successful vegetable garden. Learn how to guided by sustainability, permaculture and http://riograndefarm.org/farmer-training- Business Expo/Job Fair grow your own food at this altitude with our farm-incubator/ soil. $25. Course #HG353 01/CRN 30947 wise use of our limited natural resources. DeVargas Center, 564 Guadalupe St. Info/registration: 505.314.0398, www.bern 505.988.3279, [email protected] com.gov/openspace
38 Green Fire Times • April 2016 www.GreenFireTimes.com April 13–May 18, 6–7:30 pm April 21, 5-7 pm Opening Horticulturalist/landscape designer Tracy 7th Biennial symposium on integrative Revisiting Charlotte’s Web The Art of Change: Indigenous Neal will discuss traditional and new trees, health featuring many distinguished speak- Grownups, Grief and Grace. A six-week Peoples and Climate Justice shrubs, perennials and grasses that will work ers and local practitioners. Presented by the book club for those who have lost a loved IAIA Campus in our changing climate. Course #HG320 UNM School of Medicine’s Section of Inte- one. An Ambercare bereavement support Opening reception for students and others on cam- 01/CRN 30946 grative Medicine, Continuing Medical Edu- cation & Professional Development, Ari- program facilitated by Hollis Walker, CC/ pus who have created works in diverse mediums. May 1, 12–4 pm Opening SCP and Kasia McRoberts, MA, LPCC zona Center for Integrative Medicine and Free. 505.982.4098, ext. 13215 April 22, 1 pm Lowriders, Hoppers Gaples Institute for Integrative Cardiology. Composting as a Climate and Hot Rods 505.272.3942, http://som.unm.edu/cme April 14, 9 am–3:30 pm Change Solution NM History Museum, 113 Lincoln Ave. Third Weds. Monthly 2016 Planned Giving Car Culture of Northern NM. Exhibit’s Mini-Conference 3 school gardens Taos Entrepreneurial Network Free hands-on workshops. Learn home com- opening events include 2 pm lecture by Travis aos ounty ourthouse 501 Halona St. posting and the important role it plays in restor- Ruiz. ThroughM arch 5, 2017. 505.476.5019, T C C ural oom aos laza Presented by the SF Community Foundation ing carbon balance and soil fertility. Hosted by www.nmhistorymuseum.org M R , T P N etworking, presentations and discussion. Free. with Richard Lamport and Nancy Baker. Slid- SFPS and Earth Care. 505.983.6896, angele@ May 7, 8:30 am–4:30 pm ing scale: $15, $25, $45. 505.988.9715, www. earthcarenm.org, Registration: www.earth NM’s Opioid and Overdose santafecf.org/what-we-do/event-calendar carenm.org/earth-day-composting-sign-2016/ HERE & THERE Epidemic Conference April 1–May 20 April 15, 5:30–8 pm April 22, 2:30 pm SF Convention Center Etsy Craft Entrepreneurship Adelante Benefit Earth Day and Solar Panel Conference for clinical and behavioral health Workshops Ribbon Cutting Hilton SF, 100 Sandoval St. providers. Hosted by the SF Prevention Taos, Las Vegas, Mora An evening to benefit theS FPS Adelante Acequia Madre Elementary School Alliance. Info: 505.470.9072, SantaFePre Workshop series for northern NM residents program, which serves homeless children Join students, staff, theG lobal Warming Ex- [email protected], Registration: to help creative entrepreneurs start an on- and families. Youth performers, mono- press and many others to celebrate the new https://southwestcare.ejoinmen.org/SOS line shop on Etsy to sell handmade prod- logues, silent & live auctions. $50. RSVP by solar panel shade structure at the school. The ucts and create supplemental income. All 4/4. 505.467.2559, www.adelantesantafe.org May 14, 8 am–3 pm ribbon cutting will follow the school’s annual Santa Fe Green Festival workshops 10 am–4 pm. April 1, 8, 15, 22: April 15, 7 pm Fund Run and a barbecue in the school garden. Las Vegas; April 7, 14, 21, 28: Taos; April 29, El Museo at the SF Railyard May 6, 13, 20: Mora. Presented by WESST. 16th Annual Nuestra Musica April 22–23, 12-6 pm Green building design & home technology. 505.474.6556, [email protected] The Lensic Water Quality Testing Electric plug-in vehicles, renewable energy tech- April 14, 6-8 pm Songs and stories celebrating NM’s diverse Genoveva Chávez Center nologies, green products & services, water con- musical heritage. $10. Seniors no charge. TheNM Dept. of Health and the NM En- servation & harvesting, exhibits for kids, organic NM Solar Energy Assn. Meeting 505.988.1234, ticketssantafe.org vironment Dept are offering free testing of foods, fair-trade art. Presentations on all things Little Toad Pub backroom green and sustainable. SF Green Chamber of April 16, 9:30 am opening water from domestic wells. Bring a 1-liter Silver City, New Mexico sample to be tested for common water con- Commerce: 505.428.9123, glenn@nmgreen Monthly meeting of the NMSEA-Silver Japanese Cultural Festival cerns plus arsenic. https://nmtracking.org/ chambero.com, santafegreenchamber.org City chapter. Held every second Thursday. SF Convention Center, 201 W. Marcy en/environ_exposure/water-qual/private- May 14, 11 am–5 pm 575.538.1137, [email protected] Martial arts and Kabuki-dance demos. Food wells/water-test-fairs/ 1st Annual Yogathon & tea. $5, 12 & under free. Santafejin.org April 15 Application Deadline April 23, 9 am–3 pm Railyard Park Agricultural EQIP April 17, 11 am Indoor Flea Market K undalini yoga, music, dance, food, educa- Conservation Grants Journey Santa Fe tional activities, children’s class. 7–8:30 pm: SF County Fairgrounds Exhibit Hall USDA Natural Resources Conservation concert by DJ Liquid Bloom at the Railyard Morning Conversation 3229 Rodeo Rd. Service supports restoration and protection Performance Center. $25. Fundraiser for Com- Collected Works Bookstore T able reservation deadline is April 8. Pre- of habitat, reduction of soil erosion, im- munity Meditation Garden at Yoga Santa Fe. alisteo sented by the SF County Extension Home- provement of water quality, on-farm energy, 202 G 432.270.3431, purestpotentialfundraiser.com A presentation by local author Bruce Berlin on his makers. 505.471.4711, http://santafeexten etc. 505.761.4406, www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/ book “Breaking Big Money’s Grip on America.” sion.nmsu.edu/homeec.html Saturdays, 8 am-1 pm portal/nrcs/site/nm/home/ Free. 505.988.4226, www.journeysantafe.com April 28, 10 am Santa Fe Farmers’ Market Through April 15 April 18, 6 pm NM Acequia Commission Meeting 1607 Paseo de Peralta (& Guadalupe) Seedling Sale for Spring N orthern NM farmers & ranchers offer Dr. Timothy Maxwell lecture Bataan Memorial Bldg., Red Room, TheNM State Forestry Division seedling pro- fresh greenhouse tomatoes, greens, root veg- otel anta e 407 Galisteo St. gram has more than 65,000 seedlings in 50 dif- H S F gies, cheese, teas, herbs, spices, honey, baked The Lower Río Chama Valley: Its Unique A gendas: 505.827.4983 or www.nmace- ferent species available for purchase. Contain- goods, body care products and much more. Prehistoric Farming Techniques. Presented quiacommission.state.nm.us, Info: erized and bare-root stock. Info: carol.bada@ www.santafefarmersmarket.com by SW Seminars. $12. southwestseminar@ 505.603.2879, [email protected] state.nm.us, To order: www.nmforestry.com aol.com, SouthwestSeminars.org April 28, 9 am–2 pm May 4 start April 15-17 April 20, 6–7:30 pm Paving a Smooth Path from Herbal Medicine Intensive Ecological Restoration NM Solar Energy Assn. Meeting Proposals to Reporting Milagro School of Herbal Medicine Volunteer Project S ix-week intensive offers hands-on learning about menergy ffice arkway r alona t ear rants ew exico A O , 1201 P D . 501 H S . local plants, taught by Tomás Enos and Stefan Link. N G , N M Meets the third Wednesday of each month. Join the Albuquerque Wildlife Federation for A nonprofit technical assistance workshop Registration: 505.820.6321, info@milagroherbs. Sustainable Everything Advocates, a NMSEA a weekend at Cebolla Canyon in the El Mal- by the SF Community Foundation with Na- com, wwwmilagroschoolofherbalmedicine.com Chapter, seeks to make living sustainably the dine Stafford and Jerry Nelson. Sliding scale: pais National Conservation Area. Volunteers accepted norm. [email protected] $25, $45., $55. 505.988.9715, www.santafecf. will help build riparian restoration structures org/what-we-do/event-calendar TAOS to restore a wetland area as part of a com- April 20, 7 pm Through April 24 prehensive ecosystem restoration effort. rios School for Advanced April 29, 8:45–10:45 Art Speaks: Works by [email protected], http://abq.nmwildlife.org/ Research Benefit 2016 Outdoor Vision Fest Renowned Taos Pueblo Artists April 17, 1:30 pm ld ecos r ampus t ichael s r Encore Gallery, TCA CCA, 1050 O P T . SFUA&D C , 1600 S . M ’ D . Place Names of New Mexico S teve Feld’s documentary J.C. Abbey, Gha- SF University of Art & Design and Currents 145 Paseo del Pueblo Norte na’s Puppeteer screens, followed by discus- New Media present student/faculty/staff-cre- Works created by a group of the pueblo’s pre- Pecos Natl. Historical Park, Pecos, NM sion with the filmmaker. $25. 505.982.1338 ated video projections, interactive multimedia mier arts in stone, clay, India ink and oils. Bob Julyan will give an insightful tour and art installations and animation. Free. Free admission. 575.758.2052, tcataos.org into the history and values of the state. April 21 505.757.7241, nps.gov/peco/ Angel’s Night Out April 30, 7-9 am Registration; April 20, 5:30-8 pm Cleanup through noon Taos Entrepreneurial Network April 27, 2:30–6:30 pm 29 Restaurants Río Arriba Business Participating restaurants will contribute Great American Spring Clean Up ld ounty ourthouse laza O C C , 121 N. P & Workforce Expo 25% of their revenue to Kitchen Angels, an 1142 Siler Rd. Monthly meeting (every 3rd Weds.). Keynote and agency that provides home-delivered meals Volunteers needed. Picnic after cleanup. presentations by local speakers, exhibits of products Ohkay Owingeh Conference Center to people living with life-challenging health 505.955.2215, [email protected], and services. 575.921.8234, [email protected] near Española, New Mexico conditions. 505.471.7780, tmccarty@kitch www.keepsantafebeautiful.org Job fair, resources from service providers and enangels.org, KitchenAngels.org July 11-14 member businesses from the Espanola Cham- April 30, 9 am–12 pm Integrative Medicine ber of Commerce. Presented by Regional De- Plants for Santa Fe Professionals Symposium velopment Corp., Rio Arriba County Econom- SF Community College Sagebrush Inn ic Development and others. [email protected] www.GreenFireTimes.com Green Fire Times • April 2016 39 Green40 Fire Times • April 2016 www.GreenFireTimes.com