Friday, June 13, 2008

Amended Augustin Plains Ranch drilling application

Augustin Plains Ranch LLC has filed an amendment to their original application. The NM Office of the State Engineer expects the amendment to be approved and ready for publication in local newspapers around Monday, June 16.

Protests to the original application will be automatically carried over to the amended application, however the new publication will allow people to register additional protests with the State Engineer's office.

"The purpose of this amended application is to provide water by pipeline to supplement or offset the effects of existing uses and for new uses in the areas designated in attachment B, in order to reduce the current stress on the water supply of the Rio Grande Basin in New Mexico," the amended application states. "Any impairment of existing rights, in the Gila-San Francisco Basin, the Rio Grande Basin or any other basin that would be caused by the pumping applied for will be offset or replaced." (quote credit: Socorro El Defensor Chieftain, Saturday, June 14, 2008 http://www.dchieftain.com/news/80899-06-14-08.html)

Attachment B says the proposed places of use are any areas within Catron, Sierra, Socorro, Valencia, Bernalillo, Sandoval and Santa Fe counties situated within the geographic boundaries of the Rio Grande Basin.

1 comment:

Cari Gillespie said...

First reason to object is that we shall lose thousands of dollars worth of purchased water rights AND equity in our property. If we don't have water, we cannot exist on our land or sell to another.

Second is what it is like to live with reduced water. I have lived where water usage was highly restricted to provide water for other cities which did not have restrictions or appreciation for what we sacrificed. This is how we lived: all dish washing, hair washing, teeth brushing, face washing, floor mopping and bathing required heating pots of water on the stove, because too much water was wasted waiting for hot water to come through the pipes. We could not shower, because we could not gauge the amount of water. We heated water on the stove and put 2 inches in the tub. We soaped off, then rinsed in cold water from the tap. There was no laundry at home. At the laundromat, the water was often cut off mid-cycle leaving customers with soapy clothes & no way to rinse them. $10's of thousands were lost in landscape, as it was illegal to irrigate your lawn. Equity was lost. Monthly meter readings showed if you went over the 50 gallon a day maximum per family member. If the maximum use was only a few gallons over, the meter was shut off and that family had to carry water from another county to exist until the next month. 50 gallons sounds like a lot of water, until you try to live by it.

Those who will not be responsible and join the fight will be the loudest screamers when our water is gone. Be good to yourself and the neighbor you have not met, and join the cause.