Glenwood Gazette News: SAWC Board Meeting July 23

Glenwood Gazette News: SAWC Board Meeting July 23: The next San Augustin Water Coalition Board meeting will be Tuesday, July 23rd at 6pm at the Datil Baptist Church. Agenda-----July 23, 2013...

Glenwood Gazette News: SAWC Annual meeting May 11

Glenwood Gazette News: SAWC Annual meeting May 11: The San Augustin Water Coalition will hold its annual meeting on Saturday, May 11th. at 3 p.m. in the Datil school gym. Doors open at 2...

San Augustin Water Grab Appeals Process

From SAWC attorney Bruce Frederick re:  San Augustin water grab appeals process.

The hearing, if there is one, will be in Santa Fe or ABQ at the Court of Appeals.

Two caveats:   (1) The Court of Appeals often decides cased based on the written briefs without any oral argument. And (2), if there is oral argument, it won't be scheduled for months or even more than a year from now.

The appellate process will likely consist generally of the following steps in this appeal:

• Notice of Appeal
• Docketing Statement
• Calendaring
• Filing of Transcripts from Lower Court
• Brief in Chief by Appellant
• Response by Appellee (us)
• Reply Brief by Appellant
• Oral Argument (at the option of the Court)
• Decision

 We are not yet at the "Docketing Statement" stage.


Posted with permission from Mr. Frederick.

R. Bruce Frederick, Staff Attorney
New Mexico Environmental Law Center
1405 Luisa Street, Suite 5
Santa Fe, NM 87501
505-989-9022

San Augustin Water Still At Risk

Blogmaster opinion:  This February 12, 2013 Albuquerque Journal article shows us that the San Augustin water grab isn't over.  We are now seeing the next stage of the war for water: the use of media to gently nudge public opinion in the preferred direction towards the side of the water grabbers, disguised as legislation created for "the public good".  Of course the water grabber's idea of public good isn't very good for the citizens of Catron County or western Socorro County.

Can Pecos water fix work for Rio Grande?

By John Fleck / Journal Staff Writer on Tue, Feb 12, 2013
"Can New Mexico's $100 million solution to drought problems on the Pecos River provide the model for the much larger problems on the lower Rio Grande?

"That is the question posed by Senate Bill 440, introduced in the Legislature last week by Sen. Joseph Cervantes, D-Las Cruces. Cervantes' bill asks for a $120 million appropriation to deal with the 'severe imbalance (that) exists among water rights holders reliant on Rio Grande water supply'.

"If Cervantes gets it (a big 'if''), the money would be used to improve irrigation efficiency, possibly import water to the Rio Grande Basin, and most important, to buy up and retire water rights in the valleys of New Mexico's southern Rio Grande, south of Elephant Butte Reservoir.

"Importing water is a tricky problem, but there are two big and controversial ideas on the table right now: pumping groundwater from a private ranch on the Plains of San Augustin, near Datil, and building a pipeline to ferry some of New Mexico's share of the Gila River to the Las Cruces area."  (Note:  bold font is blogmaster's emphasis)

READ FULL ARTICLE

San Augustin Plains water grab decision appealed

Augustin Plains Ranch LLC (filing as Kokopelli Ranch LLC et al) has filed a Notice of Appeal against Judge Reynold's decision on the the January 3, 2013 Order on Protestants' Motion for Summary Judgment regarding the San Augustin Plains water grab. The Notice of Appeal was filed in the 7th Judicial District Court in Catron County, NM on January 22, 2013.

This is the first round of the next phase of appeal, which is in the Court of Appeals in Santa Fe.  The San Augustin Water Coalition's attorney, R. Bruce Frederick, with New Mexico Environmental Law Center,  should be briefing the Court of Appeals beginning later this spring.
CLICK HERE for PDF download of Notice of Appeal