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Thursday, November 17, 2005

Group Continues Work to Defend Area Water

By Beth Hahn
Mountain View Telegraph
    A8 Mountain View Telegraph Thursday, November 17, 2005
    In the months since Santa Fe abandoned its plan to pipe millions of gallons of water from the Estancia Basin to the state capital, the Estancia Basin Resource Association did not rest on its laurels.
    Instead, the group mobilized and continued to lobby for state laws to protect the area and to require the state engineer to look more closely at the needs of each basin before authorizing water transfers.
    EBRA is a grass-roots organization that formed to oppose the city of Santa Fe's proposal to build a 60-mile pipeline to pump brine water from the Estancia Basin for the capital city's use.
    EBRA board members held a quarterly meeting Nov. 10 to discuss what the group has done since the failed water transfer to Santa Fe, and what it plans to do in 2006.
    Board president Art Swenka said the group has done the following since its inception:
   

Met with Gov. Bill Richardson to discuss water issues relating to the area.
   

Met twice with the state engineer to discuss doing in-depth studies of the Estancia Basin and possibly closing the Estancia Basin to outside municipalities or governments that would want the area's water.
   

Committed $10,000 to update a 40-year water plan for the Estancia Basin, originally written in 1999.
   

Had aerial photos taken of the basin to show growth and various uses of water in the area.
   

Monitored quarterly reports on water transfers within the basin.
    Swenka said 2006 will feature many of the same activities as the group tries to stir up support for a proposal sponsored by State Sen. Pete Campos, D-Las Vegas.
    Campos' proposal, which he will submit to the Legislature during the 2006 session, would require the state engineer to look at both sides of a water transfer before approving one.
    In late 2004, when Santa Fe began considering a water transfer, Swenka said the state engineer approved the request without investigating the Estancia Basin's needs, growth projections or history of water usage.
    Guest speaker Jim Corbin, who helped write the area's current water plan, said it is important for the Estancia Basin water plan to be updated.
    According to Corbin, an engineer who works for the Estancia Basin Water Planning Committee, if the Estancia Basin has a water plan, the state and state engineer will be less likely to approve water transfers to other communities that do not have water plans.
    An updated water plan, however, could call for some changes in area residents' lifestyles, said Sen. Sue Wilson Beffort, R-Sandia Park.
    Beffort suggested adding sections to the water plan that specifically address conservation and reduction in water usage. She also said local farmers should think about switching to low-consuming crops.
    Rep. Rhonda King, D-Stanley, agreed with Beffort but added that without implementation, the 40-year-plan is a waste of time and money.
    King said that even if a plan is drawn up and the state approves, it will be useless unless area residents and businesses try to conserve and reuse the basin's water.
    "We really need to look at how many times we can use this water," she said.
    Along with an updated 40-year plan for the basin, Corbin said he hopes to get enough funding to do similar plans for each community— Moriarty, Edgewood, Estancia, Mountainair and the land grant communities— that depend on the Estancia Basin.
    Corbin said he is preparing a request for $600,000 in the 2006 legislative session to fund and complete the plans.
    With a water use plan in place, Corbin said the Estancia Basin can avoid some of the pitfalls that Santa Fe has come across.
    "They have not succeeded in controlling themselves or helping their own people," he said. "They've put themselves in harm's way."
    EBRA will also support a resolution to create a water trust fund and efforts to begin water banking in the Estancia Basin.