Why the Augustin Plains Ranch, LLC's permit proposal is not in the best interest of Catron County and the Southwestern Region of New Mexico.
5/1/16
The proposal to pump 54,000 acre feet of groundwater from the Plains of San Augustin will mine most of the water from the plains in a very short order of time. The groundwater in the plains is already in decline by about 3 to 4 feet, for 35 wells that were looked at by the Blodgett and Titus study of 1973. So in this 43-year period, 29 of the 35 wells or 80% of the wells; which were pumped mainly by the ranchers, occurred during a period of extended drought and showed a significant decline in their water tables. What the ranchers extract per year is nothing compared to what the LLC would extract under their proposed permit. Currently there is in excess of 9,500 acre feet of water allocated under the state permit system and this includes the subdivisions in the basin and if you add to this 54,000 acre feet of water being applied for by the LLC the amount being allocated would be around 63,500 acre feet of water that could in theory be pumped annually in a system that is already in decline. This amount of pumping would far exceed the amount of annual recharge for the basin. In a recent analysis by New Mexico Tech they are indicating that the underground flow of groundwater in the basin is to the southwest along the main axis of the plains.
It has been suggested by myself and others that the underground flow of groundwater is what supports the perennial flow of water in the Tularosa River and Blodgett and Titus suggested that the plains is losing groundwater to the Gila River basin. If the LLC gets its permit to pump the 54,000 acre-feet of water annually it could dry up the flow to these rivers. Under the Arizona Water Settlements Act, New Mexico is to get 14,000 acre-feet of water per year from the San Francisco and Gila rivers. If the plains groundwater is supporting the flows to those rivers, then there will be no water to extract by the proposed Gila diversion.
Since the Blodgett and Titus study, the annual recharge to the plains has been less than what is being pumped by the ranchers and what is being lost in evapotranspiration and leakage from the basin. Therefore, if the Augustin Plains Ranch gets its permit they will lower the groundwater within the basin beyond the reach of the local ranchers and many residents. The average depth to groundwater for the ranchers is at an elevation of about 6,800 feet and the LLC would be pumping from an average depth of about 4,000 feet in elevation; this difference of 2,800 feet is beyond the financial reach of the local ranchers and residents. The effect is that it would put the ranchers out of business. In other words they could not compete with the LLC for groundwater. The effect of the Augustin Plains Ranch's proposal would mean economic disaster for the Datil area.
Dennis Inman