Letter to Editor on water issues, rebuttal to Daily Press article

Category: Editorials Editorials
Published: 08 January 2014 08 January 2014
Dear Editor,
I am responding to the article "ISC approves modifications to proposals to divert water.",
 by Jim Owen, on the front-page of The Silver City Daily Press on Thursday December 5, 2013.
 
Since 1998, I have been involved with water issues in the Gila Valley. As a resident of Gila, and as president of the Cliff - Gila Farm and Livestock Bureau I have attended, and continue to attend, meetings concerning the "Arizona Water Settlements Act of 2004" (AWSA).
 
According to the Gila Conservation Coalition, the Interstate Stream Commission (ISC) approved diversions from the Gila River "without any Public review or comment on preliminary engineering analyses".  Ms. Allyson Siwik, executive director of the coalition, then states, "This is nothing new for the ISC staff.  Throughout the 10-year planning process, the staff has consistently tried to limit public participation under the Arizona Water Settlements Act".
 
Ms Siwik, and the Gila Conservation Coalition, is wrong in asserting that the ISC has acted without Public review or comment concerning diversions of water from the Gila River.
 
I know of no action(s) approved by the ISC regarding the AWSA prior to full disclosure to, and review and comment by, the public.
 
Now consider the following possible outcomes for the Gila River here in New Mexico:
 
The ISC approves no action to divert any water from the Gila River thereby depriving farmers and ranchers in the Gila Valley from utilizing the AWSA waters.
 
Land that could produce crops will lay fallow denying opportunities to improve ranching and farming.
 
Big developers offer to buyout ranches and farms and build hundreds, perhaps thousands, of new homes.  Each new home is by law guaranteed water for consumption within the home as long as water exists.  Think deep wells.  Soon the Gila waters go underground to replenish the aquifer leaving a dry riverbed!
 
Or, the ISC could approve responsible use of the AWSA waters allowing the farms and ranches to continue operating in the Gila Valley for generations to come! 
 
Sincerely,
 
Michael W. Cuff 
Gila, NM 88038
 

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