By Mary Alice Murphy

After introductions by all attendees, Rosemary Romero, contractor facilitating the meeting, turned the session over to Joanne Hilton, contracted hydrologist for the planning process.

Hilton gave a brief overview of what had taken place at prior meetings, for the benefit of those for whom the meeting was the first time to the process.

She said the objectives had been given in more detail at the prior meetings.

"The primary goals are to complete all 16 regional water plans at the same time, so they are consistent in format and framework; and to provide more comprehensive information for water planning," Hilton said.

She noted the Regional Water Planning Handbook, which has guidelines for the process, could be found on the Office of the State Engineer website.

"The state is preparing the purpose and scope of the updates," Hilton continued.

The meeting, held on Wednesday, June 3, was part of the public involvement process and is being accomplished on the regional level for each of the 16 regions with the assistance of Interstate Stream Commission contractors. Hilton and Romero are overseeing the Southwest Region's planning, as well as that of several other regions in New Mexico.

The description of each planning region, the technical framework and the legal issues are being compiled at the state level, as will water supply, water demand, and identified gaps between supply and demand. The implementation of strategies to meet future water demand will be prepared by the regions, with assistance from the contractors.

Romero said she is in charge of the regional master list of participants in the process, as well as for the Steering Committee representation.

"I had some gaps there, but Stewart (Rooks) helped me out there," Romero acknowledged. "Priscilla Lucero of the Council of Governments is the chair of the Steering Committee. It makes sense because the COGs have been instrumental in helping us out."

She then brought up the formation of subcommittees and suggested several possibilities.

"I think a watershed subcommittee is a logical one here," Romero said. "And does a subcommittee each for mutual domestics and acequias make sense?"

Ty Bays, representing the Grant Soil and Water Conservation District suggested that the districts in the four-county region, which each oversee their whole county, should participate in a subcommittee.

Romero encouraged formalization of the watershed subcommittee and said Martha Schumann Cooper had already expressed interest, as well as the Grant County Eco-Watershed group. She added the soil and watershed districts to the list and Eileen Dodds of Datil.

Lucero noted that getting the mutual domestic water associations together would be a challenge. "They work with me, because they have no paid staff. I can call a meeting or tie the meeting into their training."

Romero said she realized the mutual domestics and the acequias were more of a challenge.

"I'm seeing mutual domestics and ditches getting involved," Lucero said. "I'm starting to see them organizing for funding, such as for capital outlay. I'm helping them build their infrastructure capital improvement plans."

"People can learn how they fit into the planning process and perhaps how they can get funding for their projects," Romero noted.

Lucero said one way to get groups involved is to pull them together by bringing workshops on funding to the local area. "We have 15 to 20 mutual domestics in the four-county region.

Marilyn Alcorn of the Grant County Food Policy Council and the Regional Food Policy Council asked how food security fit into the planning.

Romero said she saw it as an agricultural issue and asked who else was working on the issue.

"We have the county Food Policy Council, The Volunteer Center, the Southwest New Mexico Regional Food Policy Council, all working on the issue," Alcorn said. "The Grant County commissioners appointed the County Food Policy Council and the regional group appointed themselves."

Lucero noted that the region received a grant on food entrepreneurship. She said a citizen's group in Catron County is also working on the issue.

Alcorn asked how the county extension agencies fit into the picture.

Romero said the state agriculture department is on the list, and "you working together could do policy work."

The last item on the public involvement section was meeting locations and times, which had been addressed at the prior meeting. "You said it made sense to keep the meetings in Silver City, because it is more central. You said you preferred weekday meetings and Priscilla can help us with the place. Your next meeting with us will be in the fall."

To a question about whether the subcommittees would be meeting in the interim, Romero said: "Yes, I encourage them to get together, get organized and work on funding and their issues."

Hilton said the rest of Wednesday's meeting would center on strategies to meet water needs. "We will reconvene in the fall and hold three meetings over the next fiscal year, ending June 30, 2016. We want to get as far as possible today on the strategies. There are a lot of difference processes for funding. It would be helpful to know the priority projects around the state."

She suggested watershed restoration might be an important strategy for the region, as well as better training and planning for mutual domestics.

"We would like to receive your future project checklists," Hilton held up an example, "by next week, June 12. We need to know what your project is, the contact person, the estimated cost if you have not completed a preliminary engineering report, and the time frame for implementation."

Lucero said she didn't think she could make the June 12 deadline because right now she is working with local governments, mutual domestics and ditch association on their ICIPs, which are due June 16. The government ICIPs are due by September. "Can we just make copies of projects and give them to you? Do you want what we have now or in September?"

Hilton said copies would be just fine and current ones would be best, but they could be updated.

Lucero said what was missing, too, were the Colonias Infrastructure Fund plans, which continue to be done in phases. "Plus the Community Block Development Grants and USDA applications."

Hilton said any place where there are multiple projects, including those of the Forest Service or the Soil and Water Conservation Districts, "send them to us in spreadsheets or whatever format you have them. Please do make them available to us."

Lucero said some needed projects might not be in the ICIP, but the group might have water project needs, such as in their 40-year water plans.

Robert Esqueda, Silver City Utilities Department, said they had nothing in their most recent update.

"Our deadline to compile the water projects is June 30," Hilton said. "We ask you to send any you have by June 12, if at all possible."

Lucero confirmed she would need more time.

Rooks, representing the Farm Bureau, said the group has identified a couple of projects needed in Cliff. "We are engaging with the National Resources Conservation Service and preparing for a next year deadline."

Hilton said she would like any such projects, and to identify that the group is just beginning the PER.

Anthony Gutierrez, representing Grant County, asked if the 16 Arizona Water Settlements Act projects were included in the list.

"Some projects with funding by the AWSA are in the list, but we will get that information," Hilton said.

Lucero asked Bays if the soil and water conservation district were developing an ICIP. "If not, and you will be seeking funding, maybe you should be creating an ICIP. I would like to know what your priority projects are. There still is an opportunity for you to get that information in by June 16. I don't want you to miss any opportunities for funding. In most applications in this state, if you don't have the ICIP, you won't get funded."

He mentioned working through the state soil and water conservation districts. Lucero said: "If you're your own entity, you should have your own specific ICIP."

Romero suggested acequias and soil and water conservation districts work together on projects to benefit both.

Hilton said the information would be used to fit criteria. "For instance, the Water Trust Board has criteria, such as whether it is included in the regional water plan. It's not an absolute criteria, but gets additional points in the review process."

"We will not rank projects in the region," Hilton said. "We are just compiling the information. Every time you go to apply for funding, each program has its own criteria for evaluation. Your projects will be in a pool with those from the rest of the state.

"Right now, we want to talk about particular projects or programs that you want to move forward with and find collaboration on. A lot of the watershed projects can be collaborative, and so can the food policy projects."

Romero said the group would do a brainstorming exercise. "We are encouraging more collaboration with continuing momentum and synergy."

Dennis Inman from the Plains of San Augustin said water in the aquifer could be used "in this area if we knew better the dynamics of the watershed. Some water in the Alamosa Basin is the same age as San Augustin water. Studies also show the water is leaking into the Gila and into the Tularosa River. If, as a corporation out of Albuquerque wants to do, the water is allocated outside, it could impact this area. We need to know the dynamics. We need about $300,000 for dye tracing and such. We need additional data. In the San Francisco and Gila basins, water going into the Tularosa is never accounted for."

Vivian Gonzales of the Phoenix Office of the Bureau of Reclamation said lots of grants are on the Reclamation website for water efficiency, water optimization and climate change, for example.

Allyson Siwik, representing the Gila Resources Information Project and the Gila Conservation Coalition, said the Grant County Water Commission has a regional water supply project that should be on the compiled list.

Lucero noted that the project has received AWSA funding for $2.1 million, but Phase 1 would cost $12 million, with pieces having been already awarded, including a piece that is a collaboration between Santa Clara and Arenas Valley. "The PER for the project is complete."

Siwik said reuse is also a part of the plan, and several parts in process have different sources of funding.

Romero asked about watershed projects. Carolyn Koury of the Gila National Forest said the Forest Plan revision has just kicked off and will take about four years, with estimated completion in 2019. "It will include our goals and strategies. We already have projects near Luna."

Gutierrez said potential diversions in Virden and on the San Francisco River should also be in the plan. "And the Gila diversion is another."

Bays said watershed health gives the "best bang for the buck. I had a famer telling me after the fire in the Black Range, the watershed was yielding more water and more steady water flow since the fire. You can increase the water supply with watershed health."

Lucero mentioned a project that should be added to the list-that of a regionalization of water with Lordsburg providing water to the unincorporated Glen Acres. "Lordsburg treats the water because of high fluoride."

Alcorn said the Food Policy Council had morphed into having water for growing food. "Our original task was transportation and storage of food, because we have no real food storage ability, but to encourage the growing, you have to have accessibility to water."

Lucero mentioned the Heredia Ditch in the Mimbres, although she didn't know how much water it provides and to how many producers.

Hilton asked about interest in flood protection.

Siwik said the New Mexico Department of Transportation is working on a project above and below a highway bridge over the Gila River.

"We used to put D-9 dozers in the river and take the sediment and build up dikes for miles," Rooks said. "When we had floods, the water had a straight unabated path. The last couple of times we had floods, the water went across highway 211. Had the river bottom been taken care of, the water wouldn't have gone over the road. Today's current EPA and endangered species regulations prohibit mechanical equipment in the river."

Siwik said the ongoing effort of the NMDOT under review is a demonstration project working with the river. "If it works, it will be used for other NMDOT projects in other parts of the state."

Hurley Mayor Edward Encinas said he used to run those bulldozers from Virden to Socorro. "It was a big help until the EPA put a stop to it."

Helen Sobien, ISC engineer, asked about the home that had been washed away in a flood in Santa Clara. "Would flood protection on Cameron Creek have prevented that?"

Gutierrez said he feared because of growth on the floodplain that a flood control dam could make the situation worse.

Bayard City Clerk Kristina Ortiz said most of the drainage in Santa Clara goes into that creek, so upstream might not help.

Inman said he wanted to insert a voice of reason. "The problem is sediment. It fills the basin and the basin tops. They have gone through different iterations in California. All have been underdesigned. You need to understand the full dynamics of the watershed."

Bays said on the canyons around the Gila River, there are 10 erosion control dams. "All are designed to completely flow out within 48 hours, but they must be maintained. When they are maintained, they work. The problem is getting money to maintain them. We assess the water users and do maintenance. It's a constant to maintain, but they are a marvel."

Kenny Stockton of the Mimbres Valley said the flood control dams do not work if there is no drainage capability.

According to Inman, more sediment control structures support riparian systems, and the water that comes off them is not big enough to become a hazard in big floods.

"Inman and I are looking at building sediment control on the Tularosa River," Van "Bucky" Allred, Catron County commissioner, said. "We had a geologist doing a study after the Whitewater-Baldy Fire, so we could have an idea of another possible fire start."

Alcorn said she believes sediment is good soil. "Could we find a beneficial use for it?"

Bays said the sediment he was referring to is so fine and more like sand "that it won't grow anything. It's moving dirt. We put it on the backside of the dam to shore it up. But if you want it, we'll give it to you if you haul it."

Siwik said sediment serves a purpose. "Healthy river systems absorb floods, so they can meander and floods can recharge the groundwater. The concept of healthy rivers is to restore natural functioning rivers."

"We need an independent, unbiased analysis of what our rivers and watersheds looked like back in history," Bays said. "I have seen early photos, and there are so few trees along the river, you can't follow the course of the river by its trees. Now it has a thick riparian system, because we've mucked with it. In old photos, these mountains behind us were grass. Now they are too thick with trees."

During a break, Romero and Hilton consolidated the mentioned strategies.

After consolidation, the strategies included watershed restoration, which encompassed the Forest Plan revision and small sediment control structures; flood control with dams; the Lordsburg regional water supply with Glen Acres; the NMDOT demonstration project; a food hub/food security, including access to food and water to grow it; a hydrogeologic investigation of the Plains of San Augustin; the Grant County Water Commission regional water supply/distribution project; a historic assessment of watershed conditions; and the Gila diversion.

Participants were given dot stickers to put on the ones they thought were most important. The top four were watershed restoration; the Grant County regional water distribution project; the hydrogeologic analysis of the Plains of San Augustin; and the historic assessment of watersheds, which could be combined with the top one on watershed restoration.

Romero emphasized that none was lost from the list. "We're just trying to get our arms around what the community feels is most important. We are not prioritizing, but determining where people can put their energy."

She said during fiscal year 2015, the planning process has included putting together the master list and building the future projects checklist.

Hilton reminded participants to send projects to her or Romero by June 12 if possible, or just a list of what would be coming, and "please let us know if your cost estimates are not complete."

"This is what July 1, 2015-June 30, 2016 looks like," Romero said. "The ISC will do an internal review of the technical platform, which takes several months. We will come back late fallish. You can do things in the interim with the subcommittees. We will get out a summary of this meeting, and we will hold three meetings next fiscal year.

"At the end of fiscal year 2016, you will have a regional water plan," Romero said. "I hear the need for more outreach for acequias. You will have ideas for outreach, implementation and ideas for funding."

Lucero said she had heard concerns about why the process started so late in the southwest region. "Next time, we want more time."

"You are right," Romero said, "but you are right where everyone else is now."

"There's just some perception as to why we were last to begin," Lucero said. "Also we don't want to lose the momentum and trust of those who are working to get it done. When it is completed, there are hopes there be will outreach to groups. We have representatives, it will be just as important to go to them, as well as to the COG Board."

"Also don't forget La Ristra," Romero said, "which is a project of the state COGs to build a good database of projects across New Mexico. You will have Joanne and me to continue to help you with this process next year."

Michael Deubel of Forestry Unlimited asked whether the watershed was referring to public or private lands.

Romero said both. "The watershed knows no boundaries."

Deubel noted that those on private land "can get going faster."

The meeting adjourned.