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Published: 17 January 2016 17 January 2016

The group also elects officers, changes meeting schedule, hears public input and guest speaker

By Mary Alice Murphy
For www.grantcountybeat.com 

The first item of business for the New Mexico Central Arizona Project Entity at its first 2016 meeting was to elect officers.

The present chairman, Darr Shannon, representing the Hidalgo Soil and Water Conservation District, will keep her position. Elected as vice chairman was Vance Lee, representing Hidalgo County, and, after nominations and some back and forth comments, Van "Bucky" Allred, Catron County commissioner, will remain as secretary. He was on the telephone for the meeting.

 

During public comment, M.H. "Dutch" Salmon, Gila Conservation Coalition chairman, said a representative of the Interstate Stream Commission at the previous meeting of the NM CAP Entity had tried to portray the conservation community as "some sort of rarified elite that used a few people to hold up a worthy diversion project. He neglected to mention that this so-called elite group managed to produce some 56,000 petition signatures in support of the Gila River and in specific opposition to the diversion and presented the petitions to the Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell just a couple of months ago. If the ISC can produce 56,000 signatures in support of the diversion, come show me and I'll buy lunch."

His second point was that the ISC and a member of the CAP Entity had portrayed the conservation community as "anti-progress." "Well," Salmon said, "progress is in the eye of the beholder. To replicate the unholy mess we've made of the Gila River in Arizona with an even more expensive, inefficient, destructive and unworthy project up here in New Mexico is not progress in my book. To quote the late author, Charles Bowden: 'Progress is our drug of choice, but so far no government has the guts to put a warning label on the bottle.'"

Sara Boyett of the Southwest New Mexico Audubon Society chapter expressed her appreciation for the NM CAP Entity chairwoman, Ms. Shannon. "I commend her openness to hearing from members of the public. She has been polite and respectful in her dealings with us. Her willingness to admit when mistakes have been made, and her prompt correction of them are commendable. She demonstrates that a public body and the public are partners, not enemies, in doing the people's business. I'd like to express both personally, and on behalf of Audubon, our gratitude for how she has chaired this body."

"However," Boyett continued, "at the last meeting of this body, statements were made by two individuals that need to be addressed, first to set the record straight and second, to remind ISC staff of their proper role at public meetings."

She described the first as a rant about environmentalists, not relevant to anything on the agenda, and that had many falsehoods. She chose an accusation, which she said called out for correction: "The suggestion that we representatives from Audubon are well-paid staff made our eyes roll. The countless hours we've worked on this issue are entirely on a volunteer basis. And, I might add, those who are paid staff of non-profit environmental organizations do not make more than the average area resident. If all the hours they've devoted to this cause were figured into their salaries, they'd scarcely earn minimum wage."

Boyett found the comments "deleterious to an atmosphere of mutual respect for our differing visions and values."

"Nor does disagreement give a staff member of the ISC the right to abuse his support role," she continued. "Public comment at a public meeting is just that, a period of time set aside for the deliberating body to hear from members of the public....The staff of the ISC is paid to render factual information and make recommendations based on those facts. It's not for them to make rebuttal to public comments, and especially not to make statements like, quote 'taxpayer money that feeds the very small, well-funded special interest groups...' I suggest the ISC remind their senior staff member that he is paid to render facts, not opinions, and especially not opinions that have no basis in fact."

Gerald Schultz, representing statewide National Resource and Conservation districts, talked about hearing the comment that the Gila River is the "last free-flowing river." He said it is free flowing in the Gila Wilderness and in the Upper Box, "and I add, when it overtops all existing diversions." He cited a Montana flood of the Missouri River, "like a biblical flood," which filled reservoirs and allowed water to flow to the Mississippi River and would have overtopped dams, if the floodgates had not been opened. He cited another in Corpus Christi, Texas, and another resulting from a hurricane.

"This Gila River is no different from any other river," Schultz said. "One more diversion would simply add to the not free-flowing river."

Norm Gaume, professional engineer and previous ISC director, started his public comments with: "Nobody is paying me to be here."

He said he had a few topics, one of which is that it is the 100-year anniversary of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation's first official filing to build the Hooker Dam. "In 100 years, we haven't done it yet. Lessons haven't been learned."

The second item was that in the Upper Gila Box and in the Gila Wilderness, the river is free flowing and the preferred dam site is in the Upper Box.

"Third, the $1 billion figure was confirmed in the Value Study," Gaume said. "The ISC posted a spreadsheet that indicates the predicted 13,000 acre-feet of yield would actually be 2,000 acre-feet. It's incredible that no one has mentioned it."

He also said, in his opinion, the closed session on the agenda was illegal. Gaume read from the Open Meetings Act to support his opinion. "Your agenda says it is a negotiation process, which is not a valid exception to the Open Meetings Act."

The next item on the agenda was to discuss and approve the OMA for 2016.

Lee said the resolution states that meetings will be held at 1 p.m. "Mr. (Brett) Kasten (Grant County representative) has a conflict with afternoon meetings."

County Manager Charlene Webb, who was in the audience, confirmed that Kasten is unavailable for afternoon meetings.

Pete Domenici, Jr., attorney for the Cap Entity, said 9 a.m. was not good for him, because it was impossible to get from Albuquerque regularly by 9 a.m.

Entity Member Ryan Jamison said he would like a lawyer at the meetings as often as possible.

When the third Tuesday was mentioned, Kim Abeyta-Martinez, ISC non-voting representative on the entity, said the ISC tries to have its commission meetings the third Wednesday of the month.

Lee suggested 10:30 a.m. on the first Tuesdays of every month. The membership moved to approve the OMA with the first Tuesday of every month at 10:30 a.m. as the regular meeting date.

The guest speaker for the meeting was Scott Verhines of OCCAM Consulting Engineers Inc.

"I have been fortunate over the years to work with groups like yours," Verhines said. "The underlying theme is perseverance. You will have turnover. Congratulations on the creation of the New Mexico CAP Entity and on your joint powers agreement. You're at the beginning stages and coming at it from a regional perspective. I am working with Ruidoso on a regional solution. Such a group as yours takes entities that often don't play well together. If you turn the corner, it will benefit all of you."

He suggested a couple of strategies, with the first being to have a plan. "We helped eastern New Mexico with a plan that has eight elements. The first is infrastructure project development. You have a long way to go. Financing and funding are key components. In 2001, I took people from New Mexico and visited lots of sites to bring back lessons learned. The one that most looked like New Mexico was South Dakota. It has created various regions and created a group similar to our Water Trust Board. They were able to go to legislators and Congress to help them get over the hump. You have some of those in play now. They had a couple of champions."

Verhines said he has watched devolution of the Water Trust Board. "It has lost its mission, which was to champion things like what you're trying to do and how to tie it into state support. In eastern New Mexico, they were interested in a campaign on how to get in front of the public. Those who are detractors of water development are very vocal. Those in support are quieter. How do you change the dynamic?"

"Your organizational structure is critical," Verhines continued. "Early on we recommended to eastern New Mexico against having an employee of the entity. It may perhaps be better to have a professional consultant, so politics is not a part. You will have financing and engineering groups coming to you saying: 'We have a solution for you.'

"If you have a program consultant, he can be removed if he doesnG