By Mary Alice Murphy

On Thursday, June 1, 2017, the New Mexico Central Arizona Project Entity held its regular meeting.

Public comment began with Andy Payne "reminding" the members "why most New Mexicans do not support a diversion."

Among the items he cited were needlessly wasting money, throwing away money on engineers and contractors, not determining who the end users are, the need for conservation, a diversion would benefit only a few, the only ones benefitting are those doing studies, the Interstate Stream Commission received the 'Black Hole Award' for its lack of transparency and "you are being painted with the same brush. If you continue to waste taxpayer dollars, they will have been wasted on another federal boondoggle, with harmful effects, including losing tourist dollars."

 Gerald Schultz, representing the New Mexico Natural Resource and Conservation Districts, said he has previously spoken about the basic flow equation that "inflow equals outflow." He said each can be made up of various components but the total of one should equal that of the other, "regardless of any factor that influences water movement, whether natural or not." An imbalance can occur when computations for use and movement of water are done, including incorrect mathematical movements and overlooking a component. He said it was not to make a comparison between recent presentations, but to discuss some facets of basic flow equation.

Claudia Duerinck, Gila Valley resident, said that retired engineer Norm Gaume, Allyson Siwik of the Gila Conservation Coalition and others have "repeatedly said you have no plan."

She said: "At the last meeting, people heard a long and confusing report about selling water. It seems the purpose of this meeting is not to sell water. Who will be the beneficiary if you sell the water and what happens when the money is spent? A diversion has no benefit to most Grant County residents. Spend the money to make sure it benefits most of Grant County."

Todd Schulke of the Center for Biological Diversity said he had a question about the last meeting. "I was confused by the intent to use the Freeport-McMoRan infrastructure. Mr. (Pete) Domenici (attorney for the NM CAP Entity), in one of his presentations, said the Freeport infrastructure could be used for non-AWSA (Arizona Water Settlements Act) water. And later (Executive Director) Anthony (Gutierrez) and (Member) Howard Hutchinson (representing the San Francisco Soil and Water Conservation District) said maybe it could be used for AWSA water. Would that impact NEPA?"

He was told it would.

Ron Troy, representing himself, not the agency he works for, said Hutchinson had said at a prior meeting that the tasks for the CAP Entity are different from "my experience on the Hondo near Ruidoso." He said water that was not diverted into the treatment plant was stolen by robbing the water users downstream. "I'm paying to try to save this water. You will impact downstream users. You will cause a lot of lawsuits. Look at the Columbia River; look at the Hondo. If you are going to enhance the diversions already on the Gila, great. Keep agriculture whole. Get some watershed people on your board who have done watershed work. You will make bad decisions based on time and money."

Antoinette Reyes, who lives in Deming, but whose family has lived in Grant County for "centuries," said that people come from all over the world to see the "free-flowing Gila River. (A diversion) will impact the elk and the birds. It will reduce hunting licenses. It's important to the region, because it is home to a community who doesn't want this project. Amend the JPA (joint powers agreement) to use the money for other projects."

The first item of old business was to amend the NM CAP Entity Open Meetings Resolution, as it has previously required a quorum of the board to call a special or emergency meeting. "That won't work," Chairwoman Darr Shannon noted.

Added to the OMA in item 3, was that the meeting would be on the first Tuesday of the month, unless a change is made, in which case the entity will give at least 10 days notice to newspapers of general circulation and radio stations licensd by the Federal Communitcations Commission and on the nmcapentity.org website, with the agenda being available 72 hours prior to the meeting.

In item No. 4, a special meeting may be called with three days notice and with the notice provided to newspapers of general circulation and radio stations licensd by the FCC by phone call and on the website.

Emergency meetings may be called by the chairman with 24 hours notice to newspapers and radio stations by telephone call and placed on the website. Within 10 days of an emergency meeting, the entity must report it to the Attorney General's office.

Kim Abeyta-Martinez, ISC non-voting member attending by phone, had a question about the difference between items 2 and 3.

Shannon said the Attorney General's guide did not say the change of date or time had to be in both.

Abeyta-Martinez asked that it be amended to include both. The last sentence from No. 2 was added to No. 3.

The amendments were approved.

The next item addressed a request by the Grant Soil and Water Conservation District to be part of the NM CAP Entity. Shannon said the SWCD had filed all its paperwork. Without discussion, the new member was approved.

The next item of old business was to rescind a motion approved at the May meeting. The motion had been approved to receive quotes from an engineer to evaluate the Freeport-McMoRan infrastructure that the NM CAP Entity might use in the future.

Gutierrez asked that it be rescinded, because ISC counsel had said, until the JPA is amended, this action would be in violation of the JPA. The JPA, as it reads now, only addresses the creation of a New Mexico Unit, not any other possible projects.

"We are not able to use any New Mexico Unit Funds for purposes other then the New Mexico Unit at this time," Gutierrez said. "We are accepting bids for general engineering services to determine a project for a unit."

Joe Runyan, alternate representative for the Gila Farms Irrigation Ditch, asked how the information would be used.

"It is under consideration by Freeport for us to possibly use its infrastructure to transfer water into the Mimbres aquifer," Gutierrez said. "We are not far along enough with consideration of using Freeport infrastructure, so we can't include it in the New Mexico Unit. Freeport has let us know it is not interested at this time in the part about possibly using AWSA water."

Runyan noted that Freeport is already permitted in the Gila Valley to take water. He surmised that perhaps the company prefers upgrading its current diversions.

Domenici said when the entity gets to the agenda item to amend the JPA, "this will be at the heart of the amendment. Once it is amended, the New Mexico CAP Entity will have authority to provide funding for other water uses and infrastructure. It will benefit this board and other entities, when we have engineering services of our own. But this Freeport item will have to be put on hold until after the JPA is amended. "

He said the board would approve the amendments to the JPA. It would go next to the ISC for approval, then back to the CAP Entity members' individual agency boards for approval and then would be sent to the New Mexico Department of Finance and Administration for final approval.

Runyan noted that local water users think it's a great idea to use Freeport infrastructure.

"We have heard from other areas that also support the significant benefit," Domenici said.

Hutchinson said he wondered if the potential for utilizing the infrastructure for AWSA water to somewhere is hypothetical. "I don't understand why we have to put off just getting quotes."

Domenici said the ISC expressed concern. "When it is for AWSA water, there will be new language. It will be a contingency now, just for non-AWSA water. This is the conservative approach. This is for down-the-road connection to the New Mexico Unit."

"I think it will be focused on what Freeport will be willing to do and how it will benefit users," Domenici continued.

"If in the future, we might use it to divert AWSA water, it would require NEPA," Hutchinson said.

"Certainly," Domenici agreed.

Allen Campbell, representing Gila Hotsprings Irrigation Ditch, said he saw no downside to approving the changes. "They cannot replace the AWSA process. We can use AWSA water for another project and use the already adjudicated water with the Freeport infrastructure. It could be utilized at a different time. The two systems would mess well in future harvests."

Vance Lee, representing Hidalgo County, said: "Assuming we get our ducks in a row with Freeport, can this task be assigned to a general services engineer?"

Gutierrez said he thought so. "The RFP for general engineering services has been issued. I have given out 23 packets. By the time this JPA is amended, we should have an engineer on call. We might not have to revisit this item."

Esker Mayberry, representing the Fort West Irrigation Ditch, asked what the difference was between using Freeport infrastructure and "our own diversion infrastructure."

"That's one of the reasons why we want to use the existing infrastructure in the Upper Gila Valley," Gutierrez said. "The Gila Valley could potentially use AWSA water now. If we don't have a New Mexico Unit, then a second amendment for the JPA would be needed."

"This amendment of the JPA is shifting the ability of the New Mexico CAP Entity to do other projects," Domenici said. "The ISC was holding on to the money for a single project—a New Mexico Unit. The ISC was not willing to let us do other things, because the entity was a new entity. At the staff level, the ISC has agreed that the entity can be in charge. Likely we will have further amendments of the JPA, but we really have to do it one step at a time."

The motion was approved to rescind the motion requesting quotes for engineering services to evaluate Freeport infrastructure.

In new business, the sole item was to discuss an amendment to the JPA.

Domenici said the JPA in place has the single purpose to have the entity move forward with a New Mexico Unit.

"We are aware the entity has $66 million up to $90 million that can be used for a New Mexico Unit or other area water projects," Domenici continued. "We do not have the authority to do other projects, but we took over the consulting authority of the Gila-San Francisco Water Commission. This amendment takes another step, only for the Freeport situation of using its assets. It has to be approved by the ISC, which retains budget control, with ultimate control to use funding. But with this amendment, we will have authority to negotiate uses of Freeport-McMoRan assets. I tried to make it simple."

He said, depending on what Freeport assets the entity may use, it may be more costly. "We may be joint owners or long-term lessees."

Domenici said he expects synergy between the unit and some projects.

"We are making clear this entity wants to transact negotiations with Freeport for other water utilizations projects," Domenici said. "But at this time the only item we can move forward on is negotiations with Freeport-McMoRan."

He also noted that the change in language does not jeopardize funding for projects already approved by the ISC.

Gutierrez said the only other change is to include the Grant Soil and Water Conservation District as a party to the JPA and as a member of the entity.

Lee asked if the negotiations could include water rights.

"Possibly," Domenici said. "Freeport made it clear it wants to be extremely cautious with water rights, but on other components they are willing to move forward."

The changes were approved.

Gutierrez gave his executive report and said he had only a couple of things.

"We got the notices out for the RFP for general engineering services," he said. "I spent a whole day sending out RFP packets. We will need volunteers to review the proposals, which have specific criteria for evaluation. Mr. Hann, who is not here today, had told me he wanted to be a part of the selection committee."

Gutierrez said he recently met with state representatives of The Nature Conservancy. "We have very preliminary drawings from AECOM (the engineering firm consulting with the ISC). Our conversations with TNC were very amicable. They have concerns about another diversion and also about current diversions. They had questions about our preliminary design, which we have moved downstream from its prior location. We shared some of our concerns on effectiveness."

He said he had received some more training on posting to the website. "Once I get some more, I will be able to post things. We can put minutes, agendas, documents, and such. We want to post them, so the public has access to them, too. Within the next month, I can sharpen my skills."

Domenici reported on a meeting he had with the Bureau of Reclamation about three weeks ago.

"We have a five-month window," he said. "We hope by that time to have additional engineering from AECOM and have our own engineer on board. If we have a workshop with some board members, we can create supplemental information or amendments to the proposed action. We want to do it with the BOR, so we can discuss things. We want to know whether we are limited in using non-AWSA water in conjunction with a New Mexico Unit. There are other established BOR projects that allow it."

He said the entity would be unique in that it would own the unit, "so we should have the most rights to control it, but we want to firm it up."

"If the action will cost less than the construction budget of $62 million, can we be reimbursed for design and planning?" Domenici asked. "It's a new question and we want an answer. We may not agree with the answer."

He said the next meeting with Reclamation would be in Albuquerque.

"There is a concern of downstream users," Gutierrez said. "We have representatives from the entire region, so it will be difficult for us to say that we will use all the water in the Upper Gila Valley and forget Virden. We would like to include irrigators from the Virden Valley in the entity."

Hutchinson asked if board members could get notification to participate in the workshop.

"As long as we don't have a quorum," Gutierrez said.

The next regular meeting would normally fall on the Fourth of July, so it was moved to July 6. "Because this is a change of normal date, we will give 10 days notice," Shannon said.

Content on the Beat

WARNING: All articles and photos with a byline or photo credit are copyrighted to the author or photographer. You may not use any information found within the articles without asking permission AND giving attribution to the source. Photos can be requested and may incur a nominal fee for use personally or commercially.

Disclaimer: If you find errors in articles not written by the Beat team but sent to us from other content providers, please contact the writer, not the Beat. For example, obituaries are always provided by the funeral home or a family member. We can fix errors, but please give details on where the error is so we can find it. News releases from government and non-profit entities are posted generally without change, except for legal notices, which incur a small charge.

NOTE: If an article does not have a byline, it was written by someone not affiliated with the Beat and then sent to the Beat for posting.

Images: We have received complaints about large images blocking parts of other articles. If you encounter this problem, click on the title of the article you want to read and it will take you to that article's page, which shows only that article without any intruders. 

New Columnists: The Beat continues to bring you new columnists. And check out the old faithfuls who continue to provide content.

Newsletter: If you opt in to the Join GCB Three Times Weekly Updates option above this to the right, you will be subscribed to email notifications with links to recently posted articles.

Submitting to the Beat

Those new to providing news releases to the Beat are asked to please check out submission guidelines at https://www.grantcountybeat.com/about/submissions. They are for your information to make life easier on the readers, as well as for the editor.

Advertising: Don't forget to tell advertisers that you saw their ads on the Beat.

Classifieds: We have changed Classifieds to a simpler option. Check periodically to see if any new ones have popped up. Send your information to editor@grantcountybeat.com and we will post it as soon as we can. Instructions and prices are on the page.

Editor's Notes

It has come to this editor's attention that people are sending information to the Grant County Beat Facebook page. Please be aware that the editor does not regularly monitor the page. If you have items you want to send to the editor, please send them to editor@grantcountybeat.com. Thanks!

Here for YOU: Consider the Beat your DAILY newspaper for up-to-date information about Grant County. It's at your fingertips! One Click to Local News. Thanks for your support for and your readership of Grant County's online news source—www.grantcountybeat.com

Feel free to notify editor@grantcountybeat.com if you notice any technical problems on the site. Your convenience is my desire for the Beat.  The Beat totally appreciates its readers and subscribers!  

Compliance: Because you are an esteemed member of The Grant County Beat readership, be assured that we at the Beat continue to do everything we can to be in full compliance with GDPR and pertinent US law, so that the information you have chosen to give to us cannot be compromised.