This writer/editor was asked to attend a flooding disaster (spelled—on the agenda as deisaster, which should have given me a clue) workshop.

I have long realized how insane our governmental bureaucracies have become. They are huge, with a lot of the personnel, not only in the same agency, but often across multiple agencies doing duplicative jobs, with one thinking the other is doing the work, when the reality is nobody is doing it. So multiple rules and regulations arise because someone somewhere dropped the ball.

And we the taxpayers suffer from this male bovine pile of manure.

The purpose of the workshop was to show the irrigators how to access "funding" to repair (and don't do improvements or you won't get reimbursed) their destroyed ditch infrastructure. "And be sure to call us for help." Why now, why not seven months ago?

I know from sources other than the "meeting" this morning that yes, the flooding occurred as a result of the severe Black Fire last summer, which turned into the second largest wildfire in the state's history.

The burn scar is extensive, so when the monsoon, a very healthy monsoon last year, poured down rain, no vegetation, trees, shrubs or grass remained to soak up the runoff (and just in case you don't know, water always runs downhill), so it traveled at great speed down its usual pathways. Those water courses have been created over the years and millennia (see the Grand Canyon).

And, it was pointed out more than once—a lot of the presenters didn't listen to the other presenters and tended to say the same things (so maybe they do communicate, or maybe they are canned comments)—that this flood was not a just-this-year occurrence, but was likely to recur for multiple years before vegetation at the burn scar comes back into a semblance of natural balance (but don't do improvements with this funding, because "we" won't reimburse you for it, although we do have other funding sources, after you have done and received reimbursement for your repairs – just to add even more confusion to the process).

Ditches, or acequias, if you prefer the term, serve to draw water from rivers, streams or other water sources to provide life-giving water to nourish the crops in the fields where the farmers/ranchers cultivate human or animal food and other products.

So, at this point, you readers are saying: "OK, what's your point?"

I had multiple takeaways as a non-irrigator (except of indoor plants and minimal landscaping).

  • Get rid of ALL the bureaucrats and give the money directly to the irrigators to fix or have someone fix their lost infrastructure! It would be completed by now.
    • An almost total lack of communication among the agencies, although all of a sudden, they are "collaborating," one month before irrigation season begins!
    • Get rid of MANY of the stupid rules and regulations, for which the only purpose is to keep bureaucrats employed and eat up more of the potential funding, as well as put into place sometimes almost unsurmountable barriers to the irrigators being able to access the TAXPAYER-PAID funding (some of which came out of their own pockets).
    • You wouldn't believe (or maybe you've been through similar experiences) how many hoops you have to jump through, first to this agency, then to that one, and make sure you're certified, because most of you aren't. What?
    • Instead of paying taxes to bureaucrats (who keep multiplying like rats), let the producer who made the money keep the money and use it to benefit his or her business (See the first takeaway.)
    • Maybe the whole purpose of this bureaucratic hell is to put farmers and ranchers out of business?
    • A final takeaway. If the previous takeaway is true, who is going to feed you? Farmers' markets are one place where the vendor is generally also the producer. But most food comes through large companies who buy the product from the farmer or rancher, so we better make sure the local producers stay in business.

[Editor's Note: A thank you from this editor to the local Grant County government, Manager Charlene Webb, county staff and commissioners, who just facilitated a small grant program to help farmers and ranchers get their ditch repairs done. And to Priscilla Lucero, executive director of the Southwest New Mexico Council of Governments, who in her 30 years of experience has figured out how to get through the bureaucratic hoops and barriers and can provide local help with the process. And to the farmers and ranchers who feed your and my families and have been through a frustrating process to receive "available" funding for their repairs.]

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