By Mary Alice Murphy

After a long discussion on the dispute resolution process among the New Mexico Central Arizona Project Entity, the New Mexico Interstate Stream Commission and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, which can be viewed at https://www.grantcountybeat.com/news/news-articles/59931-nm-cap-entity-spends-good-part-of-meeting-discussing-dispute-resolution-090120 , the second item of old business was a discussion on potential changes to the joint-powers agreement between the CAP Entity and the ISC.

Entity Executive Director Anthony Gutierrez said the members have not taken any action on changes to the JPA. "I think we need to start having discussions. We have set forward the steps for the dispute resolution and then the notice of termination of funding and to complete the NEPA process. I hate to wait on potential changes to the JPA. The ISC is partner on this document, as is every individual entity on this board, so, it takes months of taking changes back to county commissioners, city councils and boards. We also need to recognize that while we already have a lot of language in the JPA for non-unit projects, I think it's pretty certain there will be a notice of termination issued for the EIS closeout. While we want to resolve some of the issues surrounding that, we have to think about what we will do moving forward. It's why I keep putting it on the agenda. I want some direction from the board. I don't like to do things without direction from the board."

Vance Lee, representing Hidalgo County, and as vice chair, presiding over the meeting after last month's resignation of Chair Darr Shannon, representing the Hidalgo Soil and Water Conservation District, who does remain a board member, asked: "Remind me. Do we have any potential changes? Is it up to us to come up with comments?"

"It says the parties can put input into the criteria and priorities," Gutierrez said. "We worked closely with the ISC in developing this JPA, but I want to open it up to discussion."

Lee said that more ideas may come out of the termination notice.

"I think all parties know and are aware of the issues," Gutierrez said. Last time, it took months to get things done. I don't like to put things off, if it's inevitable we are going to have to address it."

Lee said he thought the JPA should stipulate that agreements among agencies must be upheld in the future.

Ty Bays, representing the Grant Soil and Water Conservation District, asked what Gutierrez was thinking needed to be changed. "Can you give us some ideas? Has the ISC thought about this? We can talk, but what are we talking about?"

Gutierrez said he thought it was re-prioritizing what is already prioritized. "There is language in the JPA prioritizing that all the remaining funding be used for a New Mexico Unit. That's one issue we have to resolve. The re-prioritization of the New Mexico Unit and/or other non-diversion alternatives will likely be what will have to change."

Lee said that he thinks some would think that reprioritization should not want to include any diversion. "I don't want that."

Gutierrez said he didn't think they would need to take diversions out of the JPA, because language in the agreement relates to language in the Arizona Water Settlements Act. "We wouldn't lose the ability to develop AWSA water."

Howard Hutchinson, representing the San Francisco Soil and Water Conservation District, said the members as an organization supported legislation in the past few sessions to create a governmental sub-division, incorporating all the municipalities, counties and elected officials wanting to participate in such a regional organization. "The advantage is that it would make us eligible for state funding through capital outlay, eligible for federal funding and would also allow bonding capacity. The way the JPA is written, only those entities who agree to take on bonding liability are eligible. Under a political sub-division and the way that legislation is written, that type of bonding is by vote of the people. It would present options to develop all kinds of financing for all kinds of projects. I think discussing changing the JPA may be a little premature. I would like to run another bill in this next session to create that political sub-division and include as many municipalities and districts around this region as want to participate. Even opponents, such as Silver City or other members of the Grant County Commission, who oppose the CAP Entity and have competing proposals to spend money from the New Mexico Unit Fund can work together. If we were all working together as the four-county region to improve all of our lots, then I think we could have much more success. I think some of the reasoning behind not having all the entities in the region participating in this group has more to do with politics than practicality. Legislation is the art of the practical. The language in this JPA was insisted upon by the ISC. The point Mr. Campbell (Allen Campbell represents the Gila Hotsprings Irrigation Association) was making earlier [in part 1 of the meeting] about the 14,000 acre-feet and developing it is the No. 1 priority. The future of this region is dependent on the development of that water."

Gutierrez said, although he agrees that the political subdivision is the best option, "we haven't been very popular. At the recent Interim Water and Natural Resources Committee meeting, they wanted to do away with the New Mexico CAP Entity. I think the ISC director kind of protected us. I think we need to start these discussions on the JPA, and maybe make it friendlier to the municipalities. The discussion will go on for a while."

Lee asked the members to look at the JPA and decide what "you want to see in the JPA."

Hutchinson brought up some of the history of the entity. "We went through years of delay with the stakeholders' group. The ISC jerked it away and set up criteria for evaluating projects. In the final analysis most of the funding went outside of the Gila and San Francisco basins. What is being discussed is that we have to come up with criteria for spending New Mexico Unit Fund money. Too many will ask for the money to be spend in outside basins. My criteria would be that we have to address the needs of the two basins that lost all the water in the Arizona v California cases."

Bays said he is concerned but thinks he could be in support of some changes to the JPA. "I want to hear ideas. I would ask that we allow Anthony to report to us some of the ideas he's getting from the ISC and other board members. Let's get some meat on the table to talk about."

Campbell said the real Achillles Heel is the New Mexico Unit Fund, "which everyone covets. One of our problems, besides what to do with the water, is that everyone with political oomph wants the money. We have to better utilize the water rights we have. With this dry year, we have a lot of problems. Some very good projects can be taken to improve our ability to secure water. We need to work it out with the ISC. There can be a new thrust to take care of agricultural needs."

Gutierrez said he thought that's what a lot of the comments from the ISC addressed—making the existing agricultural infrastructure more efficient. He noted the Tier 1 and Tier 2 process of the ISC to fund projects under the Gila/San Francisco Water Commission prioritized municipal conservation. "You still have your own constituency to answer to. It's difficult for irrigators and the soil and water conservation districts to put projects forward. I think Allen's comments are right on point."

Lee wondered if perhaps the ISC commissioners might not understand the AWSA. "It's well and good to improve agricultural diversions, but you can't do it without storage. Maybe they don't completely understand that."

He said he heard a motion to have Gutierrez gather input from all members to bring forth ideas. It was seconded and approved.

Under the members' roundtable, several had comments.

Bays said he wants to continue on the topic of improving agricultural infrastructure, such a lining ditches and the ills of push-up dams.

"The vallies of the Gila and San Francisco rivers are special," Bays said. "There are lots of trees growing. We have more Southwest willow flycatchers in the Gila Valley than anywhere else, and we have the spike dace and loach minnow. If we had lined ditches, we wouldn't have all those trees. Engineered diversions can't be replaced quickly or cheaply after a flood. Push-up dams can be repaired in an hour.

"I have a problem with multi-million-dollar diversions," Bays continued. "They will require NEPA and here we go again. The environmentalists are not thinking 10 years from now, but 100 years down the road. Some environmentalists are supporting better diversions, but what is there right now is good. In Las Cruces, when they put in better infrastructure, they lost a lot of native species. A lot of their native fishes are disturbant-reliant on floods. The disturbance of the push-up dams is good for native fishes. I won't be glad to see lining of ditches or cement dams. This money should go toward getting more water, not more efficiency. In Deming, they put in sprinklers and drip irrigation. More efficiency doesn't mean using less water. They used it for better crops, and they used more than they had previously."

Hutchinson said when he did his comments for the draft environmental impact statement, he pointed out that there are two fixed dams on the San Francisco River. "The estimates from the Bureau of Reclamation said a small cement dam would cost $3 million. I talked to the folks who had put in the dams on the San Francisco, and I was told each was constructed for less than $100,000. They have withstood our greatest floods over the past years. We can build for a lot less and make them better than the standards they dictate. The cost benefit is based on BoR standards. We all know government projects cost more than when they are done with common sense and practicality. The species there now benefit from the way we do things now."

Campbell said the Gila Hotsprings Ditch is on the canyon bottom across the entire narrow floodplain. "The result of our live ditch is that it has braided the river. We have water going through a rock tunnel and iron pipes. It's hanging on the edge of the cliff in places. The environmental water that passes through, 98 percent of it goes to Arizona. We are capitalizing on it for tourism. We are producing income. We have endangered species in the healthy habitat. Water is always there. When we irrigate, it doesn't degrade the river. The flood regime exists. When you put in a concrete structure, it upsets the flood regime. I do believe it is phenomenally important for us to have more water in the future. I'm in an area that is not maximized, and the water goes back into the river. That cost of a New Mexico Unit all along was just a down payment on ownership of that water. We have to realign our purpose and increase our political base so when the water situation gets bad, we do not have to and cannot continue to mine the aquifer. We have to make better use of the water from rain."

John Sweetser, representing Luna County, pointed out that his county has the Mimbres River with some diversions along it. "I can't remember the last time it ran. Drip irrigation is efficient, because it pulls water from the aquifer where the water is clean. River water has pollutants. With drip, the plant gets the water it needs, with lines under the plants. Drip irrigation is expensive to put in, but labor and fuel expenses go down. Drip irrigation is a very efficient way to use a finite resource."

Billy Billings, representing Grant County, said he appreciates the discussion. "I've always thought it was a failure on our part to get our message out to the public. We need to continue to communicate. As American people in general have become removed from agriculture, only a small population understands where food comes from. The Farmer's Markets are basically gardener's markets. They are great because the food is grown locally and it's fresh, but you can't feed the world from farmer's markets. I support the food industry where food is raised on a larger scale. We have utilized our rivers for food production. Beef production, which is what I know, provides $25 million to $30 million to the New Mexico economy."

"We need to get our message out," Billings said. "I want to hear from all of you about what happens on this river from people who know what is going on with the rivers. The Gila and San Francisco rivers are not the last free-flowing rivers in American. They are working rivers that have been used for agriculture production for well more than 100 years and anciently. I think a lot of people hear the word diversion and think something huge like the Hoover Dam. I like the idea of on-farm storage ponds, using the present diversions. I lot of people don't know we already have a lot of diversions along the Gila. We're diverting water to irrigate for food production, not diverting it to El Paso. I hope we can get past COVID and get kids on school buses and out to farms to learn where food comes from. We may all starve if we don't know where our food comes from and the government makes policies that work against food production. The purpose of the New Mexico CAP Entity was to secure water that we had lost decades ago that's flowing to Arizona. People say water in ponds will evaporate. Now it evaporates much faster at higher temperatures in Arizona than it would in our ponds. When you fly into Phoenix you see water everywhere that is evaporating. We must recognize that New Mexico was cheated out of that water. The Arizona Water Settlements Act was to bring it back to us. Too many perhaps well-meaning people with too many hoops and too much opposition just don't want us to have it. We've been ridiculed in public. I would like to see a better education on why we are trying to keep this water. Yes, it looks like we may have to choose a new purpose, but I don't want to lose sight that the powers that be recognized that we had been cheated of that water specifically for food production. So, as we consider these other projects, as noble as they may be, they were not the purpose of this Act."

Gutierrez said he recently presented to the Grant County Commission to clarify why the New Mexico CAP Entity existed and what itwanted to achieve. "There was an op-ed in the Daily Press by local mayors and one of the county commissioners. I wanted to set the record straight that we are not holding the New Mexico Unit Fund hostage or trying to sue anyone. I wanted to clarify what we were trying to do with the dispute resolution. I want to thank Howard for the ton of work he has done on this dispute resolution. It has been inarguably difficult to explain what we were trying to do. Even the ISC director said we had missed all kinds of deadlines and we pushed things without purpose, and we administered the project wrong. What he didn't realize was the ISC waiting until the last hour of the last day to put agreements together to utilize the water. I was hired in the spring. In June, Reclamation said we had to have a project by July. So that's what we've been up against this entire time. We've gotten a bum deal from everyone, except for Mary Alice and her periodical. I gave a presentation to the Grant County Commission and would be happy to do the same for any other entity to explain what happened and about moving forward."

Howard said if anyone would like to see a good report of the presentation, "Grant County Beat had it, and I want to say to Anthony: 'You did a really great job.'"

Lee said he appreciated the opportunity, thanks to Grant County, "to meet face-to-face. So many things got said that wouldn't have been said on the phone. I hope we will continue to meet like this. We will plan to continue like this as long as I have a say. I also want to thank the committee working on the dispute resolution. I know it's not easy and it takes a lot of time. The third thing is, I had really kind of planned on us electing a new chairman today. Anthony and I had a little communication. How do we want to handle Darr not being chairman? I'm the vice chairman, that's all, and that's fine, because I don't mind running a meeting or two. But I don't want to be chairman. If you want me to take you to January, I'll do that, or we can elect a new one next month."

The consensus was to January.

"There's some untapped talent in this room," Lee said. "I'll go to January, but then we'll have a change."

He then held up an issue of New Mexican Stockman magazine and asked the member to read the article by Michael Shellenberger: "On behalf of environmentalists, I apologize for the climate scare." He read some excerpts from the author, who said he had been an environmentalist since he was 16 years old. The item can also be found on the internet. "I encourage everybody in the room to have a look at this article. It really tells a story."

The next meeting was set for Oct. 6.

The board adjourned.