APR
WATER GRAB - SEC - LOCAL ENVIRO. & NEWS
February
19, 2021 - [NEW]
“The State Engineer's
attorneys have asked for another extension of the deadlines for the filing of
briefs in the Court of Appeals. The basis of the request was that the attorneys
are busy with the State Legislative session. ... ”The Court granted the extension.
Our Answer Brief is now due on March 12th, and the Augustin Plains Ranch's Reply
Brief is now due on April 23rd. The Court of Appeals also indicated that no further
extensions will be granted unless there are extraordinary circumstances.”
Download
the memo .PDF
Comment: If we win in the Appellate Court then legislation
our side is trying to get passed to control movement of water will apply because
APR will have to start over. If we lose, APR can go forward and legislation won’t
apply to their project. All these delays mean that we won’t know what’s
up until later and later ... Can’t do anything about it either!
February
18, 2021 - [NEW]
Upcoming SEC elections -
... there will be an election for two positions on the Socorro Electric Cooperative’s
Board of Trustees this spring. Letter
to the Chieftain
February
11, 2021-
State tells farmers, don’t plant if not necessary. Chieftain.(Comment
- this is a threat to those opposed to moving water from APR. It supports the
idea APR can help directly or indirectly, keep the river flow up as it heads south
to TX)
February
11, 2021 -
Protests in Los Lunas over proposed water usage increase at
Niagara Bottling plant. KQRE
Update: Niagara apparently withdrew its request today.
February
11, 2021 -
Tell Legislators to End the Gila Diversion for Good. Download.pdf
from NM Wild.
February
11, 2021 -
Of Mexican Wolves and Their Habitat. CounterPunch
February
4, 2021 -
Southwest US communities and Hispanics most likely to have arsenic-laden
water. ... Tighter federal regulations on the toxic worked to decrease levels
in public water, but certain regions and groups remain more at risk. EHN
February
2, 2021 -
New Mexico Wild Update. Download.pdf
January
28, 2021 -
NM Environmental Law Center Action Alert: Two of our bills made
it through their first committees Tuesday!
Download
.pdf
January
28, 2021 -
Colorado’s ornery, independent water guardians finally
agree on one thing: Wall Street can look elsewhere. ... It’s rare to see
Front Range water managers like Denver Water and Northern Water joining counterparts
on the Western Slope. The
Colorado Sun or .PDF
Related:
NYT
Article or PDF
November
2020 -
White Paper: A Summary of the Hydrogeology of the San Agustin Plains,
New Mexico. SOpen-File Report 615 Download.pdf
January 21, 2021 -
Co-op elections coming up. After skipping last year
due to COVID-19 public health restrictions, Socorro Electric Cooperative is planning
to go ahead with this year's annual meeting, scheduled for Saturday, April 10
at Macey Center. Chieftain
January
15, 2021 -
Outcry as Trump officials to transfer sacred Native American
land to miners. ... Critics condemn ‘callous betrayal’ after Trump officials
set in motion transfer of Oak Flat to Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton. Guardian
January
12, 2010 -
A river used to run through it: how New Mexico handles a dwindling
Rio Grande. ... The
Rio Grande used to flow freely, but now in Las Cruces, humans, fish and plants
are vying for water in the arid landscape. Guardian
December
31, 2020 - SEC needs to be held responsible (re: powerlines) Letter to the
Chieftain.
January
5, 2021- Gray Wolves Lose Federal Endangered Species Act protections CounterPunch
January
2, 2021 - In October, the Trump administration removed protection status from
the nation's threatened and endangered gray wolves. While the order did not apply
to Mexican gray wolves found in New Mexico, the decision was a troubling development
nonetheless. Urge the Biden Administration to Protect Mexican Gray Wolves! Please
sign this petition to encourage the incoming Biden administration to protect
Mexican gray wolves!
December
26, 2020 - NY Times road trip story mentions Magdalena. NYT
December
26, 2020 - Mass die-off of birds in south-western US 'caused by starvation'
... Necropsy reveals 80% of the thousands of songbirds that died suddenly showed
typical signs of emaciation. Guardian
December
25, 2020 - Oil and Gas is Costing New Mexico Dearly. ... Trump administration
proposals to sell thousands of acres of New Mexico public lands for more oil and
gas extraction. These proposals have ignored the climate and other costs of oil
and gas and instead sought to enrich companies at our expense. CounterPunch
Comment: Helicopter flyovers by the NM Environment Department
and US EPA found the methane emissions leak rate from oil wells has more than
doubled this year across the entire Permian Basin, which stretches from West TX
to eastern NM and contains some of the largest oil deposits in the world.
December
24, 2020 - Mexican Wolf Killings Expose the Dark Underbelly of Western Culture....
Namely, many of the confirmed Mexican wolf depredations are unsubstantiated based
on the evidence in the reports, and some are so full-scale bogus as to call into
question how, exactly, Wildlife Services is making these decisions. CounterPunch
Related: Advocates question investigations used to target 'problem'
wolves. Tucson.com
Related: US Wildlife crying wolf on livestock deaths? Albuquerque
Journal
12/20/20
- (2019) The Forest Service proposes to restore riparian, aquatic, and wetland
habitat on the Carson, Cibola, and Santa Fe National Forests, and the Kiowa Grasslands
in New Mexico by implementing a variety of restoration activities. Forest
Service
12/20/20
- Federal Water Tap, December 21: Supreme Court Rules In Favor of New Mexico
in Pecos River Case ... The Supreme Court hands New Mexico a victory over Texas
in a case centered on reservoir evaporation. The Federal Reserve is now a member
of a central bank group focused on the financial implications of climate change.
Circle
of Blue
12/16/20
- Does Cattle Grazing Prevent Large Blazes? When I worked for the BLM doing
botanical surveys, us “ologists” (hydrologist, ecologists, biologists,
archaeologists, geologists, and botanists) used to refer to Range Conservationists
as Range “Cons” because they conned the public into believing many myths
about livestock grazing. CounterPunch
12/16/20
- The New Derivatives Market in California Water: Disaster Natural Resources
Capitalism at Work. CounterPunch
12/11/20
- Trump’s BLM Withdraws Cattle Grazing Plan in Face of Environmental
Lawsuits. ... Trump’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) raised the white flag
of surrender and pulled their grazing decision for the Elkhorn Wildlife Management
area on December 10, 2020 after the Alliance for the Wild Rockies and Native Ecosystem
Council threatened to sue.
December
10, 2020 - New Mexico is on track to have the weakest methane emissions regulations
in the nation. ... Laguna Pueblo Gov. Wilfred Herrera, Jr., urges the state to
strengthen its proposed air quality rules. ... In New Mexico, oil and gas operations
release more than 1 million metric tons of methane every year. HCN
December
3, 2020 - Magdalena approves SEC franchise agreement. Chieftain
December
2, 2020 -
Federal Grazing Fees: the Hidden Subsidy. CounterPunch
November
24, 2020 -
Unleash a Desert River and Its Wisdom. ... The Rio Grande,
like many Western rivers, is experiencing a collision of crises threatening its
future, the future of the aquatic and riparian ecosystems it supports, and the
communities and cultures that are at its heart. CounterPunch
November
18, 2020 -
Environmental Justice Series -
Uranium Contamination in
New Mexico
Thursday, Nov. 19, 5:30pm - 6:45pm
Join
us for an important community-focused conversation on Uranium Contamination in
New Mexico, featuring the following community members:
• Manny Pino,
Laguna-Acoma Coalition for a Safe Environment (LACSE)
•
June L. Lorenzo, LACSE
•
Laura Watchempino, Multicultural Alliance for a Safe Environment (MASE)
•
Terry Keyanna, Red Water Pond Road Community Association
•
Larry King, Eastern Navajo Diné Against Uranium Mining (ENDAUM)
This
virtual event will be hosted by Law Center staff: Dr. Virginia Necochea, Executive
Director; Valerie Rangel, Community Engagement & Outreach Manager; and Staff
Attorneys Eric Jantz and Gail Evans.
To
register, please click on this link:
https://nmelc-ej-series-uranium.eventbrite.com
If
for any reason you are unable to access the zoom, you
can also watch live on our Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/NMELC
November
16, 2020 -
Scientists studying wolves as first responders against deadly
brain disease. ... Experts fear that chronic wasting disease could one day jump
from deer to humans. Independent
November
5, 2020 -
It’s official: Voters decide to reintroduce wolves in Colorado.
... Proposition 114 passed as a flurry of Front Range-votes widened the initiative’s
margin of victory, paving the way for the animals’ return to the Western
Slope. Colorado
Sun
November
2, 2020 -
'In the sun they'd cook': is the US south-west getting too hot
for farm animals? ... As temperatures rise, farmers are being forced to adapt,
experimenting with new breeds and cooling methods. Guardian
October
30, 2020 -
What Stripping Endangered Species Protections Means For Colorado’s
Wolf Reintroduction Initiative. CPR
News
October
29, 2020 -
SEC needs to look into clean energy. Chieftain
Letter or download .PDF
October
29, 2020 -
'We Will See Them in Court': Howls of Protest and Lawsuit Promised
as Trump Takes Wolves Off Endangered Species List. ... "The largest canine
native to North America, gray wolves were once common throughout more than two-thirds
of the lower 48 states," before being "nearly wiped out in the mid-20th
century due to habitat loss and deliberate eradication efforts," Environment
America explained in a statement released on Thursday. "Let's learn from
history: Removing legal protections is a disaster for gray wolves."
CommonDreams
October
19, 2020 -
Taxpayers Shell Out Huge Subsidies to Wolf Pup-Killer’s
Ranching Enterprise. CounterPunch
October
16, 2020 -
Compassion, Wolves and America’s First Wilderness. CounterPunch
September
15, 2020 -
Birds
are dropping dead in New Mexico, potentially in the 'hundreds of thousands' ...
Scientists are investigating why so many birds are dying and are asking the public
for help. NBC
News You can help: Southwest
Avian Mortality Project.
... Hundreds of dead migrant birds have been reported in the state of New Mexico
during August and September 2020. iNaturalist
9/16/20 -
UPDATE: Probably linked to wild fires. Guardian
September
11, 2020 -
'Reckless, Violent, Massacre' of 570 Wolves and Wolf Pups in
Idaho Bolsters Alarm Over Trump Attack on Species Protections. ... Wildlife advocates
warn that if a Trump administration effort to lift nationwide protections proceeds,
"this cruelty could extend to all wolves within our country's borders."
CommonDreams
September
7, 2020 -
Slaughtered Pups and Maimed Wolves in Idaho Demonstrate the
Effects of Federal Delisting.
CounterPunch
Scroll
to Top
August
28, 2020 -
One Ranch, Nine Dead Cows, and Six Very Strange Wolf Investigations.
CounterPunch
August
27, 2020 -
Up to half of world's water supply stolen annually, study finds.
... As water scarcity
increases from factors including climate change, so do drivers of water theft,
an ongoing problem in Australia. Guardian
August
17, 2020 -
Our Race Against the Clock to Affirm Water as a Human Right.
... On the ten year anniversary of the United Nations historic vote to recognize
water as a basic human right, Barlow reflects on where we go from here. CommonDreams
August
12, 2020 -
Is ‘dismal’ the best education New Mexicans can
expect? Families fight for multicultural, bilingual and educational equity in
the face of governmental evasion. HCN
August
12, 2020 -
While Socorro petitions for new rates, Co-op waits for Supreme
Court. Chieftain
Scroll
to Top
August 13, 2020 -
To’Hajiilee, county call for action on water
pipeline.
Navajo
Times
August
13, 2020 -
Living in the dark: Native reservations struggle with power
shortages in pandemic. ... The
pandemic has exacerbated severe energy and economic inequalities on Native lands
in America – so people are turning to renewable energy. Guardian
August
12, 2020 -
August Greenfire report .pdf
August
11, 2020 - August 7, 2020 -
Navajo Nation’s Shortage of Clean Water
Is Impeding Efforts to Control COVID TruthOut
August
6, 2020 -
When the Rio Grande goes dry. Ink
Stain
August
4, 2020 -
Framing Wolves in New Mexico? CounterPunch
or PDF
Scroll
to Top
July
24, 2020 -
New Mexico secretary of state worries Trump's federal troops
will disrupt the elections. DailyKos
July
22, 2020 -
Save the Staffel Wolf Pack. CounterPunch
July 17, 2020 -
Of Toddlers, Wolves, and Public Lands Ranchers. CounterPunch
July
10, 2020 -
'Heat dome' weather system to bake America with temperatures
beyond 90F for weeks. ... Summer 2020 marked by heatwaves, Tropical Storms, fire
threats, and a La Nina watch. Independent
July
9, 2020 -
Mexican wolves found dead - Wildlife managers are investigating
the deaths of two Mexican gray wolves found in May. Chieftain
July
8, 2020 -
New Mexico Monsoon Awareness website
Scroll
to Top
June
25, 2020 -
Thank New Mexico's Leaders for
Ending the Gila Diversion!
Download
Press Release 
See also June 16 below
June
24, 2020 -
New Mexico Groups Appeal EPA’s Dirty Water Rule Download
Press Release
June
22, 2020 -
Two Electric Projects in New Mexico Being Funded by USDA NOTE:
"The Socorro Electric Cooperative Inc. is receiving a $28 million loan
to connect 485 consumers, build and improve 45 miles of distribution line, and
build and improve 25 miles of line for the Magdalena Transmission Line Rebuild
project." This is not "funding", customers still
have to repay the loan. Download
press release
June
20, 2020 -
Who Owns A River? The Question Is Tearing This Community Apart
... Thanks to a controversial New Mexico rule, rich landowners are staking claim
to the state’s public waterways. HuffPost
Scroll
to Top
June
12, 2020 -
Advocating for the Mexican Gray Wolf: An Interview with
Amy Harwood. CounterPunch
Related: How to speak up for the wolves in th e 10(j) management
rule scoping comment period. ... The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) issued
a request for comments on April 15, 2020 - 60 day period. . Lobos
of the SW
June
11, 2020 -
‘Their greed is gonna kill us’: Indian Country
fights against more fracking. ... expansion of drilling in New Mexico would threaten
sacred artefacts and bring public health risks to area still reeling from Covid-19.
Guardian
June
10, 2020 -
APR Update: The calendaring on the document below does
not mean that we have a hearing date; we only know where the case
will be, not when. Notice Assignment To The General Calendar- from the NM State
Engineers Office. Download
Related: Additional explanation of what this means.Calendaring
Document Explained.
Scroll
to Top
June
7, 2020 -
‘Forever deadly’: State officials, communities scramble
to fight a proposal to house high-level nuclear waste in New Mexico. NM
Political Report Related: Nov. 2019 - Nuclear Colonialism: Indigenous
opposition grows against proposal for nation’s largest nuclear storage facility
in NM. NM
Political Report
June
7 2020 -
Pandemic and Digital Divide Threaten Accurate Census Count of
Native Populations. TruthOut
June
4, 2020 -
Transforming your electric cooperative’s power supply. ...
By Duane Highley Chief Executive Officer Tri-State Generation and Transmission
Association. Chieftain
June
4, 2020 -
US south-west in grip of historic ‘megadrought’, research
finds. ... Intensified by climate change, the current 20-year arid period is one
of the worst on record, with wide-ranging effects Extinction
Chronicles
May
28, 2020 -
Letter
to Chieftain re:SEC rate increase.
May
22, 2020 -
Environmental assessment and draft decision notice Finding
of No Significant Impact for the Military Training Exercises Project on
the Mount Taylor, Magdalena, Mountainair, and Sandia Ranger Districts of the Cibola
National Forest and National Grasslands.
Download
Letter
May
21, 2020 -
APR Update.An update is difficult when nothing seems to be happening,
but in spite of how quiet it is and has been, our fight continues. Download
the update
May
21, 2020 -
New Mexico Wild - Protecting New Mexico's Wilderness, Wildlife,
and Water. New website
May
15, 2020 -
Starting tomorrow, all New Mexicans will be required to wear
a face covering in public. Download
Information
May
12, 2020 -
“M.H. Dutch Salmon Greater Gila Wild and Scenic River
Act” - Introduced in NM Legislature by Martin Heinrich and Tom
Udal
May
12, 2020 -
The War Against the Wolves of Alaska. CounterPunch
May
5, 2020 -
Navajo
Nation Suffers Third-Highest COVID-19 Infection Rate in U.S. with Limited Healthcare
& Water DemocracyNow
May
5, 2020 -
Coalition Sues to Stop Clean Water Rollbacks. NM
Wild
Scroll
to Top
April
30, 2020 -
Friends of Bosque del Apache NWR encourages our members, donors,
and sponsors to write letters with substantive comments to USFWS at Bosque del
Apache concerning their plans to expand hunting at the refuge. Download
announcement
April
29, 2020 -
A Big Win for the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness
and a Call to Protect Wolves and Wilderness in Idaho. CounterPunch
April
23, 2020 -
Socorro Electric Co-op to comply with PRC ruling Chieftain
April
21, 2020 -
The Carnage of Wolf Trapping in Idaho. ... A new public records
request to Idaho Department of Fish and Game reveals that Idaho wolf trappers
are capturing nearly as many non-target species as they are capturing wolves.
CounterPunch
April
17, 2020 -
Trump’s response to the startling decline in lynx populations
across the West? Remove the lynx from the Endangered Species Act, then annihilate
its habitat once and for all. Meanwhile - A new survey has found that Oregon’s
wolf population has risen to 158, missing from the count, however, was OR-7, the
wolf made famous by his 4,000-mile journey to find a mate in 2011. And, 'A dangerous
road’: Coastal GasLink pays to kill wolves in endangered caribou habitat
in B.C. interior. The imperiled Hart Ranges caribou herd will lose a chunk of
critical habitat to the Coastal GasLink pipeline, and the company’s contribution
to a recent predator cull is raising ethical questions. The
Narwhal
Scroll
to Top
April
17, 2020 -
NM
Governor issues statement regarding ‘Opening Up America Again’ guidelines.
KQRE
April
17, 2020 -
Emerging Climate-Fueled Megadrought in Western US Rivals Any
Over Past 1,200 Years: Study ... "We now have enough observations
of current drought and tree-ring records of past drought to say that we're on
the same trajectory as the worst prehistoric droughts." CommonDreams
April
17, 2020 -
Stay Informed & Take Action – Join the Fire Adapted
New Mexico Network and work towards community wildfire resilience! Click
Here --- Fire Adapted Learning Network. Click
here
April
17, 2020 -
Socorro City’s response to SEC. Press
Release
(scroll
down to April 15, for more info)
April
17, 2020 - New Mexico Unveils App for Behavioral Health Support. ... provides
free 24-hour crisis and non-crisis support and access to behavioral health professionals.
Click
here
April
16, 2020 -
Tribal Response Plan Covid-19 - State of New Mexico. Download
plan
Navajo
Nation Covid-19 website
April
16, 2020 -
Magdalena Village board approves emergency declaration Chieftain
April
16, 2020 -
Tribes Aren’t Getting COVID-19 Aid Because Federal Agencies
Are Flailing. ... “They don’t know how to interact in the appropriate
way with tribes and they’re just not getting the job done,” says Sen.
Tom Udall. HuffPost
April
16, 2020 -
It’s
Time for the Forest Service to Curtail Idaho’s Wolf Slaughter in Wilderness
Areas. CounterPunch
April
15, 2020 -
SEC Board fined $185,000.00 by the PRC.
Download
Court document
List of court filings as of 4/16/20. Related:
(Oct 2019) Clock ticking on SEC appeal. Chieftain
April
15, 2020 -
COVID-19 & Indian Country: Pandemic Exposes Navajo Nation’s
Water Access Crisis & Health Disparities. DemocracyNow
April
11, 2020 -
Comment by April 16 to protect river segments in the Gila!
Click here Related:
Wild and Scenic bill opponents out in force at meeting. Silver
City Daily
April
11, 2020 - A Compendium of Questions & Answers Relating to Wild &
Scenic Rivers (May 1997)
Click
here
Scroll
to Top
March
7, 2020 -
Wild and Scenic bill opponents out in force at meeting. Silver
City Daily
April
9, 2020 -
Good news! Copper Flat Mine faces new obstacle: no water, no
go. NMELC Announcement
April
2, 2020 -
Socorro County Community Wildfire Protection Plan
Download
Magdalena specific info. Download
April
1, 2020 -
What’s the Hang Up on Releasing Adult Lobos? CounterPunch
March
31, 2020 -
From New Mexico Wild March 31, 2010
Comment by April 16
to protect Wilderness in the Gila! The Gila National Forest is currently revising
its forest management plan for the first time since 1986. The final version of
this plan will determine how Wilderness, wildlife, water, and other natural resources
are managed within the Forest for the next 20-30 years.
Download
announcement
March
30, 2019 - Could COVID-19 Spell the End of the Fracking Industry as We Know
It? ... NM is just one state whose fracking boom appears poised to fall off an
economic cliff amid the pandemic. TruthOut
Scroll
to Top
March 18, 2020 -
The Socorro Electric Coop has postponed the annual
meeting that was set for April 18th. Not rescheduled as yet.
March
13, 2020 -
Greenfire report from NM Environmental Law Center
Download
March 5, 2020 -
SEC trustees run unopposed - Chieftain
March
3, 2020 -
Uranium cleanup report falls on few ears. Navajo
Times
February
26, 2017 -
San Augustin Water Coalition annual meeting for Saturday, April
25th, 2020, at 1:00 p.m. at the Datil school gym. We will hold a candidates' forum.
... all parties who will appear on ballots in Catron and Socorro Counties.SASWC
Scroll
to Top
February
25, 2020 -
APR Update. As you know, Judge Reynolds granted summary judgment
last year in favor of the Community Protestants (us) “with prejudice”
(meaning that the APR cannot come back with the same or a similar application
to mine water in the Plains). ... Subsequently,
the APR appealed this decision to the New Mexico Appellate Court. We are now waiting
for that court to take up our case, which, according to Doug Meiklejohn at the
New Mexico Environmental Law Center (NMELC), could take up to three years. While
we wait we prepare for what could happen.
For
more information: Download
February
20, 2020 -
Reforming Expectations to Save Western Rivers. ... Recently,
former Interior Secretary Babbitt proposed an alternative to the highly controversial
yet difficult-to-kill Gila River diversion project, which would dam and divert
water from the last free-flowing river in New Mexico
CounterPunch
Related: Damming the Gila a vampire proposal Santa
Fe New Mexican
February
20, 2020 -
How the Military is Raiding Public Lands and Civilian Spaces
Across the Western Front. CounterPunch
Scroll
to Top
February
18, 2020 -
(In the view the APR might try to bottle the water) Washington
state takes bold step to restrict companies from bottling local water. ....
State senate passes bill to ban new permits for water bottling operations,
calling process ‘detrimental to public welfare’. Guardian
February
13, 2020 -
NM Environmental Law Center February newsletter
Lawsuit
filed over fuel spill at Kirkland Download
February
12, 2020 -
SEC amends its declaratory judgment filing Chieftain
February
11, 2020 -
The War on Wolves is Part of the Culture War. CounterPunch
February
5, 2020 -
New Mexico deserves wild, scenic Gila River - Howie Morales,
NM Lieutenant Governor. Chieftain
Letter
February
5, 2020 -
Co-op to vet trustee candidates; intervenes in Tri-State case
. Chieftain
February 1, 2020 -
New Mexico Wild February newsletter. Download
Scroll
to Top
January
29, 2020 -
City: No (SEC) permanent agreement is in place.
Chieftain
January
29, 2020 -
Transparency,
independence are fundamentals electrical co-ops need to reinstate. Letter
to Chieftain
January
29, 2020 -
Wolves
Play a Beneficial Role in Wildlife Management. CounterPunch
January
26, 2020 -
Global
Groundwater Is Threatened by Unsustainable Practices Amid Climate Crisis . ...
As the planet’s thermometer continues to inch upwards, one sought-after resource
is only going to increase in value: groundwater. TruthOut
January
25, 2020 -
A
rewilding triumph: wolves help to reverse Yellowstone degradation Guardian
January
24, 2020 -
Trump
Rule Threatens New Mexico Waters. NM Environmental Law Center Green
Fire Report
Related: EPA
water rule change called disastrous for New Mexico New
Mexican
Related: EPA, Army finalizes U.S. waters definition; promises water
protection, economic growth WV
News
January
23, 2020 -
Tri-State
embraces renewables
Chieftain
Scroll
to Top
January
22, 2020 -
Bosque
Winter 2020 news letter
January
16, 2019 -
APR's
docketing Statement dated 12/13/19.
Download
January
15, 2020 -
New
Mexico Environmental Law Center Changes in leadership. Download
announcement
January
9, 2020 -
Where’s
the juice? 500 MW line open for business ... With the first annual payment of
a $1.9 million “transmission charge,” the Navajo Nation is securing
the rights to use or sell access to 500 megawatts of electrical transmission capacity
for 35 years starting Dec. 23. Navajo
Times
January
10, 2020 - APR Update
-
Below is a
brief summary of where we, the community, stand with regard to the Augustin Plains
Ranch LLC’s application to mine water in the Plains aquifer.
It’s
been quiet, but we know that the APR LLC has appealed Judge Reynolds’ decision
denying their application, and we are preparing to meet them in the Appeals court
whenever a hearing is scheduled
To
that end, we have started spending the money raised to hire a hydrologist. As
you may remember, Tom Myers has been here and looked at the situation on the ground.
We have now asked him to put together a model of the hydrology of the Plains aquifer
so that we can be prepared if the Appellate Court decides there should be a hearing
on the substance of the application. I don’t know anyone attempting to say
what the Court will do, so we must be prepared for every possibility.
Of
course, the best possibility is that this court will agree with Judge Reynolds
decision, but we dare not become complacent. This note is to recognize the contributions
everyone has made: it is only our determination as a community to keep our water
that has carried us this far.
Thanks! Carol Pittman - Datil.
Download
the message
Scroll
to Top
December
19, 2019 -
Socorro only has month-to-month franchise (SEC) agreement Chieftain
December
12, 2019 -
SEC files lawsuit against Socorro Chieftain
November
14, 2019 -
Trustees assert membership elected them to make rate decisions
Chieftain
November
8, 2019 -
San
Carlos Apache Leader: Proposed Oak Flat Mine Is an Environmental Injustice. Phoenix
New Times
November
7, 2019 -
PRC says "no" to SEC's request. Chieftain
Scroll
to Top
October
4, 2019 -
More Water or More Wild: The Decades-Long Struggle over the
Gila River’s Fate. NM
In Depth
October
31, 2019 -
Village moves forward on water improvements.
Chieftain
October
29, 2019 -
The fight to stop Nestlé from taking America's water
to sell in plastic bottles. ... Creek beds are bone dry and once-gushing springs
are reduced to trickles as fights play out around the nation over control of nation’s
freshwater supply. Guardian
October
24, 2019 -
Spotted Owls and the National Christmas Tree ... the Forest
Service has unilaterally restricted (firewood collection, etc) in an attempt to
engender hostility between people who otherwise support environmental protection.
It’s a cynical effort to divide people instead of being accountable to the
law. CounterPunch
October
18, 2019 -
Leadership Lacking for Wolf Protection
CounterPunch
October
17, 2019 -
Clock ticking on SEC appeal. Chieftain
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to Top
October
10, 2019 -
County commission’s opposition to Western Spirit power
lines. Chieftain
Related: Our low-income population will bear the
burdens of this project. ... Martha Salas, Chair Socorro County Commission. Chieftain
October
4, 2019 -
SEC Co-op defies PRC ruling. Chieftain
October
4, 2019 -
...
the final Environmental Assessment for Military training in the Cibola National
Forest has been published. Objections are accepted until October 14.
Download
the Plan here
In
the Draft Decision Notice the Forest Service has determined that there will be
no significant impact from the training, despite the fact that:
· 3
additional helicopter landing zones will be established (just as in the previous
proposal)
· The number of helicopter sorties in the Magdalena Ranger
District will quadruple (keep in mind that currently there are 2,964 allowed sorties
per day at one Helicopter Landing Zone, which include 8,892 day landings and 8,892
night landings).
· Helicopter flight paths go directly over residences
·
Training areas have not been moved – and in fact still encompass private
property
· Environmental impacts have not been adequately addressed.
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October
10, 2019 -
Socorro City Reply to Socorro Electric Co-op August 2019 newsletter
related to "The City of Socorro is proposing to create a municipal electric
utility and to begin "siphoning off " Members of SEC."
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SEC newsletter
Download
Socorro City reply to SEC newsletter
September
5, 2019 -
City: SEC wants a 'second bite at the apple' Chieftain
September
5, 2019 -
Socorro
County needs economic development, lower electric rates. Letter to the editor
Chieftain
August
28, 2019 -
SEC says rate increase is just, reasonable.Chieftain
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Related: August 22, 2019 - SEC response to PRC Download
August
28, 2019 -
Plains of San Agustin aquifer safe .. for now.
Chieftain
Water
Grab Archive: 2018-2019 -
2017 - 2016
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