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SunZia Renewable Energy Transmission Project

Oct. 7, 2009. BLM Announces Three Additional Public Scoping Meetings to be Held in New Mexico. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is holding additional public scoping meetings to seek input and discuss with the public a proposed study expansion area for the SunZia Southwest Transmission Project.  BLM also extended an additional comment period through November 27, 2009

Here are the scheduled meetings:
Las Cruces, October 26, 2009
Court Youth Center
402 West Court
Alamogordo, October 27, 2009
First National Bank
414 Tenth Street
Chaparral, October 28, 2009
Chaparral High School
800 County Line Drive

Based on comments received during initial scoping, SunZia and BLM have removed some of the routes they originally included and
identified additional routes to address issues raised. For more information: http://www.blm.gov/nm/st/en/prog/more/lands_realty/
sunzia_southwest_transmission.html.

UPDATE - Beryllium Exploratory Drilling Permit
New Mexico Mining and Minerals has announced the public meeting and comment period on the proposed Beryllium exploration permit near the Monticello Box and Warm Springs.

Hearing Date: December 1, 2009

Place: Civic Center, 400 W. 4^th Street, Truth or Consequences, NM

Time: 6PM

  For more info click here

Viva Verde!
Don't forget! The Viva Verde Guide, a community resource for green living in Southern New Mexico, is the best way to find green
manufacturers and suppliers, community gardens, farmers markets and more. It connects buyers and suppliers and continues to expand its
listings. The Guide can be used on-line at www.vivaverdenm.com.
 

"The Augustin Plains are remote and beautiful...."
—photo by Mary Katherine Ray)

The Plains of San Augustin are in southcentral New Mexico, and probably the most famous feature there is the Very Large Array telescope on the eastern side. Looking across the vast concave landscape ringed by mountains, it seems like an enormous bowl of grass and not much else, besides the occasional antelope.

The Plains are the remnant of what was once a huge lake. All the rain that falls on the surrounding mountains drains into the Plains. But for a lake to persist, the amount of rainfall has to exceed the amount of water that is lost from evaporation and percolation. Some 10,000 years ago, the climate changed and the amount of rainfall decreased. Rain still runs off the mountains into the Plains, but the rate of percolation is so high, that rainwater soaks down into the aquifer faster than it falls. It turns out the basin is a leaky one, and this water doesn’t just go underground and stay there. A 1973 New Mexico Tech hydrology report concluded that the water seeping into the Plains leaks out from under them to supply the headwaters of the Gila River and probably the Alamosa River as well. (This means the Warm Springs waters that run into Monticello Box also seep from under the Plains.)

A water well application has been submitted to the New Mexico State Engineer’s office by Augustin Ranch LLC, which owns land near Datil at the north end of the Plains. The plan calls for drilling 37 wells with 20-inch well casings to a depth of 3,000 feet in order to pump out 54,000 acre-feet of water a year from the Augustin Plains aquifer. That is over 17 billion gallons that would be removed annually. It would probably be sold and piped over to the Rio Grande to make up for shortfalls caused by overconsumption upstream. This amount could supply water to an entire city over twice the size of Las Cruces and could deplete the aquifer in only a few decades. Not only would neighboring landowners discover their wells running dry, surface springs will disappear and water that makes its way to the Gila and Monticello Box will wind up in the Rio Grande instead. The entire region will be placed at risk of catastrophic loss. Sierra Club founder John Muir said, “When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe.” Never was that more true than about the Augustin Plains water grab.

The list of protests received by the State Engineer’s office reveals how far-reaching the water grab actually is. Ranchers, concerned citizens, Indian tribes, acequias, and government agencies at the local, state, and federal levels have all submitted protests. You can still be involved even though the time for official protest has passed. If you’d like to help or to receive updates, contact Carol Pittman, pittray@gilanet.com, who lives right next door to the proposed pumping sites.

Mary Katherine Ray is also a protestant who lives on the south side of the Plains. —Mary Katherine Ray

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Photo courtesy of Mary Katherine Ray

New Mexico Mining and Minerals has announced the public meeting and comment period on the proposed Beryllium exploration permit near the Monticello Box and Warm Springs.

Hearing Date: December 1, 2009

Place: Civic Center, 400 W. 4^th Street, Truth or Consequences, NM

Time: 6PM

 The question at hand is whether to allow drilling of more bore holes above the beautiful Monticello box, to a depth of 2000 ft in order to further establish the extent of the Beryllium containing deposit.

What is at stake is the unacceptable risk to the abundant perennial Alamosa River and geothermal warm springs. The impact to the water could devastate wildlife including the federally endangered Alamosa Springsnail which occurs no where else on earth and the federally threatened Chiricahua Leopard Frog. Two others species, the Ovate Vertigo snail and Wright’s Marsh Thistle are critically imperiled. Knowing the extent of the ore deposit only serves to strengthen the sense of entitlement the mining corporation will have to open a full bore mine which will change forever the character of this area. The farming community downstream, the riparian corridor the stream supports and the vibrant and diverse wildlife that depend on it could all be lost.

Please mark your calendar and attend this meeting.

 Written comments are also needed. Double your impact by editing the letter below and e-mailing to joe.vinson@state.nm.us or write to:

Bill Brancard, Director

Mining and Minerals Division

NM Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department

1220 south St. Francis Drive

Santa Fe, NM 87505

 

Deadline for written comments is also December 1, 2009

  Dear Mr. Brancard,

       I am opposed to the drilling of additional test holes to search for Beryllium adjacent to Monticello Box, the Alamosa River and the historic Warm Springs.  Questions regarding the appropriateness of any mining activity in this location are profound and serious. Even exploratory holes to the depths indicated in the application threaten the functioning of the springs. The hydrology of the area is not well-understood and placing it at risk is foolhardy. The vibrant riparian habitat supports a diverse wildlife community which all depends on the water in what is otherwise very a dry surrounding.  Moreover, the federally endangered Alamosa Springsnail is perfectly adapted to the water temperature and chemistry of the Warm Springs. It occurs nowhere else on earth and its imperiled status reflects how easily it could be lost.  Evidence of human occupation goes back over a millennium.

    The Monticello box and warm springs complex are treasures for their beauty, abundant water and natural and cultural uniqueness. Please don’t allow them to be despoiled. Put a stop to beryllium exploration.

 

Please include signature and contact information.

For more information contact Mary Katherine Ray, Rio Grande Chapter Wildlife chair at mkrscrim@kitcarson.net or 575-772-5655

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