Friday, March 31, 2017

Environmental Conditions of the Animas and San Juan Watersheds with Emphasis on Gold King Mine and Other Mine Waste Issues

Call for Abstracts and Papers Deadline: April 7, 2017 2nd Annual Conference Environmental Conditions of the Animas and San Juan Watersheds with Emphasis on Gold King Mine and Other Mine Waste Issues June 20-22, 2017 • San Juan College • Farmington NM The June 2017 conference includes a Call for Abstracts and Papers on topics related to the theme of the conference, Environmental Conditions of the Animas and San Juan Watersheds with Emphasis on Gold King Mine and other Mine Waste Issues. Particularly relevant topics include the following: • Geology, minerology, ore bodies and natural sources of contamination • Analysis of Animas and San Juan watersheds as a result of Gold King Mine spill • Effects of acid mine drainage after more than a century of mining • Effects of historical mill-waste discharges • Effects of historical spill events • Effects of the Gold King Mine spill • Differentiating geologic and legacy mining and milling contaminants from Gold King Mine spill contaminants spill contaminants • Transport and fate of mining and milling contaminants in the Animas and San Juan watersheds • Contaminant uptake into the food web • Mining and milling contaminant impacts on surface water, sediment, groundwater, agriculture, livestock, wildlife, and humans • Long-term monitoring • Existing corrective measures to control mine seepage and hydraulic consequences • Options for additional source control, spill prevention, and remediation • E. coli and other organisms in nutrients • Streamflow and water quality sensitivity to climate change • Groundwater and surface-water geochemistry and their interaction with the hyporheic zone Visit the conference website at: https://animas.nmwrri.nmsu.edu/2017/ for abstract guidelines. All abstracts must be submitted online using the provided abstract form.

Thursday, March 30, 2017

NM Clean Water State revolving fund

________________________________________ New Mexico Clean Water State Revolving Fund ________________________________________ March 30th, 2017 through April 28, 2017 the New Mexico Clean Water State Revolving Fund is accepting applications for funding. Eligible entities include any municipality, county, mutual domestic water consumer’s association, water and sanitation district and Indian tribes. Fundable projects must be publicly owned and include: • Construction or renovation of wastewater treatment works including treatment plants, pipes, pumps, force mains and other associated items; • Construction, repair or replacement of decentralized wastewater systems that treat municipal wastewater or domestic sewage; • Projects that manage, reduce, treat or recapture storm water or subsurface drainage water; • Measures to reduce the demand of wastewater treatment works capacity through conservation, efficiency or reuse; • Development or implementation of watershed projects that include at least one of the following areas: watershed management of wet weather discharges, storm water best management practices, watershed partnerships, integrated water resource planning, municipality-wide storm water management planning, or increased resilience of treatment works; • Measures to reduce the energy consumption needs for treatment works; • Projects involving reuse or recycling of wastewater, storm water or subsurface drainage water; • Projects to increase the security of the treatment works; If you are not sure if your project is eligible, please call us at 505-827-2806 and we will be happy to review it with you. Bonus points are awarded for Green projects; information regarding Green projects can be found on our website. Technical Assistance is provided throughout the project. For an application click HERE, save the application to your computer to see fillable features. For more information click here or call the Construction Programs Bureau at 505-827-2806. ________________________________________ Stay Connected with New Mexico Environment Department Having trouble viewing this email? View it as a Web page. SUBSCRIBER SERVICES: Manage Subscriptions | Unsubscribe All | Help ________________________________________ This email was sent to whoughto@nmsu.edu using GovDelivery, on behalf of: New Mexico Environment Department · Harold L. Runnels Building · 1190 St. Francis Drive · Suite N4050 · Santa Fe, New Mexico 87505

New Mexico Wetlands Roundtable.

Greetings all, You are invited to the spring New Mexico Wetlands Roundtables. These events will be combined government agency/non-governmental organizations roundtables that are organized geographically, one in the north in Santa Fe (April 27, 2017) and one in the south in Las Cruces (May 16, 2017). You are invited to attend one or both of the meetings as they usually have different agendas and speakers.  Santa Fe, Thursday, April 27, 2017, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Toney Anaya Building, 2550 Cerrillos Road, Rio Grande Room (2nd Floor) Santa Fe, NM (Note the Northern Wetlands Roundtable is not at the State Library but the Toney Anaya Building to the north on Cerrillos Road.)  Las Cruces, Tuesday, May 16, 2017 from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Las Cruces City Hall, 700 North Main Street, Room 2007-B&C (2nd floor), Las Cruces, NM We are in the process of developing agendas for these meetings so if you have any suggestions for topics to be discussed or would like to present, please let us know. We would include timely wetland topics as part of the presentation line-up. If you would like to present your wetlands-related work or initiative, please contact us so we can get you on the agenda. The New Mexico Wetland Roundtables are conducted as part of a Wetlands Program Development Grant from EPA Region 6 to foster partnerships and collaboration for the restoration and protection of wetlands and riparian resources in New Mexico. The roundtables are conducted on a semi-annual schedule and if you have not attended in the past, we would like you to see what the New Mexico Wetlands Roundtables are all about. There is no cost to attend. If your organization would like to sponsor refreshments, please let us know. For more information, contact Karen Menetrey (Karen.Menetrey@state.nm.us; 505-827-0194) for the Northern Roundtable or Emile Sawyer (Emile.Sawyer@state.nm.us; 505-827-2827) for the Southern Roundtable. The agendas will be sent to you soon. RSVPs are appreciated but not necessary. We look forward to seeing you at one or both of these meetings. Thank you, Maryann McGraw, Karen Menetrey and Emile Sawyer The NMED/SWQB Wetlands Program Team Maryann McGraw Wetlands Program Coordinator New Mexico Environment Department Surface Water Quality Bureau 1190 St. Francis Drive, Rm 2059 N P.O. Box 5469 Santa Fe, New Mexico 87502-5469 Phone: 505-827-0581 FAX: 505-827-0160

Thursday, March 9, 2017

Dan Lathrop

lathropobitServices for Dan Lathrop, who died December 21, 2016, will be held January 14, 2017, at 2 p.m. at the First Presbyterian Church, 201 5th Street, Dexter, New Mexico. Dan C. Lathrop was born March 18, 1957, to Charles Lawrence Lathrop and Annie Lee Blanchard. He lived for a short time in Hagerman and then moved to a house on the family farm and lived there all his life. He loved farming. He loved plowing, night irrigating and baling hay under a full moon. He loved growing chile. He loved castles, elephants and owls. He studied history, especially military history, and enjoyed Louis L’Amour westerns. Marty Robbins tunes and just about any country western ballad were on his play list — especially the sappy songs. His favorite sci fi novels were about a deformed wise guy named Miles Vorkosigan in books by Lois McMaster Bujold. He loved chick flicks — the tear jerkers. Dan attended public schools in Hagerman and Dexter, graduating Dexter High School as a National Merit Scholar and Valedictorian, class of 1975. He attended New Mexico State University graduating with highest honors and double Bachelor of Science degrees in Agri-Business Management and Farm & Ranch Management in 1979. He farmed from 1979 until [auth] 2002 raising chile, cotton, alfalfa and grain crops for cattle feed. When he became manager of the farm in 1986 he expanded its acreage. On August 1, 1992, he married Marilyn Woodburn, mother of four children, an instant family. The couple had two more children of their own. Dan loved children and could set them at ease with his warm, easy manner. He was Cub Master of Pack 19 in Dexter for 13 years and was willing to don any number of absurd get-ups for advancement ceremonies: plastic crown and velvet cape; a Samurai helmet and carrying the samurai sword his uncle had liberated in WWII; Indian headdress or a bear mask, just to name a few. He was Committee Chairman Troop 19, Rio Hondo District, Boy Scouts of America (BSA) and a Commissioner, Rio Hondo District, BSA. He helped many young boys become men. Dan represented the Hagerman Irrigation Company on the Pecos Valley Water Users Organization board starting in 1998. He chaired a sub-committee on the history of the Pecos and the Hagerman Canal. Woods Houghton describes Dan as a “voice of reason” in the sometimes heated arguments over water use in the lower Pecos Valley. Along with Dick Smith, Dan represented Region 10 on the Interstate Streams Commission’s advisory committee and was instrumental in the completion of the comprehensive plan for water use in the lower Pecos Valley in 2002. You’ll find him quoted in Patrick Dearen’s book, Bitter Waters: The Struggles of the Pecos River, a history of the Pecos River commissioned by the Pecos River Resolution Corp, an organization founded to study the Pecos River and report the findings. Dan served on the Pecos River Resolution advisory board. Few people know as much about the hydrology of the Pecos River and its history as Dan did. Dan began attending meetings with his father and later became president of the Hagerman Irrigation Company in 1992. Other positions in which Dan served: president of the Greenfield Mutual Domestic Water Users’ organization beginning in 1995; trustee, Hagerman Cemetery Association; Elder and member of session at the First Presbyterian Church, Dexter, and commissioner to Sierra Blanca Presbytery. Before that, Dan served as vice president of the church council for the First Methodist Church, Dexter. Dan was a member of the Dexter School Board for 12 years. In 2001, Dan suffered an aortic dissection of his entire aorta. The survival rate for such an event is zero, except for Dan. God performed many miracles to keep Dan here until his race was finished. He was a walking testimony of the power and love of God. The aortic dissection and the aneurysm that appeared the following year eventually pushed Dan out of farming. He lived with a constant headache for 16 years and most of the time nobody knew it. Even as he mourned forced retirement from farming, he kept true to his motto, “Do what you can do.” Now, as King David said, “He cannot return to me, but I may go to him.” In that hope we live and carry on the work of the Kingdom of God — which is Serve Others in Love. Dan’s parents preceded him in death. He is survived by his brother, Robert Lathrop and sister-in-law, Karen; wife, Marilyn; children, Philip Killough, Eve (Turkle) Wisniewski, John Turkle, Aaron Turkle, Charles Lathrop and Daniel Lathrop; daughters-in-law, Cynthia (Baca) Killough and Elisabeth (Pacheco) Turkle and future daughter-in-law, Adriana Gonzales; grandchildren: Nathan and Natalie Turkle; Arayla and Max Wisniewski. Also surviving him are many cousins, nieces and nephews. Arrangements have been entrusted to Ballard Funeral Home and Crematory. An online registry can be accessed at ballardfuneralhome.com.

Wednesday, March 8, 2017

RITF-85: An Introduction to NEPA: The National Environmental Policy Act of 1969

RITF-85: An Introduction to NEPA: The National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 Douglas S. Cram (Assistant Professor/Extension Forestry and Fire Specialist, RITF, NMSU) Nicholas K. Ashcroft (College Assistant Professor/Extension Range Management Specialist, RITF, NMSU) Samuel T. Smallidge (Associate Professor/Extension Wildlife Specialist/RITF Coordinator, RITF, NMSU) Les P. Owen (Director of Conservation Services Division, Colorado Department of Agriculture) http://aces.nmsu.edu/pubs/_ritf/RITF85.pdf

Friday, March 3, 2017

New Mexico Tech Graduate Student Contributes to Statewide Water Assessment Initiative

New Mexico Tech Graduate Student Contributes to Statewide Water Assessment Initiative by Catherine Ortega Klett, NM WRRI Program Manager Peter ReVelle, NM Tech master’s degree graduate student in hydrology, has played an important role in NM WRRI’s Statewide Water Assessment initiative. Peter is a member of the groundwater recharge study team that is developing a model that estimates diffuse groundwater recharge for the entire state of New Mexico. Diffuse recharge is the proportion of precipitation that infiltrates vertically through the soil and past the root zone to potentially contribute water to the groundwater system. In order to better quantify groundwater recharge in mountainous regions where a large proportion of the state’s recharge occurs, Peter developed a model that applies topographic-based adjustments to remote sensing products to provide an improved energy product suited for complex terrain that is being used in the model. According to groundwater recharge team member NM Tech Emeritus Professor Fred Phillips, “Peter is a great student and did an amazing job programming up the energy-balance part of the evapotranspiration model.” Peter is scheduled to graduate with a master’s degree in the spring. His thesis research has focused on using remote sensing algorithms to determine the surface energy balance in mountain terrain environments to improve estimates of water losses from vegetation and soil evaporation, and to evaluate the effect of tree thinning on the amount of water lost. Born in DeKalb, Illinois, Peter moved to Los Alamos, NM at the age of eight. He earned an undergraduate degree in environmental science with an option in hydrology at NM Tech in 2012. After graduation, he looks forward to pursuing a second master’s degree in geospatial Information science and technology.

Students Develop Innovation in Hydropower Generation

Students Develop Innovation in Hydropower Generation by Catherine Ortega Klett, NM WRRI Program Manager NMSU students in the Klipsch School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, under the guidance of Associate Professor Dr. Nadipuram Prasad, recently completed a project entitled, Hydro-Weir: A technology for low-head hydropower generation. The project was funded by a NM WRRI Student Water Research Grant. The students were able to use 3D printing technology to show the feasibility of manufacturing functional hydropower harvester prototypes for laboratory testing. This was a first step toward full-scale prototype manufacturing. The project aimed to develop a 200W hydropower harvester to harness energy from weir-flow systems. A weir is a barrier across a river designed to alter the flow characteristics, usually a horizontal barrier across the width of a river that pools water behind it while still allowing steady flow over the top. The objective of this project was to design and fabricate a laboratory scale prototype at the lowest cost. The size and shape had to conform to simulated weir-flow characteristics in the NMSU hydraulics laboratory. The students were successful at showing for the very first time that a scale model hydropower harvester prototype can be fabricated using 3D printing technology. Not only does this technology lower the generation cost, but it also minimizes environmental impacts of hydropower development. Results from tests will be published in water power journals. In addition to being a successful Senior Design Capstone project in the undergraduate program of the Klipsch School, funding allowed Juan R. González, to earn a master’s degree in electrical engineering. Juan worked with Dr. Prasad in preparing the final report, which is available by clicking here.

NMSU Grad Student Studying Economic Impact of Water Conservation,

NMSU Grad Student Studying Economic Impact of Water Conservation, Storage Capacity Development, and Crop Diversity in the Tucumcari Project of East-Central New Mexico by Catherine Ortega Klett, NM WRRI Program Manager The Tucumcari Project surrounding the city of Tucumcari, NM, includes about 41,000 acres of irrigable land. Principal features include the Conchas Dam and Reservoir, built on the South Canadian River, plus the Conchas and Hudson Canals, and associated distribution and drainage systems. This water storage and distribution facility constitutes an irrigation district named after Mr. Arch Hurley, who lobbied for its creation in the 1930s. For over half a century, the Arch Hurley Conservancy District (AHCD) has used the approximately 40 miles of main canal and 350 miles of smaller ditches and laterals constructed as part of the Tucumcari Project to deliver water, on average, to almost 700 different parcels of irrigated lands. And for just as long it has been recognized that there are significant water losses in the system, due to such realities as evaporation, canal seepage, and evapotranspiration by canal bank vegetation. Befekadu Habteyes, a PhD student in the NMSU Department of Ag Economics and Ag Business and in the Water Science Management Program, in collaboration with his faculty advisor, Dr. Frank Ward, is conducting a field survey and economic modeling analysis of the AHCD, taking into account the possible effects of different crop choices and of water conservation and storage policies. Read more

Next meeting 10 March 2017 @ 10:00

The next quarterly meeting will be March 10 Friday at 10:00 am in the conference room of the Artesia Agriculture Science Center. Proposed Agenda: Pecos Valley Water Users Organization Meeting Agenda March 10, 2017 10:00 Type of Meeting: Quarterly business meeting Meeting Facilitator: Woods Houghton Invitees: all water users in lower Pecos. I. Call to order II. Roll call III. Approval of minutes from last meeting IV. Open issues a) Current balance b) Dialog group state water plan 12 January17 - Eric c) Texas Horn shell muscle, does anyone have an update? V. New business a) Where do we go from here b) Elect Officers for 2017-18 c) From the group VI. Adjournment If you have another agenda item e-mail me. whoughto@nmsu.edu