Thursday, October 25, 2018

Pecos River Basin Study


Thank you for your interest in the Pecos River Basin Study from Reclamation and NMISC. The Pecos Basin Study is a federal/state collaboration which looks at the latest climate projections for the Pecos Basin and investigates possible outcomes and responses. 

Your input is vital to the success of the study and to help plan for future operations under various future scenarios for water supply and demand in the basin. The next meeting for the Pecos Basin Study will be on Thursday, October 25 from  1 pm to 3:30 pm at the Roswell Office of the State Engineer, 1900 West Second St. This meeting will be a chance to introduce our modeling results and to discuss input and next steps.  

We can send you three documents for your review. These are preliminary and numbers and content have not been reviewed, so it is subject to change. However, we want to be as transparent as possible and to provide what we have now so we can work with you to make this an effective foundation for any future actions in the basin. 

 Please pass this information on to anyone you think would be interested.  We want to ensure that the report accurately captures input from local water users. The three documents are:

1. A one-page summary factsheet to introduce the study, results so far, and next steps. 

2. A detailed description of the problem and need, districts, potential options, and basic results. 

3. A very detailed draft presentation with model results so far.

They are two large to post here but if you send me your e-mail I will forward them on to you.  Send your request to    whoughto@nmsu.edu
 
They will go over all materials in the meeting and can answer questions at the meeting or at a later date, so you don't really have to study them this weekend!

This material does not have the technical details on the modeling. Rather, it has our preliminary descriptions of the problem and need, irrigation districts, strategies, and basic results. 

THIS IS PRELIMINARY DRAFT ONLY. NUMBERS AND CONTENT HAVE NOT BEEN VERIFIED OR REVIEWED AND MAY CHANGE. 


Wednesday, October 24, 2018

President Donald Trump waded into the Western water wars Friday

President Donald Trump waded into the Western water wars Friday, giving a boost to embattled Republican congressmen with a presidential memorandum containing deadlines for federal regulators to finish evaluating the environmental impacts of major water projects in California and the Pacific Northwest.
Trump signed the memo in Arizona with four California congressmen, including Republican Rep. Jeff Denham, who represents the northern San Joaquin Valley and is in a tight race with Josh Harder, a business teacher at Modesto Junior College. Other representatives who were at the signing include Republicans David Valadao, who represents the southern half of the Central Valley, Devin Nunes, whose district also includes the San Joaquin Valley, and Tom McClintock, whose district includes all or part of 10 counties  stretching from Placer in the north to Fresno in the south.
Those lawmakers have blasted what critics are calling a “water grab” by the California State Water Resources Control Board to re-allocate water flowing through the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to help sustain endangered fish species and restore the Bay-Delta ecosystem. But that would mean less water for farmers in the state’s Central Valley, who have been sharply critical of the plan.
“This will move things along at a record clip,” Trump said at the memo signing. “And you’ll have a lot of water," he added, speaking to the congressmen standing by his side. "I hope you’ll enjoy the water you’ll have.” Trump also praised the lawmakers as "tremendous people."
The administration said in a “fact sheet” that “expedited regulatory processes will provide certainty for California farmers who need more water to restore farmlands crippled by drought and regulation.”
Specifically, the memo directs the Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service to complete their reviews of the impact of flows from the Central Valley Project and the California State Water Project by June 15. The memo also directs FWS and NMFS to complete their reviews of the Klamath Irrigation Project by August 2019, and their reviews of the Federal Columbia River System by 2020.
The memo also would require the Interior and Commerce departments to work together to identify an official to coordinate the departments’ environmental reviews for each project.
Each official would then identify “regulations and procedures that potentially burden the project and develop a proposed plan … to appropriately suspend, revise, or rescind any regulations or procedures that unduly burden the project beyond the degree necessary to protect the public interest or otherwise comply with the law,” the memo said.
“From my perspective, today’s action might be the most significant action taken by a president on Western water in my lifetime,” Deputy Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt said on a call with reporters before the signing.
In a statement, Denham, Valadao, McClintock and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, another Californian, hailed the president’s memo, calling it “an immense relief for the farmers and families of the San Joaquin Valley and communities across California.”

“Due to the actions of environmental extremists and overzealous bureaucrats, California has been suffering from a years-long water crisis that has wreaked havoc in Central Valley farming communities that feed tens of millions of Americans,” they said. “Productive land has gone fallow and farmworkers have lost their jobs. Communities across California have also been devastated as senseless government regulations have mandated that billions of gallons of water be flushed out to the ocean and wasted.

“Now, with this executive action, there is a strict timetable for rewriting the biological opinions that lie at the root of the water crisis,” the congressmen said. “This executive action also prioritizes building critical projects to expand water storage in our state so that we can store more water during wet years for use in dry years.”
But Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, executive director of Restore the Delta, said  that “the real water grab is what Congressman Denham is inflicting on the San Francisco Bay-Delta estuary.” She said Denham “is leading the charge to interfere with state rights to oversee and operate its water delivery systems, by pushing President Trump for federal intervention in the Water Quality Plan for the Bay-Delta currently before the State Water Resources Control Board. In the process, he is splitting his own district, forgetting what is important to his constituents in San Joaquin County – a healthy and restored Delta.”
For more news, go to www.Agri-Pulse.com

Monday, October 22, 2018

New Mexico Wetlands Roundtables


Greetings Everyone,

You are cordially invited to attend the New Mexico Wetlands Roundtables this fall. Attached are the draft agendas for the Northern and Southern New Mexico Wetlands Roundtables. Thanks for the wonderful response for excellent speakers and sponsors. We have full agendas and a great line-up of speakers at both Roundtables! Please review the agendas and plan on attending one or both of these meetings.

  • Las Cruces, Wednesday, November 7, 2018 from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Las Cruces City Hall, 700 North Main Street, Room 2007-B&C (2nd floor), Las Cruces, NM



  • Santa Fe, Tuesday, December 11, 2018, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:15 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.)

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.

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. 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

Maryann McGraw
Environmental Scientist-Supervisor
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, October 18, 2018

Pecos Basin Study meeting


Dear Lower Pecos Valley Regional Water Plan Steering Committee,

The next Pecos Basin Study meeting will be held:
Thursday, October 25
1pm to 3:30pm
Roswell Office of the State Engineer
1900 West Second St.

The Pecos Basin Study is a federal/state collaboration which looks at the latest climate projections for the Pecos Basin and investigates possible outcomes and responses.  Attached is a draft meeting agenda which also includes a bit more information on the study.

Please pass this information on to anyone you think would be interested.  We want to ensure that the report accurately captures input from local water users. If you have questions, please contact Dagmar Llewellyn, US Bureau of Reclamation or Hanna Riseley-White at the NM Interstate Stream Commission. Their contact info is on the bottom of the attached agenda.

Thank you,

Angela S. Bordegaray
Regional Water Planner
New Mexico Interstate Stream Commission
407 Galisteo
Suite 101
Santa Fe, New Mexico 87504
Phone: (505) 827-6167