Water

Sierra Club Calls on PNM to Move New Mexico Beyond Coal to Clean Energy

Albuquerque, NM -- Today the Sierra Club reached a legal settlement obligating the utility Public Service Company of New Mexico (PNM) and San Juan Coal Company (a subsidiary of BHP Billiton, Ltd.) to stop ground and surface water contamination that the group alleges comes from toxic coal ash waste and other sources at the San Juan Coal Mine and San Juan Generating Station coal-fired power plant. The settlement obligates the companies to build structures including a “slurry wall” and a recovery trench to prevent contaminants from traveling toward the San Juan River, pumping the pollution instead into a lined storage pond.

By Susan Selbin

Films make a message real for viewers. Following the interest generated by 10 screenings of Gasland (dangers of hydraulic fracturing to release natural gas — fracking) in 2010 in Albuquerque, Placitas, Santa Fe and Taos, volunteers focused on fresh water as the key issue, organizing a free film festival in February at South Broadway Cultural Center entitled “It’s All About Water!”

The first day of spring was an auspicious day for the Las Vegas City Council to make history. It was a victory for the people and for democracy. The united voice of the citizens and actions taken by the council showed that concerned, involved people make a difference—that our elected officials who support their oath of office to protect the health, welfare and safety of the citizens, support Democracy.

By John Buchser, Chapter Chair and River Commission member, a.k.a. River Angel

Years of work by river commissioners and Santa Fe City staff was rewarded on February 29 by unanimous approval of a river flow bill by the City Council. The bill allows for 'pass-through' of flows through the two reservoirs above Santa Fe of up to 1000 acre-feet of water in a year-round scheme designed to mirror natural flows.

Published February 19 in the Santa Fe New Mexican

On February 29, Santa Fe City Council voted unanimously to support up to 1000 Acre-Feet/year to flow in the Santa Fe River. The City of Santa Fe has reached a major milestone in its 400 year history - water once again in the River!

Having served on the River Commission for two terms, John Buchser happily accepted the new title 'river angel' from councilor Bushee.

On Wednesday, February 29, at 7pm, the Santa Fe City Council is considering a river flow ordinance. This law would allow year-round flow past our reservoirs into the Santa Fe River. The River through Santa Fe is why our City has existed 400 years. A river does not exist as a living river without water. You can do two things to show support for water in the river.

• Write or call your councilors and let them know you support flow in the river, and why. The e-mail and phone number for each councilor is shown at the end of this webpage.
• Come to the council meeting on the last day of February and tell the council in person why you support flow in the river.

By Mike Weinberg, Chapter Water Chair

We all by now have heard that worldwide shortages of fresh water are expected in the coming decades due to increased demand from an ever-growing global population and anticipated drying of the earth’s climate.

Development of new water supplies and better management of existing sources will be necessary in order to meet the challenges that lie ahead. We can all help by conserving this precious resource.

July 13 - Santa Fe, NM - The New Mexico Environment Department is pleased to announce a major agreement between state dairy industry representatives and various environmental citizen groups on new rules to regulate discharges to ground water at New Mexico dairy facilities.

The New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) brokered the deal late last week between the Dairy Industry Group for a Clean Environment (DIGCE), Amigos Bravos, Caballo Concerned Citizens, and the Sierra Club Rio Grande Chapter. The new deal comes after DIGCE appealed the Dairy Rule adopted by the Water Quality Control Commission (WQCC) in December 2010.

By Mona Blaber

Every study released lately seems to have worse news about climate change, but it’s hard to translate the figures and statistics into any kind of idea of how life will change in New Mexico, or any region, in the coming decades. I asked University of New Mexico Earth and Planetary Sciences professor David Gutzler, who has researched climate variability in the West, about what these predictions mean for us.

Louise Pape, Vice Chair of the Sustainable Santa Fe Commission and Sierra Club member, has created a website that explains how to reduce personal water consumption to ten gallons per day. Check it out.

Ten Gallons a Day by Louise Pape