WildEarth Guardians

Thursday, October 12, 2006
Governor wants $100 million for water projects

WildEarth Guardians received funding through the state to plant hundreds of cottonwoods and willows on the stretch of land along the Santa Fe river over the last several years
Contact: Staci Matlock Santa Fe New Mexican

Near the golden-leafed cottonwoods of a once-controversial Santa Fe River restoration project, Gov. Bill Richardson on Thursday unveiled a $100 million water wish list for the 2007 legislative session.

Among spending proposals:

_$10 million to detect leaks in municipal systems.

_A $12 million "down payment" on Indian water-rights settlements.

_$15.3 million to create a regional system for Navajo Nation communities.

The administration also will push appropriations to extend community pipelines and make other improvements plus a fund to support inventors of conservation equipment.

The money could come from an estimated $200 million state budget surplus from gross-receipts taxes, income taxes, and oil and gas royalties.

"This is the time to invest in our future," Richardson said, calling for an integrated approach to water issues that considers conservation, infrastructure and ecological needs.

Legislators and others from Clovis to Questa gathered on a bridge over the Santa Fe River, southwest of the city's wastewater treatment plant, for the governor's announcement.

Santa Fe-based WildEarth Guardians received funding through the state to plant hundreds of cottonwoods and willows on the stretch of land along the river over the last several years. Some downstream residents protested the project, saying the trees would create a fire hazard and use up precious river water.

On Thursday, Richardson and others hailed the project as an example of a successful river restoration. "By working together, the state, local government, private citizens and environmental groups have literally brought this river back to life," Richardson said.

A Richardson proposal to seek $7.5 million for river restoration drew applause.

Santa Fe Mayor David Coss, a former state Land Office employee who has worked on water and land issues since the 1970s, said, "There's always been a divorce between water quantity and quality in state water policy." The Santa Fe River project worked, he said, "so what's going downstream is cleaner than it was 10 years ago."

Richardson said the river restoration funds he seeks "will help similar projects take root across the state."

Joe Cayaditto, president of the Torreon Chapter House in the eastern Navajo Nation, said Richardson's proposal for $15 million to create a regional water system will be crucial to more than a half-dozen communities and an estimated 9,000 people where more than 40 percent lack running water. "For 50 years, our people have been asking for this," Cayaditto said. "This is a huge benefit for their health and well being."

University of New Mexico law professor Denise Fort, a natural resources attorney and former state cabinet secretary, said, "This is the first time the state really proposed water projects to help the river. The policy has been that water was only valuable when it was pumped out and developed."

Contact Staci Matlock at 470-9843 or smatlock@sfnewmexican.com

Copyright 2006 Santa Fe New Mexican - Reprinted with permission

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