Farmers may lose water to minnow

Associated Press thru Weather.com ^ | 1-29-03

[petuniasevan]

Farmers may lose water to minnow
Wed, Jan. 29, 2003 9:27 AM ET

By the Associated Press

ALBUQUERQUE (AP) Indian pueblos along the Rio Grande and others who use the river's water could face a very dry year if the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals upholds a federal judge's decision on the silvery minnow, a Bureau of Reclamation official said Tuesday.

The bureau made public the federal government's draft biological assessment for 2003 for the middle Rio Grande, where the tiny endangered fish lives.

U.S. District Judge James Parker last year said the bureau and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife should consider using water from Heron Reservoir in northern New Mexico to help the fish. The judge ordered flows in the Rio Grande to continue to the San Acacia Reach between Belen and Socorro, where the largest surviving wild population of the minnow exists.

Parker's ruling, if it stands, would reduce deliveries of Heron water to San Juan-Chama Project users or to the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District, which delivers water to irrigators. Among those are the six pueblos along the river - Cochiti, Santo Domingo, San Felipe, Santa Ana, Sandia and Isleta.

The city of Albuquerque and agricultural users along the river are appealing Parker's decision. Parties involved in the case hope for a decision from the 10th Circuit Court in Denver before irrigation season begins on March 1st.

Kenneth Maxey, area manager for the Bureau of Reclamation, released details Tuesday of the preliminary biological proposal. The Bureau of Reclamation and Fish and Wildlife Service expect to have the final proposal ready by the end of February.

Maxey said it's possible that if Parker's ruling stands, there would be restrictions on how much water farmers and Indian pueblos can use to irrigate crops.

Another option might be to reduce water allocations for the San Juan-Chama Project to keep enough water flowing to ensure survival of the silvery minnow.

Maxey said there is still much work to be done on the proposal and the agencies are seeking additional public comment.

"This is a draft biological assessment. It has some holes in it," Maxey said.

Maxey also noted New Mexico remains in a severe drought and the prospects for this year aren't good. He said reservoirs such as Heron, El Vado, Abiquiu and Cochiti are all well below normal and the runoff from this winter's snowfall isn't likely to alleviate the situation.

"As far as we can see, they are pretty dismal right now, although it's still pretty early in the year," Maxey said. "Usually we rely on the April 1 forecast (from the National Resources Conservation Service) to set our hydrology plans for the year."

[petuniasevan]

This is an ongoing battle, but unlike the Klamath case, the people affected have little say in the matter. They can go to the BIA, or an Indian advocacy group if they like, but nothing will be done. That's because the environmentalist lobby is a lot stronger than the pro-Indian/Native American special interest lobby. Remember how hard the greens fought when Northwest tribes wanted to hunt a whale or two!

So these Pueblo may be driven off their land, not by settlers or the US Army, but by thugs who steal others' livelihood in the name of the environment.

In any case, Albuquerque will get the water it needs somewhere. As usual, the ranchers and other rural residents will take the brunt of the ruling.

[petuniasevan]

PING!

[Libertarianize the GOP]

http://www.freerepublic.com/perl/bump-list

[Savage Beast]

If President Bush doesn't stop the assault on the welfare of citizens and private property rights by radical environmentalists, he's going to loose the support of his most loyal constituents.

[SierraWasp]

More "Rural Cleansing," because "The fish come first!" (John Gerimandi-former Babbit Lieutenant and now CA Insurance Commissioner with eyes on the Governorshift)

[BenLurkin]

[Carry_Okie]

Right in Paragon's back yard.

[farmfriend]

Pinging.

[MadJack]

Entire species, some of them perhaps even more significant to Earth's natural history than the silvery minnow, have gone extinct and vanished throughout it's geological record.
The usual enviro-BS, and we should expect it after the whackos infiltrated government during the Arkansas clan's regime.I'm a paid lifetime Sierra Club member from twenty years ago, but this kinda baloney is what has kept me from giving any of these clowns another damn cent.
Silvery minnow, my ass.

[HiTech RedNeck]

Someone needs to fix the damn law. If the Sierra Club wants the minnows it should keep them in an aquarium.

[Judith Anne]

Agreed. Arbitrary decisions by unelected regulatory bureaucrats are being used as a cudgel to drive legitimate human activity, i.e. farming, out of rural areas.

The media is complicit in failing to acknowledge the complaints of those most affected.

This is outrageous.

[E.G.C.]

BTTT!!!!!!

[CedarDave]

The only good thing about this is that it hurts everyone (except the greenies) whether they are Republican or Democrat. The pueblos and most of the small farmers (who are mainly Hispanic) are loyal Democrats as is the mayor of Albuquerque. For once they are speaking out in public and in unison against the extremism of the environmentalists. Awareness is rising, and nothing will flame it faster in NM than threats to take away water from ancestral lands. As for ABQ, our groundwater table is lowering and much more pumping will cause some areas of the city to settle causing damage to buildings, roads and utilities. BTW, some of us that work in the area know that the minnow has some sort of survival mechanism and the species can cope with drought conditions. To date we have been without our winter season rains and unless we get them in March and April, things will go from bad to worse along the rivers.

[wcbtinman]

Simple solution: Poison the minnows.

No minnows, no problem.

[CedarDave]

Someone needs to fix the damn law. If the Sierra Club wants the minnows it should keep them in an aquarium.

Interestingly enough, the local zoo couldn't get them to spawn in captivity until they made the water muddy and turbid, and that worked!! These critters have survived eons of drought, flash floods and debris in mud-laden storm runoff water. Some of us around here believe that the only endangerment to the minnows is in the mind of the envirnomentalists.

[EBUCK]

You wish...they'll re-introduce them (there are probably a ton of them in labs etc..) and the result will be the complete seizure of all water rights while the little bugger recovers in population.

[AuntB]

When the leaders of the various "tribes" (many plain ol' white con men) stop siding with the ecofreaks in their land grabs, they'll get more help from the rest of us.