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This story is a week old but is important to notice. In essence, the appeals court said it's o.k. to take (i.e. confiscate) any source of water from any location to satisfy the requirements of the ESA. The decision will be devastating for Albuquerque's future water supply if left standing.

I will post several follow-up stories below.

The case could have impacts beyond the silvery minnow and the water users of the middle Rio Grande basin. Bureau of Reclamation water projects and endangered species all over the West could be affected by the federal court rulings. Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., said the decision "threatens to undo water law throughout New Mexico and much of the West."

Please PING to your bump lists.

Wonder if this place has headgates?

Follow-up story:

URL: http://abqjournal.com/news/apmino06-18-03.htm

June 18, 2003
Domenici, Chavez Continue Assault on Minnow Ruling


    By Sue Major Holmes The Associated Press
    Last week's silvery minnow federal court ruling came under more fire Wednesday from New Mexico leaders, including Albuquerque's mayor who urged federal officials to help avoid "a head-on collision" between the endangered fish and the city he runs.
    Mayor Martin Chavez traveled to Washington to make his appeal. He was joined there by Sen. Pete Domenici, who, speaking on the Senate floor, called for changes in the Endangered Species Act
    Albuquerque, the state of New Mexico and the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District, which represents irrigators, have all said they will appeal the June 10 decision by a 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel in favor of the tiny Rio Grande silvery minnow.
    Domenici, R-N.M., criticized the ruling, telling fellow senators that it means "the ESA can pre-empt anything and everything" and creates a "new federal right for endangered species."
    "Under the court's theory, no city, county, state or agricultural community can reasonably expect a permanent water supply. That is not what Congress intended when we passed the Endangered Species Act. That is not what I intended when I voted for that law," Domenici said.
    The senator called for the law to be amended "to better protect struggling species while still allowing people access to the resources we need to survive."
    Meanwhile, Mayor Chavez said in a telephone call to The Associated Press that city officials are putting the final touches on their strategy to fight the ruling. On Thursday, he plans to be back in New Mexico, where he will join in a tour of the San Juan-Chama project, a focal point of the water battle.
    "What we're trying to avoid is a head-on collision between the species and the municipality," he said between meetings in Washington. "I don't have an interest in repealing the Endangered Species Act, nor do I think it's doable."
    "We want to craft a narrow solution. As mayor, I absolutely must have the San Juan-Chama water off the table. It creates uncertainty, which has a negative impact on economic development."
    He added: "We're trying to make right the original intention of the act. I don't believe the framers of the ESA envisioned wiping out entire cities."
    In its ruling, the three-judge 10th Circuit panel upheld a federal judge's ruling giving the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation discretion to cut contract water deliveries to farmers and municipalities from Heron Lake and release water as needed for the minnow.
    Albuquerque stores water in Heron from the San Juan-Chama, a diversion project built in the 1970s that brings water from a separate water basin to be released into the Rio Grande.
    The city has been making plans in recent years to use that surface water to spare its dwindling aquifer. Chavez was taking area leaders to Heron on Thursday to stress the water's importance.
    Domenici said San Juan-Chama water was never part of the Rio Grande ecosystem, but was brought in for other purposes.
    Federal attorneys argued in court that the Endangered Species Act doesn't give the Bureau of Reclamation discretion to deliver less than the full amount to those who contract for water. And Albuquerque contended that under legislation that set up the San Juan-Chama project, a contract would be needed to use the water for the fish.
    The 10th Circuit said, however, the Endangered Species Act modifies the water contracts since they do not state that future legislation will not apply.
    Domenici said the decision cannot be allowed to stand because it would devastate water users in the growing West.
    "It threatens all federal contracts," he said.

What ever happened to Water Rights...

Todays follow-up story:

URL: http://abqjournal.com/news/52807news06-19-03.htm

Thursday, June 19, 2003
Domenici Says Ruling 'Favors Fish Over People'
By Tania Soussan Journal Staff Writer
    A recent federal court ruling "favors fish over people," Sen. Pete Domenici told the Senate on Wednesday as he pleaded for congressional support to change the Endangered Species Act.
    "This really has far-reaching implications for all Americans," Domenici said of the ruling in a passionate floor speech. "It essentially favors fish over people."
    He said legislative action is needed to short-circuit last week's ruling by a three-judge panel of the federal 10th Circuit Court of Appeals. In a 2-1 decision, the judges said water earmarked for cities and farmers can be taken to save the endangered Rio Grande silvery minnow from extinction.
    Domenici said he will renew efforts to amend the Endangered Species Act in the next month or two.
    He said the court ruling means local governments and farming communities cannot "reasonably expect a permanent water supply" — something Congress did not intend when it passed the act.
    "I believe there has to be a better way," Domenici said. "I believe we can amend this law to better protect struggling species while still respecting the authority of the government, states and localities and Indian tribes. I believe we can amend this law to better protect struggling species while still allowing people access to the resources we need to survive."
    Domenici said he will have legislation ready soon so it can be attached to the next bill moving out of the Senate.
    The minnow ruling has sparked a flurry of meetings on Capitol Hill as state leaders and members of New Mexico's congressional delegation work to formulate a strategy.
    Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chávez met Wednesday with Reps. Heather Wilson, R-N.M., Steve Pearce, R-N.M., and Tom Udall, D-N.M., and with a top Interior Department official. Albuquerque is among the contractors for water that could be sent down the Rio Grande to protect the minnow and its habitat.
    "What we're trying to do is fashion a solution that doesn't require a head-to-head collision between the species and the city," Chávez said in a telephone interview.
    Because the court ruling will affect all Western states, there is not a lot of support in Congress for legislation that addresses only New Mexico, Chávez said.
    But a broad change to the Endangered Species Act would be politically thorny and tough to pass.
    Gov. Bill Richardson, who traveled to Washington earlier this week, said Wednesday it's unrealistic to expect Congress to radically alter the act.
    "I don't think we can amend or change the Endangered Species Act," Richardson said during a town hall meeting in Socorro. "I think it's there; I think maybe we should tinker with it. I don't think there's the votes or the strength or the effort to change it."
    Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., will meet today with Domenici to discuss ways to address the issue.
    "It's going to take the entire congressional delegation getting behind one effort if this is going to pass," Bingaman spokeswoman Jude McCartin said. "Sen. Bingaman does not want to begin a big ESA fight if we don't need to. He wants to generate legislation that is narrowly tailored to fix New Mexico's problem."
    Richardson also suggested the delegation try to block the funds to implement the appeals court ruling or that the state join the Interior Department in appealing the decision.
    New Mexico Attorney General Patricia Madrid said Wednesday that her staff already is working on a request for the full appeals court to reconsider the case.
    "That is not a simple undertaking," she said. "We want it to be well-researched and well laid-out."
    The deadline for filing a request for rehearing is in late July.
    Madrid also said she will be asking every state in the West to support New Mexico by filing friend-of-the-court briefs in the case, something several states already have done.
    Madrid has scheduled a telephone conference today with Interior Secretary Gale Norton to talk about ways to get New Mexico through the summer without water wars.

    Journal staff writer David Miles contributed to this report.
Copyright 2003 Albuquerque Journal

Rights, farms, environment ping.

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This water thing worked so well up in Klamath, the greenies are pushing the myth that water is disapearing from all over. It's certianly an easy myth to get started, cause there's always a shortage somewhere, even though almost everyplace else has plenty of water that doesn't make the news.

The greenies got lots of political mileage out of Klamath. They're after a lot more. This issue will replace global warming, which has about worn out its welcome.

When did a little fish become more important than a person? Animals have passed into extinction for thousands of years. That's just how it is! They need to get over it!