HB 121, as passed by the House Judiciary Committee (HJC), protects due process in water lease applications and also creates a new process for “expedited leases.” The bill creates a new tool for the State Engineer for certain leases to be fast-tracked while also ensuring the State Engineer may approve a lease application only after requirements for public notice, opportunity for protest, and mandatory public hearings are met. Water leases under a certain cap and timeframe are eligible for the expedited lease process.

The bill addresses the need for a lawful, expedited lease process. In recent years, the State Engineer was granting lease applications that skipped due process requirements through “preliminary approval.” This practice has been deemed unlawful by a District Court ruling and a recent Attorney General Opinion. The process outlined in HB 121 (as amended by HJC) is the result of a compromise with the State Engineer.

It is vital to to have transparency in any applications that could affect existing and senior water rights, as well as our rivers and aquifers. HB 121 ensures that communities potentially impacted by water leases are provided with public notice and due process protections.

HB 121 HJC CS Water Lease Due Process Protections Handout FINAL1

Please join us in supporting two bills being heard in the Senate Conservation Committee which would increase funding for acequia disaster and infrastructure funding and more agency staff to complete acequia infrastructure projects statewide! 

SB 176 (Campos, Jaramillo, Stefanics) Acequia Fund for Disaster Recovery. This bill amends the Acequia and Community Ditch Infrastructure Fund (ACDIF) Act to include “disaster recovery” to the purpose of the fund and increases the annual appropriation to the ACDIF from $2.5 million to $5.0 million. 

SB 239 (Campos, Sanchez) Stream Commission Acequia Bureau. This bill creates at Acequia Bureau at the Interstate Stream Commission. The purpose is to ensure that the acequia program, which administers Capital Outlay and the ACDIF, has dedicated staffing. This will improve the timely completion of acequia infrastructure projects. 

* SB 176 and SB 239 promote rural equity by ensuring access to infrastructure funding and disaster recovery in New Mexico’s underserved rural communities. 

​* Improved funding and agency capacity will improve outcomes and timely completion of acequia infrastructure and disaster recovery projects. 

* SB 176 and SB 239 address the increased need for acequia infrastructure funding arising from disasters related to fires and floods in New Mexico. ​ 

For more talking points, click on the links below:

​SB 176 Acequia Fund for Disaster Response

SB 239 Stream Commission Acequia Bureau

To follow up, here are the phone numbers for each of the committee members:

Please attend in person or via Zoom. The Senate Conservation Committee will meet Thursday, February 9, 2023 at 9am in Room 311. You can also join via Zoom at the link below:

For public participation click on the link to join the ZOOM WEBINAR: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/7739881331 or via telephone US: +1 253 215 8782 Webinar ID: 773 988 1331

Acequias gathered from across the state in Las Vegas, New Mexico for the annual Congreso de las Acequias on December 9th and 10th. The event featured informative workshops, roundtables, and performances. To view the final program click here: Congreso Final Program

Each year, the Congreso de las Acequias, which is also the governing body of the New Mexico Acequia Association, adopts resolutions and declarations that honor the historical moment, guide the strategic direction, and define policy positions.

Tierra Querida, Beloved Land Declaration Declaration.2022.Congreso.Tierra.Querida.Final

In the year 2022, after numerous years of megadrought, our communities experienced the worst year on record for wildfires including the two largest wildfires in New Mexico history, the Hermit’s Peak/Calf Canyon Fire and the Black Fire. Burned homes, forests, and ranches have devastated the people of the burn scars.

The trees, plants, roots, soils, and cloud patterns that were our source of water and our source of life will never be the same again. Places of our ancestors for harvesting remedios, fishing, hunting, and harvesting firewood, latillas, vigas and other building materials live only in our memories. Acequias, once flowing with clean, crystalline snowmelt from our beloved mountains are clogged with ash and soils that eroded from the burned hillslopes.

Still, the land endures. Burned, scarred, wounded, and eroded, our beloved land is still in our care.

The Congreso de las Acequias, as representatives from acequias throughout New Mexico, express our deep sadness at the loss of watersheds, forests, and the headwaters in the burn scars from the 2022 fires.

We declare our resolve to heal our Tierra Querida, Beloved Land and we envision some of the work that lies ahead for recovering communities to heal, rebuild, and adapt for ongoing hardships and climate extremes. Our work is also important for communities who have not yet faced the catastrophe of megafires and flooding, but who are vulnerable.

1. Rebuild our acequias and community ditches ravaged by flooding by leveraging government programs but also mobilizing communities and volunteers for communal work.
2. Heal our watersheds with massive investments for erosion control, river restoration, and reforestation. Watersheds not yet burned need restoration through thinning and erosion control.
3. Learn from the 2022 disasters to better prepare other communities for future disasters
4. Establish emergency seed banks that are protected from fires and floods.
5. Adapt to water scarcity by strengthening our customs and practices of water sharing.
6. Protect our land and water, keeping water rights tied to farmland and preventing depletion of our aquifers.
7. Dedicate more resources toward adaptive agricultural practices to support local food production with drought resilient crops and livestock.

We resolve to build a stronger acequia movement that honors the contributions of the many volunteers who work tirelessly to keep water flowing to our lands, that supports leaders in our communities to be caretakers of the land and water, and that lifts up new generations of leaders to be defenders of our water, land, and way of life.

APPROVED BY THE CONGRESO DE LAS ACEQUIAS THIS DAY, THE 10^th OF DECEMBER, 2022.

Thank you to everyone who shared their art, stories and photography with the 2022 Acequia Art Contest. Explore the winning entries below. All work was also shared at the 2022 Congreso de Las Acequias on December 9th & 10th, 2022!

First Prize, Adult Art – “El angel, el santo y las acequia” by Anita Rodriguez of Taos

Second Prize, Adult Art – “Water Is Life” by Karen Blair, Acequia Madre de Rio Costilla

Third Prize, Adult Art – “Spring on the Acequia” by Terry Davis, Acequia Madre del Llano, Arroyo Hondo

Runner Up, Adult Art – “Todo lo que soy, se lo debo a mi Madre” by Ariana Montez, Acequia Madre de Santa Fe

First Prize, Adult Photo – Food Traditions Category – “Peach trees on an acequia plot” by Anita Walsh, Corrales Lateral Ditch

Second Prize, Adult Photo – Food Traditions Category – “Martinez Traditions” by Jolene Vigil, Acequia de Martinez de Abajo

Third Prize, Adult Photo – Food Traditions Category – By Anna Soto, Ponderosa Community Ditch

First Prize, Adult Photo – Regando Category – “Springtime Planting” by Billy Vigil, Cundiyo

Second Prize, Adult Photo – Regando Category  – “The oldest sections of our acequias which were lined with rock by my ancestors” by Sandy Escarcida, Las Acequias de Placitas

Third Prize, Adult Photo – Regando Category –  “Rebuilding of the El Zaguán portion of the Canyon Road Community Ditch” by Mara Saxer

First Prize, Adult Photo – Acequieros Working The Land Category – by Donatella Davanzo

Second Prize, Adult Photo – Acequieros Working The Land Category – “Planting garlic in mixed, irrigated plot of fruit trees and herbs” by Anita Walsh, Corrales Lateral Ditch

Third Prize, Adult Photo – Acequieros Working The Land Category – “La Pala” by Anna Soto, Ponderosa Community Ditch

First Prize, Adult Storytelling – Making Chaquegue Video by Clyde Garduño, Acequia de Atalaya Arroyo Hondo – click here to download the video

Runner up, Adult Storytelling – “Opening Minds & Lifting Hearts at Sanchez Farm Open Space” essay by Nell Burrus of Arenal Acequia, Albuquerque – click here to read the essayPhoto of Sanchez Farms via Bernalillo County

Youth Photo Winner – “Basket of Calabasitas” by Zachary Nash Archuleta, Southside Acequia, Vadito

Youth Art Winner – “Thriving Communities” by Selene Duran, Los Cordovas #1 Acequia, Taos

Youth Storytelling Winner – “What Acequia Culture Means To Me” Alyson Archuleta, Southside Acequia, Vadito – click here to read the essay!

Thank you for your interest in joining us for Congreso 2020.

Pre-registration to attend IN PERSON has closed. You may register in person on Friday or Saturday.

If you would like to register for ONLINE ONLY participation – please complete this form.

• NMAA Disaster Assistance Checklist
• Western Mora Soil & Water Conservation District – EWP Request for Assistance form (Word doc will download to your computer when you click)
• Tierra y Montes Soil & Water Conservation District – EWP Request for Assistance form (Word doc will download to your computer when you click the link)
• Post Fire Assessment Form

PLEASE COPY AND PASTE THE SAMPLE LETTER BELOW TO MAKE A COMMENT ON THE TAOS SKI VALLEY EXPANSION PROJECT. LETTERS ARE DUE BY MAY 6TH.

FOR MORE DETAILS AND INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR LETTER, SEE OUR NEWS POST HERE: https://conta.cc/3vEdUhb

James Duran, Forest Supervisor

c/o Paul Schilke, Winter Sports Coordinator

P.O. Box 110 Questa, NM 87556

Re: Taos Ski Valley Gondola and Other Improvements Project

Dear Supervisor Duran:

My name is [INSERT YOUR NAME HERE] and I am a [INSERT YOUR ROLE – COMMISSIONER/PARCIANTE/MEMBER OF…] the [INSERT ACEQUIA OR COMMUNITY NAME]. 

[IF DESIRED – ADD A SENTENCE ABOUT WHY THIS ISSUE IS IMPORTANT TO YOU, OR DELETE THIS LINE] 

I strongly urge the Carson National Forest to conduct a full environmental impact statement (EIS) to meaningfully address the many negative ecological and environmental justice impacts, including cultural and socioeconomic impacts, the “Taos Ski Valley Gondola and Other Improvements Project” (Project) will have on my acequia, community, the Rio Hondo Watershed, and Taos valley. 

The following concerns demonstrate the reasonably foreseeable, harmful and significant negative impacts this Project will have on my acequia, community, the Rio Hondo Watershed and Taos valley, which must be addressed in an environmental impact statement rather than through a brief and insufficient environmental assessment. The Project’s direct, indirect and cumulative adverse effects will disproportionately impact historically marginalized communities including Pueblos, acequias and land grants, therefore triggering numerous environmental justice requirements under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), its implementing regulations, and several executive orders. CNF has the responsibility of ensuring that all of the Project’s adverse effects are meaningfully and equitably addressed. Most importantly, the EIS must include a No Action Alternative analysis.

Environmental Justice Concerns, Including Cultural and Socioeconomic Impacts, that Must Be Addressed in an EIS:

• The EIS must take a hard look at whether Tribes, Pueblos, acequia, land grant and other environmental justice communities have been sufficiently involved in the decision-making process. This includes whether CNF has engaged in tribal consultation prior or during this scoping phase, consultation with impacted acequias and land grants, and with other environmental justice communities. This also includes whether CNF has invited Tribes, Pueblos, acequias and/or land grants with political subdivision of the state status to serve as cooperating agencies in the NEPA process, and whether traditional ecological knowledge is being centered in the NEPA process.

• The EIS must also take a hard look at how traditional land-based communities including Tribes, Pueblos, acequias, and land grants currently suffer and have historically suffered, from environmental and health risks or hazards, and from large-scale development projects such as the Proposed Action.

• With respect to natural resources such as water, land and wildlife, the EIS must include Tribal, Pueblo, acequia, and land grant dependence on natural resources for their economic base, as well as the cultural values that the Tribe, Pueblo, acequia, or land grant community places on water, land and wildlife at risk by the Proposed Action.

• The EIS must also include an analysis of the socioeconomic impacts to environmental justice communities, specifically addressing the Proposed Action’s contribution to low-wage seasonal employment, skyrocketing demand for short-term housing rentals, unsustainable population growth, increased stress to public services, and overall decreased quality of life.

Water Resource Concerns that Must Be Addressed in an EIS:

• Generally, the EIS must take a hard look at the direct, indirect, and cumulative impacts of the Proposed Action on all surface water and groundwater resources. This includes analyzing the potential impacts to water quality, groundwater supplies, surface water supplies including drinking water, and aquatic wildlife. Special consideration must be given to project elements that threaten traditional agricultural water supplies for impacted acequias. Baseline data is also needed to meaningfully analyze these impacts.

• Specifically, the Proposed Action seeks to install a septic system or sanitary sewer line based on engineering recommendations, with water supplies coming from an onsite well to support the on-mountain guest service facility at the top of Lift 7 and the new Whistle Stop Cafe building. These developments would not only require significant quantities of water, but they would also likely impact water quality in the project area, as well as the greater Rio Hondo Watershed. For example, disturbance of soils along the Lake Fork of the Rio Hondo for installation of the gondola and all its towers would result in impacts to surface waters, therefore requiring diligent analysis and collection of baseline data. The EIS must therefore take a hard look at the Proposed Action’s impacts to water resources, mitigation measures, long-term monitoring of water quality and volume, and a No Action Alternative. Any mitigation measures identified in the EIS must include detailed measures to protect the integrity of the Rio Hondo headwaters through all phases of the project.

• Also specifically, the Proposed Action seeks to utilize a 65.2 million gallon water tank (annually storing a diversionary right of 200 acre-feet)  and booster station near Lift #2. The EIS must take a hard look at whether this action will result in over-appropriation of the Taos Ski Valley’s 200 acre-feet water right and conditions of approval associated with the Taos Ski Valley’s water rights permit. For example, while Taos Ski Valley, Inc. holds a diversionary right of 200 acre-feet, this water right is severely constrained by the permit condition limiting consumption to only 21.42 acre feet, and a hard cap of only 0.11 acre feet of daily consumptive use between April 11th and October 25th of each year. The EIS must analyze whether the Taos Ski Valley, Inc.  has sufficient water rights to implement the proposed project actions, must clearly identify the source and usage of water to be pumped up the mountain, and must analyze effects of removing water from the Rio Hondo Watershed, including the water needed to replenish the tank on a regular basis.

Thank you for considering my comments. This NEPA scoping process is an opportunity for CNF to equitably engage with traditional, land-based communities that have been historically marginalized by CNF project permits and associated water and land management decisions. Inclusion of environmental justice stakeholder concerns will ensure compliance with NEPA and other applicable laws, and will result in a meaningful, equitable analysis of the Proposed Action’s impacts.

Respectfully,

[INSERT YOUR NAME HERE]