FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TO BUY RIVER WATER RIGHTS!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! RED ALERT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
GRASSROOTS THUNDER NEEDED NOW!
LEGISLATION MOVING THROUGH CONGRESS WOULD ALLOW THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TO
BUY RIVER WATER RIGHTS! GREENS LOVE IT!!
PLEASE FORWARD AS WIDELY AS POSSIBLE!!!
THIS PROPOSED FEDERAL ACTION TARGETS NEW MEXICO AT PRESENT BUT COULD BE USED
IN OTHER STATES. IF PASSED, IT WILL HAVE A CATASTROPHIC IMPACT ON
AGRICULTURE.
Please read the below information and contact your senators As soon as is
possible. This could be voted on at anytime!!
New Mexico Residents call Dan Alpert WITH SENATOR BINGAMAN'S OFFICE at
202-224-1804. Email: senator_bingaman@bingaman.senate.gov
Other States go to: http://www.senate.gov/contacting/index_by_state.cfm for
your Senator's telephone number and email address.
TALKING POINTS
1. Ask that your Senator OPPOSE THE REID AMENDMENT, because it could
jeopardize our state's water, potentially impact our ability to meet water
compacts, and harm private landowners' ability to put the water to
beneficial use. Say that you are opposed to this amendment and want it
removed from the Farm bill in its entirety.
2. OPPOSE ANY AMENDMENTS to the farm bill pertaining to water. We need the
water section on the farm bill completely struck out.
3. OPPOSE CLOTURE (A parliamentary procedure by which debate is ended and an
immediate vote is taken on the matter under discussion. Also called
closure.)
****************************************************************************
************************
Water Conservation Option Up to Gov.
By Tania Soussan
Journal Staff Writer
Legislation moving through Congress would allow the federal government to
buy river water rights from New Mexico farmers to help endangered fish - but
only if the governor gives his blessing.
Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., initially opposed the water conservation program
because he feared it could have disrupted the existing balance between
meeting the water demands of farmers and fish.
Domenici tried to kill the proposal, while Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M.,
helped develop a compromise. An amendment passed Wednesday gives states the
option to sign up for the program.
"I believe this provision will calm some concerns," Domenici said. "The
original proposal would have forced states, like New Mexico, to accept a
major new player, namely the USDA, in its adjudication of water rights.
"If this new program works to help save threatened species, then great. But
it is also good for a state to have the choice to opt out of the program if
it would throw its water situation into chaos," he said.
The water conservation program is included in the five-year farm bill, which
the Senate is debating this week. It would allow the Department of
Agriculture to temporarily or permanently buy water rights from farmers or
Indian tribes to help declining fish and wildlife populations.
Bingaman said the new program "has the potential for providing significant
resources to help resolve the difficult issues we face in New Mexico between
endangered species and traditional water users."
He said it is impossible to say whether the program would be good for New
Mexico until the Agriculture Department develops the regulations to
implement it.
Farmers could be paid to shift from a water-intensive crop to one that uses
less water, Bingaman said.
"That is the kind of thing contemplated under the program," he said. "That
part sounds good."
New Mexico Interstate Stream Commissioner Norman Gaume said the program
seems like "a very good idea" that would be consistent with the state's
policy for dealing with endangered species and water. Transfers would comply
with state water law, include only willing sellers and not impair interstate
delivery requirements.
Environmentalists also believe the program could play an important role in
New Mexico, aiding efforts to provide enough water for the endangered Rio
Grande silvery minnow, the threatened Pecos bluntnose shiner and other
species.
"It's a huge victory for voluntary efforts to help save endangered fish,"
said Scott Faber, an attorney with Environmental Defense Fund in Washington,
D.C.
Steve Harris, executive director of Rio Grande Restoration, agreed. "I can't
imagine that our state wouldn't take advantage of this," he said.
If voluntary programs are not used to make water available for wildlife, the
pressure to use mandatory measures will increase, Harris said.
John Horning, conservation director for Forest Guardians, said the program
is long overdue. "It is potentially one of the most progressive things the
Senate has done on Western water," he said.
The Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District has not decided whether to
support the program, said spokeswoman Janet Blair.
J. Zane Walley
Join Paragon 1-877-847-3443
http://www.paragonpowerhouse.org/mission.htm
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! RED ALERT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
GRASSROOTS THUNDER NEEDED NOW!
LEGISLATION MOVING THROUGH CONGRESS WOULD ALLOW THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TO
BUY RIVER WATER RIGHTS! GREENS LOVE IT!!
PLEASE FORWARD AS WIDELY AS POSSIBLE!!!
THIS PROPOSED FEDERAL ACTION TARGETS NEW MEXICO AT PRESENT BUT COULD BE USED
IN OTHER STATES. IF PASSED, IT WILL HAVE A CATASTROPHIC IMPACT ON
AGRICULTURE.
Please read the below information and contact your senators As soon as is
possible. This could be voted on at anytime!!
New Mexico Residents call Dan Alpert WITH SENATOR BINGAMAN'S OFFICE at
202-224-1804. Email: senator_bingaman@bingaman.senate.gov
Other States go to: http://www.senate.gov/contacting/index_by_state.cfm for
your Senator's telephone number and email address.
TALKING POINTS
1. Ask that your Senator OPPOSE THE REID AMENDMENT, because it could
jeopardize our state's water, potentially impact our ability to meet water
compacts, and harm private landowners' ability to put the water to
beneficial use. Say that you are opposed to this amendment and want it
removed from the Farm bill in its entirety.
2. OPPOSE ANY AMENDMENTS to the farm bill pertaining to water. We need the
water section on the farm bill completely struck out.
3. OPPOSE CLOTURE (A parliamentary procedure by which debate is ended and an
immediate vote is taken on the matter under discussion. Also called
closure.)
****************************************************************************
************************
Water Conservation Option Up to Gov.
By Tania Soussan
Journal Staff Writer
Legislation moving through Congress would allow the federal government to
buy river water rights from New Mexico farmers to help endangered fish - but
only if the governor gives his blessing.
Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., initially opposed the water conservation program
because he feared it could have disrupted the existing balance between
meeting the water demands of farmers and fish.
Domenici tried to kill the proposal, while Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M.,
helped develop a compromise. An amendment passed Wednesday gives states the
option to sign up for the program.
"I believe this provision will calm some concerns," Domenici said. "The
original proposal would have forced states, like New Mexico, to accept a
major new player, namely the USDA, in its adjudication of water rights.
"If this new program works to help save threatened species, then great. But
it is also good for a state to have the choice to opt out of the program if
it would throw its water situation into chaos," he said.
The water conservation program is included in the five-year farm bill, which
the Senate is debating this week. It would allow the Department of
Agriculture to temporarily or permanently buy water rights from farmers or
Indian tribes to help declining fish and wildlife populations.
Bingaman said the new program "has the potential for providing significant
resources to help resolve the difficult issues we face in New Mexico between
endangered species and traditional water users."
He said it is impossible to say whether the program would be good for New
Mexico until the Agriculture Department develops the regulations to
implement it.
Farmers could be paid to shift from a water-intensive crop to one that uses
less water, Bingaman said.
"That is the kind of thing contemplated under the program," he said. "That
part sounds good."
New Mexico Interstate Stream Commissioner Norman Gaume said the program
seems like "a very good idea" that would be consistent with the state's
policy for dealing with endangered species and water. Transfers would comply
with state water law, include only willing sellers and not impair interstate
delivery requirements.
Environmentalists also believe the program could play an important role in
New Mexico, aiding efforts to provide enough water for the endangered Rio
Grande silvery minnow, the threatened Pecos bluntnose shiner and other
species.
"It's a huge victory for voluntary efforts to help save endangered fish,"
said Scott Faber, an attorney with Environmental Defense Fund in Washington,
D.C.
Steve Harris, executive director of Rio Grande Restoration, agreed. "I can't
imagine that our state wouldn't take advantage of this," he said.
If voluntary programs are not used to make water available for wildlife, the
pressure to use mandatory measures will increase, Harris said.
John Horning, conservation director for Forest Guardians, said the program
is long overdue. "It is potentially one of the most progressive things the
Senate has done on Western water," he said.
The Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District has not decided whether to
support the program, said spokeswoman Janet Blair.
J. Zane Walley
Join Paragon 1-877-847-3443
http://www.paragonpowerhouse.org/mission.htm