Commentary: AG plays fast and loose with Southern NM water

From NMPolics.net - By Gary Esslinger - Gary King is in the very enviable position of a blustery riverboat gambler at a big poker game. The only thing is, he’s irresponsibly gambling with someone else’s chips – the water that Southern New Mexico farm families rely on for their way of life and business. King has filed suit against the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) attacking the “operating agreement” negotiated among the Elephant Butte Irrigation District, the El Paso County Water Improvement District #1, and the BOR. This is unfortunate because one of the key ingredients in this valid and well-thought-out compromise is the fact that it protects New Mexico farmers and their right to pump underground water during times of severe drought, just as we are currently experiencing. That is called conjunctive management. If not for the operating agreement, you can be assured that your ability to pump and grow crops for food, feed and fiber, and potentially fuel, would be tied up in litigation and many farmers would be out of business. In the case of litigation over water such as this, the U.S. Supreme Court will end up with the case and there’s no telling what that body may do. Alleviating the unnecessary risk involved with such litigation is the very reason farmers in this valley took control of their own destiny and constructed the operating agreement. Read more

Commentary: AG plays fast and loose with Southern NM water