Learn Your Water Footprint

By now we should all be getting the message: Conserve water. There’s a water shortage.

The hand writing is on the wall: aquifer pumping has become a concern in neighboring Doña Ana County. Since the International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC) has chosen to deliver more water sooner to Mexico, thus depriving Texas farmers, Texas State Agricultural Commissioner, Todd Staples, fired off a strong letter to the IBWC. You can see for yourself that the Rio Grande is dry. More water may not be released until June. EPWU CEO Ed Archuleta encouraged all of us in an El Paso Times op-ed piece to conserve more and to participate in the utility’s Less Is the New More program. For now, watering our yards twice a week is a suggestion. One wonders when it might have to become mandatory.

EPWU’s Less Is the New More program is a good one for all of us to get involved with. Do check out our water utility’s conservation page; and, as you do more spring planting, see their plant page.  Like and follow EPWU’s Facebook page.

Water conservation programs that encourage or require our watering our gardens less or using water-efficient shower heads are great short-term solutions to periodic drought. Even the Texas Department of Agriculture has a poll on its home page that suggests that conserving water is just a matter of using better appliances, fixing leaky faucets and taking shorter baths. What we have to realize is that water is embedded in everything that we use – the food we eat, the clothes that we wear, the gasoline that we put in our cars. We need to know our water footprint.  National Geographic has a water footprint calculator that educates as well as demonstrates how much water we use. Also visit the Water Footprint Network and try out their calculator.

Get to know Sandra Postel. Watch one of her videos on elpasonaturally and see more at YouTube. She knows about the concept of a water footprint.

One issue Postel raises is our need to irrigate our crop lands more efficiently. An elpasonaturally reader recently told me that Middle Eastern students visiting UTEP are always aghast at how we irrigate our fields and even the water-hungry crops that we grow. Note that only a handful of people can vote in the elections of board members of the El Paso Water Improvement District. Yet, your voice for water conservation and irrigation reform should be heard.

Read between the lines of Archuleta’s El Paso Times op-ed piece. If 50% of our water comes from our river, and if Caballo/Elephant Butte is down to 18%, then what happens to the draw rate on the Hueco Bolson and who’s water will we need? How much water farms require to grow water-hungry crops needs to be questioned especially now that the Rodriquez/Quintanilla bill cut 75,000 people out of public decisions on an essential public good – water. Your non-public Public Service Board and officers of EPWU endorsed that bill. Whose behind it? Big donors to Silvestre Reyes who control the EPWID whose general manager is Silvestre’s brother, “Chuy”.

I guess that there is no mistaking that I support Beto O’Rourke for Congress and am delighted by the EP Times endorsement. The recent pandering to local conservationists by Rep. Reyes on the issue of Castner Range was a big yawn. Beto gave a solid response.

I recently wrote an email to Jim Carrillo of Halff Associates, Inc. regarding the updating of the City of El Paso Parks and Recreation Master Plan. I posted that email on the blog and hope you will read it. I argue that, more than just recreation, Parks can help us to become more connected with nature.

Finally, elpasonaturally is saying more about bicycling. There are more activities in El Paso for Bike Month. Check them out.

Reyes Attempt to Grandstand Gets Just a Yawn

A thin crowd gathers and awaits Reyes to arrive

It was politics pure and simple and it read like an El Paso Times headline with words like "may" or "could". Last Thursday, Rep. Reyes' office issued a press release entitled "Silvestre Reyes Announces Passage of Legislation to Add Castner Range to the Franklin Mountains State Park". Problem is there was no passage by either the House or the Senate and no Presidential siganture. 


It is true that the House Armed Services Committee did vote to approve the Fiscal Year 2013 National Defense Authorization Act that included language that Castner Range may be conveyed to the Department of Parks and Wildlife of the State of Texas for inclusion into the State Park. "May" is pretty squirmy and not firm like the words "will" and "must" that Silvestre's opponent, Beto O'Rourke, wants to see used in the language of the bill. 

Dr. Richard Teschner along with other members of the Castner Conservation Conveyance Committee are really to be thanked for their efforts to conserve and convey the Range to the State Park.

The land may be conveyed as long as unexploded ordnance is cleaned-up first. What land is clean may be conveyed. What land awaits cleaning will have to be done with State or private money - as high as $65 Million possibly according to Dr. Richard Teschner, a key player in conservation efforts through the Castner (Range) Conservation Committee, a joint effort of the Frontera Land Alliance (Dr. Teschner is Vice-President) and the Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition.


El Paso Times reporters, Aaron Bracamontes and Alex Hinojosa, in stories on Saturday and Sunday both saw the Emperor unclad. Reyes was not exactly upfront with this pre-mature announcement the weekend before early voting was set to begin. Also in his Thursday press release his office states: "Reyes also secured $300,000 for a study to determine how best to apply a conservation conveyance to the Range." That $300,000 was done in 2010 but the press release made it sound like just one more goodie Reyes has brought home to voters in recent days.


It is true that Reyes has helped conservation efforts and persons in his office such as Julie Merberg, according to Teschner, have been "extremely helpful". But the real credit should go to the Castner (Range) Conservation Conveyance Committee and thousands of jet miles by Teschner and others back and forth between El Paso and Washington D.C. Clearly environmentalist, Beto O'Rourke, favors preserving the land. So, even if he is elected over Reyes, the efforts will continue and probably will do so as "musts" and not "mays". 


The language inserted in the bill is a step forward. But, as another hard worker for Castner conservation, Judy Ackerman, says: "The news is a very big step in the right direction, but we are not done yet. There is much more work to do before Castner belongs to the Park."

Glad Beto Is Running

Most of you probably followed the excellent series in the El Paso Times about public corruption. You don’t even have to read between the lines to see the hand of current U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes in the midst of it. It’s good that Beto O’Rourke is running for that seat. Beto recently said how his support for conservation and environmental protection in our City and region is personal to him in an elpasonaturally blog post, Caring for the Environment and Conservation is Personal with Beto O'Rourke. Be sure to check out the Beto for Congress media page.

Silvestre’s brother is, of course, Chuy Reyes, the General Manager of the El Paso County Water Improvement District #1 that elpasonaturally has begun saying more about. The Reyes boys were behind a recent successful effort to pass a bill which disenfranchised 75,000 El Paso voters in the WID and placed the control of El Paso water into the hands of a few powerful farmers. Note the recent big donors to Silvestre Reyes: Skov and Stubbs.  Now see who is on the Board of Directors of the Water Improvement District: Skov and Stubbs. 

I recently was able to see a voting certificate of a member of the WID. This person registered late and yet has a low certificate number which probably means that no more than a thousand or less persons can now vote in the Water Improvement District as the result of Sen. Jose Rodriguez’s infamous bill. The voting card is valid for only one year and, after that, the voter will need to furnish ID and proof of ownership (water) in order to vote again. There are only two places for early voting. In short, the WID with the help of Sen. Jose Rodriguez and others has made it very difficult for the remaining voters to vote. I have emailed Mr. Jesus “Chuy” Reyes an open records request under the laws of the State of Texas asking for the current voting registration rolls. He has acknowledged receipt of my email.

Stay tuned to elpasonaturally for more on the large farmers who run EPWID and why your Public Service Board needs to be far more accountable to all of you – citizens of El Paso – the Public.

Still no word about the Sierra Club petition for an injunction to stop construction on the TxDOT Transmountain project. I say this with a bit of trepidation because, just as I say this, something might happen. I re-published the El Paso’s Sierra Club Chairman’s request for donations for the legal battle. What may have held up U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel from making a decision on this injunction is a ruling that he just made on a Planned Parenthood request for a preliminary injunction to allow it to continue serving women under a State of Texas program for low-income women.  Now that that decision has been made, perhaps action on the Sierra petition will come more quickly.

Also, no news to report about the NW Master Plan, methods to preserve the arroyos and a “conservation easement” to preserve the natural open space in perpetuity. Carlos Gallinar of City of El Paso Planning has been upfront always when reporting to the Open Space Advisory Board and when answering questions from the public. He has been very interested in Low Impact Development (LID) solutions for preserving arroyos. His interest and the Planning Department’s research about LIDs is just another good side benefit of the petition that seeks to preserve land in the Scenic Corridor of Transmountain.

In case you didn’t know, the City’s Environmental Services has a free mulch program. Mulch is a great way to conserve water by preserving soil moisture in your garden and with your landscape plants, shrubs and trees. Mulch is a great ground cover and will help control weeds. Also, over time as it breaks down, mulch will add nutrients back into the soil. Each of the Citizen Collection stations has mulch that you may pick-up. (Bring a shovel.) Environmental Services Director, Ellen Smyth, says that the mulch is free and that you do not need to show a water bill to get it. Environmental Services also has a great Mulching and Composting guide online. Be sure to read it.

Speaking about water conservation, there is still time to get a free water-efficient showerhead from EPWU. Details here. You must fill out the coupon sent with your water bill or download one from online.  Do visit, bookmark and surf EPWU’s Less is the New More water conservation tips page. There is great information here and a number of ways to save money.

I wish that I could visit the PSB/EPWU website and not find anything too egregious. Unfortunately, the current first entry on the home page describes land in the NW Master Plan/Scenic Transmountain Corridor as “PSB-owned land”. No sugar coating – it’s a lie and one they just can’t stop telling. It’s City of El Paso owned land – your land as a City – not the PSB’s but only managed by the PSB. Some of us hope that the day will come when managing City of El Paso land will be the prerogative of Planning and Development. Some of us hope that the day will come when we citizens stop subsidizing developers and sprawl by turning $500/acre desert land without water into $10,000/acre land with plumbed water and sewer.

Finally, congratulations to Judy Ackerman, this year’s recipient of the Frontera Land Alliance “Rock Award”.

Conservation Easement?

Last letter I reported a timeline for completing the necessary ordinance work for the NW Master Plan including the preservation of the Scenic Corridor. This followed the March 20^th City Council decision to select the Dover Kohl scenario that included development on both sides of Transmountain while preserving 837 acres which is slightly more than the 780 called for in the petition. The plan, however, did extend Paseo del Norte across Transmountain which is congruent with TxDOT’s plan to build an interchange at that intersection but not in keeping with the petition language. The timeline quickly evaporated.  Planning  tells me that it will take more time to review the smart code application before that application goes to CPC and, one would hope, OSAB. This may take up to 4 or 6 more weeks. Parallel to the smart code application is the City’s legal department’s drafting ordinance language that includes the conservation. Nothing devious here by the way and a good reason for delay. A smart code application does take time.  A conservation easement requires a correct metes and bounds survey.  Planning wants to hold stakeholder meetings to review that language and that may take time to be done right. Certainly information about stakeholder meeting will be something many of you will want.

The biggest concern is the conservation easement piece.  As of now the EPWU’s hired attorney, Risher Gilbert, is working with City attorneys to fashion some kind of in-house conservation strategy. At the special PSB meeting that considered the Dover Kohl proposals for the NW Master Plan, Ms. Gilbert made the following five points about conservation easements:

1.       Conservation easements were created by the IRS in the 1980s to provide tax incentives for private property owners.

2.       Conservation easements are for private property only.

3.       Land trusts cannot hold conservation easements on public land.

4.       Conservation easements are inflexible and the land being preserved cannot be altered or used in any way.

5.       A “Conservation Covenant” is a different mechanism than CEs that can be used to preserve public land in perpetuity.  It would be an internal mechanism created by the City and/or PSB controlling the land. 

All of these statements are untrue except 5 and the proof is in the pudding on that one. Why re-invent the wheel unless you are adding a gear to control the wheel?

Also adding to the concern about how the City plans to conserve the land is this:  to my knowledge there has not been any communication between the City and Frontera Land Alliance, the only land trust organization in El Paso. This lack of communication has not been because City officials are unaware of Frontera. The Vice-President of that organization, Richard Teschner, first publically mentioned Frontera 18 months ago at a City Council meeting where Planning brass was present.  Teschner then and subsequently has mentioned to City Council Frontera’s willingness and ability as the El Paso area’s only 501(c)3 land trust organization to deploy and then manage a conservation easement on whatever acreage Council voted to conserve.   I have also raised the matter time and again with Planning staff.

In terms of a timeline, know that City Council at their last regular meeting (April 3^rd) postponed action on the actual language of the petition for eight weeks.  So stay tuned.

From the grapevine there is talk about a new petition to preserve all of the City land on the west side including the land in the NW Master Plan and everything north of it. We are also keeping an eye on efforts to get National Monument status for the Organ Mountains.

Here’s big news and an event a number of you may want to attend: A Texas-New Mexico Watershed Steward Workshop on water quality issues related to the Paso del Norte watershed will be held from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. on May 9 at the Texas AgriLife Research and Extension Center, 1380 A&M Circle in El Paso.  (Map)

“The training is free and open to anyone interested in improving water quality in the Paso del Norte region, said program coordinators. Participants are encouraged to preregister at http://tws.tamu.edu.  The workshop is sponsored by the Texas AgriLife Extension Service and Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board as part of the Texas Watershed Steward program. It is being held in conjunction with the New Mexico Environment Department, New Mexico Cooperative Extension and Paso del Norte Watershed Council.

‘The workshop is designed to help watershed residents improve and protect their water resources and gain a better understanding of how water quality in the Rio Grande is managed in Texas and New Mexico,’ said Galen Roberts, AgriLife Extension program specialist and coordinator for the Texas Watershed Steward Program.”

Read the full press release about the workshop.

You also may be interested in the efforts of Wild Earth Guardians for the Rio Grande.

Big issue: crops that consume lots of water such as alfalfa, cotton and pecans. Are large growers more interested in water rights with the aim of eventually “cornering the market” by controlling the supply of this precious commodity? This seems to be the motive behind the policy of Chuy Reyes, the General Manager of El Paso County Water Improvement District #1, his brother, Rep. Silvestre Reyes with the unwitting help of Senator Rodriguez of El Paso – the forces behind a new Texas State law that disenfranchised 75,000 voters, and made voter registration in the water district more onerous than many laws that once sought or now seek to deprive people of their civil right to vote.

Finally, Rick Lobello, the Education Curator at the El Paso Zoo, gave a talk recently to the new class of Texas Master Naturalists. One concept that is critical to urban planning is that of ecosystems services – the benefits that we derive from the ecosystem in which we live such as cleaner air, healthier soil, carbon sequestration, etc.. Learn more about it. Also, read a primer about ecosystem services from the United Nations Environment Program.

Conservation Easement, Petition, Water Improvement District

By now most all of you have heard that City Council last Tuesday (March 20^th) chose Dover Kohl’s Scenario #1 as its preference for a NW Master Plan. Scenario #1 includes development north and south of Transmountain but differs from the petitioners’ request to preserve land in a pre-defined rectangle. (Go here and here to see the different scenarios proposed by Dover Kohl.) Council’s choice was clearly a compromise although the compromise sought by Rep. Ann Lilly meant no development to the north but gave up a bit more land on the south. You can read about Council’s 5-3 decision at an elpasonaturally post and by reading Chris Roberts’ report in the El Paso Times.  What next?

Here’s the time line for moving the preferred scenario to an ordinance:

April 10th, City Council ordinance introduction

April 11^th, Tentative OSAB consideration of the conservation easement.
April 19th City Plan Commission hearing
May 1st, City Council public hearing

As I reported, the motion to adopt Scenario #1 included four caveats one of which was a conservation easement. It is this easement and how it is done that is the most concern to petitioners. I have spoken to a number of them now and most are disappointed with the selection of Scenario #1 but will call it a day if the conservation easement covers all of the open space in the new Master Plan and is a conservation easement not something else. Frontera Land Alliance, a non-profit land trust organization, has information online about such easements. EPWU spokespersons have made some rather misleading claims:

1.       Municipally owned lands can never be under a conservation easement. In fact, there are examples throughout the country and the State of Texas and in El Paso: Thunder Canyon.

2.       The concept of conservation easements came from the IRS. In fact, it comes from centuries old Common Law. It was in the 80s that Congress amended Section 170(h) of the IRS code to give tax credits to property owners for conservation easements.

3.       There is a difference between a conservation easement (for private land only if we are to believe the EPWU) and a “conservation covenant”. May be – but why re-invent the wheel unless the intent is to add an extra gear to control the wheel? For preservation to be in perpetuity, a third party is required. EPWU wants to administer a covenant. A fox would be glad to guard the hen house. Restrictive covenants do not work. Current best example: Blackie Chesher land which was given for the purpose of parkland and an attempt by EPWU/PSB to come up with the smoke and mirrors of this title and that title.  Two good reasons for a conservation easement: people don’t trust the government and the government doesn’t trust the government.

Bottom line: petitioners on the whole can live with the compromise. They will not abide anything but a conservation easement to preserve the land in perpetuity. Several (including myself) have said that, if there is no true conservation easement, new signatures will be gathered for an election immediately. At its Board meeting last Wednesday (March 21^st), the Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition members said the same thing. We should know before May 1^st whether to call it a day or hit the streets.

More points to ponder: the City owns double the land north of the NW Master Plan. The development in Scenario #1 is probably just the tip of an iceberg that could go far north. Perhaps a new petition addressing these lands north of the NW Master Plan? One would think that the new Comprehensive Plan (Plan El Paso) will pull back sprawl toward the City center and less to the outskirts (including protecting East El Paso). So perhaps a very expensive Paseo del Norte will be a road to nowhere.

Another immediate concern is the expansion of Transmountain into a freeway-like four lane road. This expansion is a monster. How much open space will be left north and south of Transmountain in the NW Master Plan area after TxDOT plows habitats and environment into oblivion? A thin sliver. A thin sliver.

There is a much bigger issue here that is critical. El Paso owns more land than there is water. And, if the Reyes team (Silvestre and Chuy) have their way with the collusion of State Senator José Rodríguez, a handful of landowners will control the supply of water in our City and region and not hundreds of thousands of people (you and me) in this County and beyond.

In a nutshell this is how it came down: In 2005, Senate Bill 547 (sponsored by a Senator from San Antonio and not our own Senator Shapleigh) attempted to prevent “75,000 El Pasoans from being eligible to vote in all elections involving the management and supervision of the El Paso County Water Improvement District.” Shapleigh put the kibosh on the bill and it failed. Exit Shapleigh. Enters Jose Rodríguez seemingly currying favor with U.S. Representative Silvestre Reyes (who is in a fight to keep his seat with Beto O’Rourke) and his brother, Jesus “Chuy” Reyes, General Manager of the El Paso County Water Improvement District #1. (The Water Improvement District owns 171,000 acre feet of water making it by far the largest water owner in El Paso. In fact, EPWID controls the water future of our region.) Also enters Rep. “Chente” Quintanilla who introduced a reincarnation of SB547 on the House side. Rodriquez introduced SB832 which passed the Texas Senate unanimously on 22 Mar 2011 and the Texas House unanimously on 14 Apr 2011.  Gov. Perry signed the bill 29 Apr 2011.  It became law on 1 Sep 2011. 

What does the law do? It disenfranchises 75,000 voters, requires voting registration just as onerous as many that have been recently proposed in State’s seeking to ID voters, and it puts the control of water in the District in the hands of a very few people. (See official EPWID voter information and registration.) What happens when supply is so narrowly restricted? I’ll bet many of you purchase some products and services that just go up and up in price. Why? Rather than many suppliers, you are now dealing with a very few or just one. We are already seeing (although the City and EPWU/PSB – which by the way endorsed SB832 – wear blinders) the effect of the Chuy Reyes EPWID Oligarchy – the Rio Bosque is going bone dry while down the river, reservoirs are full. Cost of your water in the future: Staggering. Keep your eyes on what’s happening with our water. We need a PSB that is a truly public board and accountable to the public and not one that marginalizes citizens. The issue of water supply and control has become more urgent with climate change. (There is a new PBS series on how people are coping with climate change.)

Remember that this Saturday (March 31^st) is the Annual Poppy Fest at the El Paso Museum of Archaeology. See the full schedule of events. Parking with shuttle service will be at 9570 Gateway Blvd. North, the EPCC Northeast campus. (Map)

On Sunday (April 1^st) Scenic Sunday hours will change from 6 a.m. until 11 a.m.  As you know, Scenic Drive is closed to vehicular traffic on Scenic Sundays and it is a great time to walk, bicycle, jog or run this 4.1 mile roundtrip with spectacular views of El Paso, Mexico, the surrounding mountains and 500 million year old fossils.

Finally, please watch this video!

Control of El Paso Water Supply in Hands of a Few

Sponsored by El Paso State Senator Paul Rodriguez SB832 became law. As a result 75,000 people were disenfranchised from voting in the water district and the process for voting registration has become quite onerous. The supply and control of water in this region is quickly coming under the control of just a few families and their attorneys thanks to Rodriguez doing this favor for U.S. Representative Silvestre Reyes and his brother, Jesus "Chuy" Reyes, General Manager of the El Paso County Water Improvement District.

Note also that "voters" are asked to designate in advance the polling station where they plan to vote. This application was only recently sent out and the last day to register is April 12th.  If the EPWID then determines that applicants have a right to vote, they will send them a registration card. The voter then needs to bring the EPWID registration card plus an identification card approved by the Secretary of State in order to vote. There are exactly two early voting stations. One of those stations is the EPWID main office itself where former Sheriff and now EPWID General Manager, Chuy Reyes, is sure to be looming.

Below is the official registration information and application. Note the warning about perjury or giving false information inserted before the signature of the applicant.

Water Voting Application

Today's E-Letter: Reyes Deputy Chief of Staff Loses Control

Value conservation, preserved open natural space, green infrastructure/low impact development? Head doesn’t bob like a dashboard ornament? APPLY TO SERVE ON THE PUBLIC SERVICE BOARD. The Public Service Board is accepting applications for one vacancy. Applicants must have education and professional expertise in the field of Communications, Public Administration or Education. Go here for more information. Hurry. The deadline for receiving applications is Monday, November 28, by 5 p.m. Any application received after 5:00 p.m. on November 28 will not be considered.

Here’s a story you won’t read in the Times: Representative Silvestre Reyes’ Deputy Chief of Staff, Sal Payan, lost all control at the regular monthly meeting of City Council Rep. Susie Byrd whose guest was candidate Beto O’Rourke. The meeting happened on November 3^rd at Tierra del Sol Mexican Restaurant. It’s sad to report that a tax payer-paid staff member of Congressman Reyes verbally assaulted Mr. O’Rourke. Since the elpasonaturally post about this matter, I’ve interviewed five other people who were witnesses. All told the same story about Mr. Payan’s rudeness and incivility which even caused kitchen staff to come into the dining area to see what was wrong. The behavior of a Chief of Staff says a great deal about the caliber of representative we currently have.

There is a story that you will read in the Times probably on Sunday and it will be worthwhile to read. It is great news about Castner Range, Frontera Land Alliance and Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition. I’ll let top-notch reporter, Chris Roberts, tell it. The Castner Conservation Conveyance Report is now published. The study was done by CALIBRE Systems, Inc. of Alexandria, Virginia with funding from a $300,000 Office of Economic Adjustment/Department of Defense grant.

If you want to give input and suggestions for projects for the 2012 bond election, visit the home page of the City of El Paso. Here’s the message:

“City and County Officials and downtown business leaders have announced the beginning of the public process for a November 2012 bond election. Our city is constantly changing, lifestyles are shifting and the needs and opportunities are abundant. The proposed election will create new ideas for bold economic development and quality of life initiatives.

“The call for community projects is the beginning of a public process to provide voters the opportunity to request projects to improve the quality of life in El Paso and recommend key signature projects to create a more dynamic environment for downtown.”

Of course, voters may still be in a foul mood in a year for anything having to do with “spending”. They certainly were with regard to Propositions in the last election. Although a majority of people in El Paso County who voted last Tuesday wanted the kind of Regional Park District as recommended by a Blue Ribbon Committee for the City and championed by all of El Paso’s State representatives, a majority of Texans probably saw the words “ad valorem taxes” in Proposition 7 and voted it down as if what happens in El Paso will affect their jerking knees. Those same Texans favored big contractor water projects (Proposition 2) but opposed the conservation efforts of Proposition 8.

There seems to be a real effort to encourage American consumers not just to buy American but buy local during the upcoming holidays. “Christmas 2011 -- Birth of a New Tradition” is the subject of an email that has gone viral and is being picked up by web sites and blogs of all varieties and persuasions. The opening paragraph reads:

“As the holidays approach, the giant Asian factories are kicking into high gear to provide Americans with monstrous piles of cheaply produced goods -- merchandise that has been produced at the expense of American labor. This year will be different. This year Americans will give the gift of genuine concern for other Americans. There is no longer an excuse that, at gift giving time, nothing can be found that is produced by American hands. Yes there is!”

If you haven’t gotten the message in your e-mail, read it here.

Buying local is living sustainably. Get a copy of the El Paso Scene or visit it online. You'll find a list of bazaars and fairs on their Round-Up page. You can get a list of local El Paso businesses at Homegrown El Paso. Do check out Craig’s List for El Paso. El Paso has a great bilingual publisher for your holiday shopping: Cinco Puntos Press.

Also for sustainable living, check out the El Paso Freecycle Group. It’s part of the Freecycle Network, a “grassroots and entirely nonprofit movement of people who are giving (and getting) stuff for free in their own towns and thus keeping good stuff out of landfills.” Many thanks to Judy Ackerman for this link. Check it out, folks.

Finally, here’s a dream for the City of El Paso’s open space policies and programs: Visit the Open Space page for the City of Albuquerque. Imagine.

Reyes Chief of Staff Loses Control

Last Thursday candidate for U.S. Representative, Beto O’Rourke, was Susie Byrd’s guest at her monthly breakfast. It’s sad to report that he was targeted by a very rude member of Silvestre Reyes’ taxpayer-paid staff. Artist and nearby resident, Ho Baron reports:

“There were maybe 20 people at the forum, two of them evidently from Reyes’ office. Beto spoke about 20 minutes, then opened the discussion for questions. He had discussed the poor veterans facilities in the city, and one guy stood up ranting about Beto being a liar regarding the veterans. He wouldn’t shut up until another guy yelled: ‘We didn’t come here to hear you.’ The guy ranted on until the moderator, Susie’s assistant, interfered, and he finally shut his mouth. The guy was really rude.”

Rep. Byrd was out of town but her assistant, Judy Gutierrez, was there on her behalf. Judy identified the rude man as Sal Payan, Rep. Reyes’ Chief-of-Staff, a taxpayer-paid position and not a campaign person. Mr. Payan apparently lost control, was yelling so loudly that kitchen staff came out to see what was happening, and called Mr. O’Rourke a “liar”. More than one person asked Mr. Payan to settle down. Ms. Gutierrez with assistance from outraged members of the audience finally got this tax-payer paid public official to quit his ranting. Judy reminded everyone that courtesy is to be given speakers, Mr. Reyes will be Rep. Byrd’s guest early next year, and that the community breakfasts are not a forum for debate and certainly not an excuse for incivility.

More later.

The Rio Bosque Is Dying

Paired Images Riparian 11-07-09a

Program Coordinator/Manager of the Rio Bosque Wetlands Park, John Sproul, explained the pictures in the slide show above:

"The 3 photo pairs in the attached PowerPoint file compare some cottonwoods and willows in the southern part of the park. The first photo in each pair was taken last year in Sept or Oct. The second photo was taken this year in July.

"With the first two photo pairs, the trees are in worse shape today than they were back in July. A photo taken today would give a more dramatic comparison.

"With the third photo pair, the cottonwood featured was dead by mid-July. The clumps of green in the July photo are all mistletoe."

The Rio Bosque Wetlands Park is dying. And, in spite of the drought, there is water available. In fact, Sproul and volunteers almost daily truck water from the Bustamante Plant, a wastewater treatment plant that delivers treated effluent to either the Riverside Canal or the Riverside Drain - both under the control of the El Paso County Water Improvement District #1. Chuy Reyes is the General Manager of the District. He is the brother of U.S. Representative, Silvestre Reyes of El Paso.

According to information on the El Paso Water Utilities web site, water from the Bustamante Plant is discharged either to the . . .

". . . Riverside Canal or the Riverside Drain. Discharges to the Riverside Canal are used chiefly for irrigation purposes. Discharges to the Riverside Drain go mainly to the Rio Bosque Wetlands Preserve where they help maintain and sustain the aquatic habitat required by the diverse animal and plant species present."

EPWU's statatement above may have been true when it was written and posted to their web site some time ago, it isn't true now. El Paso Water Utilities is obligated, under the Rio Grande Project 2001 Implementing Third-Party Contract, to deliver 13,333 acre-feet of the treated effluent from the Bustamante Plant to the Riverside Canal or the Riverside Drain each year between 15 Feb and 15 Oct. That leaves at least 7,800 acre-feet of Bustamante Plant effluent EPWU does not have to deliver to the irrigation district during that period.

"Some of that could potentially be delivered directly to Rio Bosque via pipeline," Sproul says. Unfortunately, the Water Improvement District owns both the canal and the drain and they make the call whether that extra water is delivered to the Bosque Wetlands Park or not. So, 7,800 acre-feet minus the pittance Sproul and friends can truck to the park in order to hand-water individual trees, is taken by the Water Improvement District.

To add insult to injury, careful (almost daily) monitoring of wells at the Bosque reveal that the groundwater in the park dramatically drops when one of the Improvement District's wells (CW-4) is on. Not only is the Improvement District denying water from the Bustamante Plant to the Bosque, it appears that they are draining the Bosque's groundwater!

Park volunteer, Judy Ackerman, reports:

"Most of the groundwater monitoring wells are lower than in 2006 drought. Seven out of the 13 wells are dry. Most groundwater levels are below 20 ft, while 5 ft is more normal. This is the driest year for rainfall on record for the park and we expect the driest year for surface water too."

On September 13th water distribution from the Elephant Butte reservoir stopped. That usually happens in mid-October and signals the end of the irrigation season and the start of water delivery to the Rio Bosque Wetlands Park from the Bustamante Wastewater Treatment Plant. However, the El Paso Water Improvement District #1 says they need every drop they can get and the park might get water by Christmas.

The Rio Bosque Wetlands Park is a 372-acre City of El Paso park that the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) manages through its Center for Environmental Resource Management. The City of El Paso's contribution to the Bosque is a mere $10,000/year. A recent meeting of the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board revealed that Parks and Recreation Director, Nanette Smejkal, has little interest in the Bosque.

At the recent PSB Strategic Planning meeting it was rumored that UTEP was not interested in continuing its committment to the Bosque. However, PSB/EPWU officials at yesterday's Open Space Advisory Board reported that Richard Adauto of UTEP had reaffirmed UTEP's committment to the management of the Park.

The City may show little interest in the Park. However, it has targeted $170,000 for a public arts project for a sculpture and new signage at the park. The slide show given by Public Art Program Coordinator Pat Dalbin to the Open Space Advisory Board yesterday describes the plans for the Bosque art and signs:

Rio Bosque Public Art Project

One wonders whether the sculpture and signage will preside over a dead park. There is $170,000 for public art but nothing to help with water especially to buy an $8-10,000 pump to replace a broken one so that the park might get to some needed groundwater.

Speaking about the forced water-shortage to the Rio Bosque Wetlands Park, Urban Biologist, Lois Balin, asks: "This is ridiculous. Enough is enough. What can we do to rectify this dismal situation."

Perhaps a first step is to join the Friends of the Rio Bosque. Beyond that talk to PSB and EPWU officials who have been important partners to the Park. Talk to your City Council Representative and to Parks and Recreation and Open Space Advisory Board members. Call members of the Board of Directors of the Water Improvement District. Email Chuy Reyes.

I have a few more questions myself especially about that 7,800 acre-feet of water that could go to the Park but is being swallowed by the Improvement District, Chuy Reyes (brother of Silvestre) General Manager.