Living Green in the Southwest: The Columban Fathers Teach Us a Thing or Two about Conserving Water

Father Bob Mosher empties dish water into a bucket stored under the sink.

Want to learn about conserving water? Listen to the Columban Fathers. 

The Missionary Society of St. Columban operates in countries around the world. They have done outreach along the U.S.-Mexico border since 1996. At that time, Father Bill Morton became interested in border issues during a visit to Brownsville and opened the new center on Magoffin in 2011 with the blessing of Bishop Ochoa. The Center is under the direction of Fr. Bob Mosher and does work in El Paso and Juarez.

The Society focuses on cross cultural issues, ecology, social justice, the dignity of women, immigration and "radical" options for the poor. The El Paso center hosts events and meetings with these concerns in mind. They conduct the Border Awareness Experience which reveals to student and parish groups of 24 or less what life along the border is all about especially regarding migrants and refugees. 

It is their work in ecology that drew my attention to how they walk their talk especially regarding water. The Missionary Society has a policy statement about water at their web site and it is worth reading. 

So here are some tips for living greener in the Southwest:

Father Mosher empties sink water onto some thirsty plants.

Father Mosher demonstrated for me what they do with their dish and rinse water. It goes in a bucket and the water is then used to water shrubs and trees. (I hear that Father Morton uses the old dish water to flush toilets as well.)

But it doesn't just stop there. There are signs posted in the kitchen and bathroom that teach water conservation to guests:

Kitchen sign. Click on image to enlarge.

Toothbrushing sign. Click on image to enlarge.

Shower sign. Click on image to enlarge.

Click on image to enlarge.

We all know that too much water goes down the drain as we await for the shower water to get warm. At the Columban Center, three gallon milk jugs with their tops cut off are used to collect water as it warms up. (You can also put a bucket under the diverter spigot if you have a combo bath tub and shower.)

So, want to conserve water? The Columban Fathers can tell you how to do it.

Oh - one last thing - want to learn about heating and cooling without heating and cooling? That's our next lesson from the Columban Fathers. Stay tuned.


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The Friday Video: Good Morning from Franklin Mountains State Park

[Videos do not display when elpasonaturally© posts are emailed. To view, please go to elpasonaturally.com. The following video shows the beauty of the Franklin Mountains and states why sprawl should be contained on both sides of the mountain. You can still sign the petition to preserve our Franklin Mountains from Further Development.]



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Documents Supporting Historic Survey Grant

This coming Monday, City Council will meet to discuss (and possibly take action) on accepting a grant to do an historic survey of downtown so that the El Paso downtown can be nominated for National Registry status and become a National Historic District. Becoming such does not obligate any owner to do anything. If an owner chooses to restore a building to its historic integrity, then she would have access to 45% of the project costs.

Please try to attend the meeting on June 20 at 9PM at City Hall. Please also consider contacting your city representative. A contact list is HERE.

Documents supporting seeking National Registry status can be found with links below. Peruse or read them thoroughly. You will easily see the advantage of having our downtown become a National Historic District.

The documents in the folder with link above are:

April 29, 2015 letter from Senator José Rodríguez to the Mayor and City Council supporting an historic preservation policy.

May 28, 2015 letter from Adair Margo supporting a National Historic District for downtown El Paso.

Letter from Steve Sandowsky, Historic Preservation Officer of Austin, TX supporting the survey.

Office of Economic Development, Dallas Texas report

Dallas Downtown Connection TIF District 2014 Annual Report

Letter from Eric Liefeld, President of the Mesilla Valley Preservation, Inc. urging Mayor and City Council and City Manager to value historical buildings in El Paso.

Letter to Max Grossman from Lloyd C. Engelbrecht, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, University of Cincinnati urging the historic survey.

Letter from Mark Wolfe, TX Historic Commission, pointing out the rich heritage El Paso has in its downtown historic buildings.

Letter from Catherine Gorman, Historic Preservation Officer for the City of Galveston touting their experience. [I've been there on a weeknight and the areas are crowded.]

Historic Preservation Essential to the Economy and Quality of Life in San Antonio, Feb. 18, 2015

Letter from David Bush, Deputy Directory of Preservation Houston giving financial benefits of having an Historic District.

Letter from Shanon Shea Miller, Historic Preservation Officer of San Antonio giving financial benefits of having an Historic District.

Letter from Leah Wood, President of Sunset Heights Neighborhood Improvement Association, urging El Paso to be pro-active and preserve history.

Letter from Geoffrey Wright, Wright and Dalbin Architects, Inc. of El Paso strongly supporting the creation of a national historic district in downtown El Paso.


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What's Going on at the El Paso Museum of Archaeology?

Click on image to enlarge. The sign by which El Pasoans identified their Museum of Archaeology.

If you have never been to the El Paso Museum of Archaeology, make time to go. It "presents 14,000 years of prehistory in the El Paso area, the greater Southwest, and northern Mexico." The museum and the 17 acres on which it sits is dedicated to interpreting the ancient ancestors of 82% of El Paso's population - Mexican Americans, Mexicans and indigenous peoples in our region.

The carefully crafted landscaping around the museum is meant to display native flora as it blends into the Chihuahuan desert ecosystem surrounding it. What people learn inside is interpreted by the desert-scape that they experience outside and vice versa. The artifacts displayed inside came from the desert. Indeed, our identity as El Paso is more than just the magnificent Franklin Mountians - it is also the beautiful Chihuahuan Desert to which those mountains and ourselves belong. Our ancestors survived here and we can learn from them. That is why the museum and its grounds are so important and a key part of the education of all - adults as well as school children.

Yet, the City pays it sparse attention and has failed to act expeditiously to repair damage after recent floods. There seems to be little communication between the City and TxDOT or Ft. Bliss to resolve some of the flooding issues bedeviling the museum. 

Another ugly brown Parks and Rec sign is now displayed. Be sure to bring your binoculars so you can see it as you speed past the Musuem on Transmountain

Cosmetic changes are being made. There's a new sign (smaller and uglier than the previous sign that came to stand for the museum and grounds for so many El Pasoans for so long.) A fence has been removed although that fence diverted visitors away from the pristine desert floor to proper nature paths. Larry Nichols, the new head of Planning and Inspections, and Tracy Novak, the Director of Parks and Recreation, together have deemed the cherished gazebo as unsound. Of course, neither is a structural engineer and no inspection by an engineer is forthcoming.

There is a grounds crew that is untrained when it comes to caring for the native plants. General Services which once maintained park space no longer does so. GS was put under the direction of Ted Marcus of Transportation and you know where his focus is. By the way, Tommy Gonzalez's NOT Lean Six Sigma is based on eliminating staff and not making systems more efficient. Therefore, do not expect much attention to maintenance and do not expect a full-time head of the museum. 

I've just given you the tip of the iceberg. There is more to this story of neglect and mismanagement which will follow including the situation with Indian Springs Canyon.

For now, some good news. In spite of being the step-daughter of MCAD. the Museum of Archaeology offers some very fine programs supported by the El Paso Archaeological Society and others. Tomorrow's talk is especially noteworthy as it is being given by one of the heroes of the El Paso environmental/conservation movement, in fact it's Paul Revere: Mike Bilbo, who will speak about the life of soldiers in this region around 1858, was a key player in events that led to the creation of Franklin Mountains State Park, saving our mountains from commercial development. As a teenager, he and a friend were hiking in the Franklins looking for eagle's nests. They spotted a bulldozer going up to the top of North Mount Franklin and they quickly spread the word. It turned out that old man Knapp, the patriarch of the family now bulldozing more pristine mountain land, wanted to develop on top of the mountain. The rest is history and we have the Franklin Mountains State Park and the Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition the vanguard of protection for our mountains.

You can get more info about Mike's talk HERE.

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Questions Raised about Knapp Dozers

Area above Stoney Hill Drive

Alarms went off today including an investigation by the El Paso City Police. The Knapp family has taken up an old habit: bulldozing the mountain. The Save Our Sierra Group of local homeowners quickly spread the word that roads were being plowed.

There are some issues. Grading more than 20% of one's land may require a permit. Grading within the Mountain Development District does need a permit. Making sure that the dozing happens only on private land and not State land is imperative. 

I called Elizabeth Gibson in permits and asked her to check on permitting for the dozing. When she learns more, she will get back with me.

Also above Stoney Hill Drive

The bulldozer operators insisted that they were only plowing existing roads. Yet an eye-witness who hiked the area just two days ago says otherwise. 

A development plan for a portion of this area passed the CPC a few months ago. However, there is no final plan approved for building. Apparently in the meantime, the Knapps have no problem tearing up the ecosystem of the mountain area. 

If they had wanted to sell their land to the City, this isn't the way to go about it. To say the least, folks are up in arms.

Above Gunnison Drive

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Council to Discuss Historic Survey Grant

Street sign in the Congress Avenue Historic District in Austin, Texas

Should downtown El Paso become a National Historic District, here are the facts:

If you are a building owner of a building on the national registry and you want to tear it down, put up a parking lot or build something new, YOU CAN. It's your property.

If you are a building owner and want to update your property without preserving the historic character, YOU CAN. It's your property.

If you are a building owner and want to restore the building to its historic character (while updating the inside), YOU CAN. And you can get 45% of the project cost to do so!

It's all up to the property owner. Period. If indeed you want to preserve an historic building that you own and refurbish it to maintain the historic integrity, you will have to follow some rigorous requirements. But you get 45% of the project cost. That's up from just 20% available when the Mills Building was 
redone.

Not only does a National Registry National Historic District mean money in the pockets of building owners, it means money in the pockets of the city. According to Shannon Shea Miller, the Historic Preservation Officer of San Antonio:

"[o]ur historic downtown has contributte greatly to the heritage tourism industry that supports our local economy . . . The income generated by visitors has an overall economic impact of more than $12 billion and employment generated by the tourism industry tops 112,000 jobs. Most of these visitors are staying, eating and shopping Downtown."

So why did the executive director of the El Paso Downtown Development District Joe Gudenrath call City Manager Tommy Gonzalez and Gonzalez then order the return of grant money to do an historic survey that would have led to an Historic Register District, 45% of project money to willing owners and billions of dollars in heritage tourism for the city?

Not only does it not make sense BUT it doesn't make sense that the City Manager took it upon himself to return the money rather than letting City Council make that decision as Rep. Claudia Ordaz argues. (See Why didn’t City Council decide? Historic survey funds returned without rep vote in last weekend's El Paso Inc.)

According to an El Paso Times story "the Downtown Management District said it opposes the survey because 'the simple act of preserving historical buildings does not advance the DMD's goals of revitalizing Downtown El Paso and discourages other investment.'

What other investment? What's the hidden agenda?

Apparently there has been enough outcry to place the grant on next Monday's City Council agenda. 

elpasonaturally has much more to say about this particular item. For now, here is a message from Max Grossman, Vice-Chair, El Paso County Historical Commission:

We just learned that our plan to conduct an architectural survey of downtown El Paso and establish a national historic district there is not dead after all! On Monday, City Council, Mayor Leeser and City Manager Gonzalez will meet and decide once and for all whether to move forward with our plan or terminate it completely.

Please write to the them IMMEDIATELY and express your support:

district1@elpasotexas.gov; district2@elpasotexas.gov;district3@elpasotexas.gov; district4@elpasotexas.gov;district5@elpasotexas.gov; district6@elpasotexas.gov;district7@elpasotexas.gov; district8@elpasotexas.gov;mayor@elpasotexas.gov; tgonzalez@elpasotexas.gov

I just sent a letter on behalf of the El Paso County Historical Commission (below). Please make certain that your own letter is productive and positive. For background information, see the two recent front-page reports:

http://www.elpasotimes.com/ci_28459519/city-el-paso-give-back-texas-historical-commission
http://www.elpasoinc.com/news/local_news/article_35bf4106-2977-11e5-a92a-f74d7cb7c552.html

Feel free to share your letter with us as a Facebook message.

Many thanks,


Max


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Mexican Wolves Need You! Rally Tomorrow in Las Cruces

Mexican Wolves Need You!

Come to a rally in Las Cruces tomorrow at noon

Congressman Steve Pearce (R-NM) has introduced a bill that would strip Mexican gray wolves of protection under the federal Endangered Species Act and turn management of wolves over to the states. This bill, disingenuously named the "Wolf Transparency and Accountability Act,” would essentially be a death sentence for wolves, since there are only about 109 left in the wild and the last time the states were in charge Mexican wolves went extinct in the U.S.

Please join us for a rally outside Rep. Pearce's office to show him that we love wolves and want them to roam the Southwest’s wildlands.

Where: U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce's office,  570 N. Telshor, Las Cruces, NM

When: 12-1 p.m., Wednesday, July 15

Bring: Your enthusiasm for Lobos, a sign (we will have some available), and if you wish an umbrella or hat for shade. Water will be provided.

Update: Parking around Pearce's office is extremely limited. Carpooling and drop offs are highly recommended. We will have a shuttle running from a parking lot about 1/3 mile away, at Spruce Avenue and Lewis Street, beginning at 11:45 am. Click here to see map.

Click her for more information. For questions or more details, contact Tricia at 575-522-5552 or tricia@wildmesquite.org. 

Please support elpasonaturally©. Go HERE to donate and help turn the El Paso southwest "green".