Keystone Heritage Park October 6

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Map to Park
Keystone Heritage Park Website

FMSP October 2012 Event and Hiking Schedule

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Caution Not Optimism about Future Water Supply for El Paso

At their 9/12/12 meeting, the Public Service Board heard from Dr. Bill Hutchison about the current and future availability of water in the EPWU service area. Chris Roberts' summary of that report was published in yesterday's El Paso Times. (Be sure to read the online comments.) The Times editorial board offered their opinion today: Water: Ahead of 'savings' game. 

Question is: Are we really ahead of the 'savings' game?

In an email to Roberts shared with elpasonaturally (with permission to publish), PSB member, Dr. Rick Bonart, offers this bit of cold water in the face: 

Chris,

I think you missed a couple of key points from Hutchinson's presentation.

1. Importation of water isn't a done deal. Texas legislature and courts haven't completely resolved the issue. As he stated ( and referenced in his book) our 50 year water plan is subordinate to water district  management. They will determine the number of wells and the amount of water that can be pumped.  As a policy maker it makes me uncomfortable not to be in complete control here.

2. There is an ecosystem that exists between the river, the fresh water in the bolsons, and the brackish water. Over pumping the bolsons has drawn brackish water into some fresh water wells by the airport and taken them out of production. You correctly reported the brackish wells along loop 375 have dual purpose: to provide water for the desal plant and to help intercept the flow of salt in order to protect the  fresh water  wells. That is theory. Furthermore, from his book . . . it’s not clear what effect  wholesale  pumping of brackish water has on aquifer recharge. Will industrial scale pumping slow aquifer recharge? It's all interconnected. During  the PSB strategic planning session last year we agreed to do a chloride or solute model to (as proposed in his book) to investigate.  Results????

3. The 50 year plan calls for 28k acre feet of reclaimed water use per year. That's extreme. The cost of production and distribution are off the chart. Malcom Pirnie gave a presentation the same day as Hutchinson. They came up with an effluent to potable water reuse for  11k acre feet of water at Bustamante. The cost is $11M/ year. This translates to $22 / CCF. Well water by comparison is about 37 cents.

4. You are correct the economics of water will be a limiting factor before we run dry. We have more land than water. Where we develop and how much we develop needs to be addressed in a water use budget. The 50 year water plan details how much water we get for municipal use. It doesn't detail how we use it. When you talk about smart homes and reducing per capita water use below certain levels there is a point of diminishing returns. When people use too little, the utility has to raise prices to keep revenues up to pay for the system. The notion that conservation will stave off water shortage is correct, but forcing people to third world level water restrictions while incurring  higher costs for water will negatively impact our ability to attract industry as well as people’s desire to live here.

5. Last year we used 114k acre feet of water. The 50 year plan estimates we have about 140k acre feet locally. That's 26k to spare at the regions current population. At 130gal/person/ day each 5%  addition to the region’ s population requires an additional 5 k acre feet. So we can add about 175,000 more people by my calculation to importation. That's not a long way off.  

We're all in this together, it's not enough to just plan for how much water we can get, but how we will use it. Sustainable low cost water will be the economic and life  sustaining common denominator for our region.

Rick Bonart

By the way, here is the slide show from Hutchison's presentation to the PSB:

El Paso Municipal Water Supply: Availability, Development and Management

Click on title or icon on bottom right corner to enlarge.

The Lion Star Blog by Jaime Abeytia: Dear City Officials - Fix Parks & Rec PR Issue

Today there has been a strong reaction from the blogosphere (the digital media) to Wayne Thornton's slander of elpasonaturally:

"The Lion Star Blog by Jaime Abeytia: Dear City Officials - Fix Parks & Rec PR Issue: Whenever I feel strongly about an issue having to do with the city, I usually pick of the phone and call the offices of almost every city re..."

Thank you, Brother Jaime! I particularly liked this comment of yours: "I don't know about other bloggers in town because I haven't aske, but Iam onmost media lists in town despite the fact that I am not a journalist. They understand the interface we have with the community." [Emphasis is mine.]

I also loved this comment: "Sorry Wayne, you don't get to decide who is and who isn't media. Your title as I understand it is Public Relations Director. It's not Director of Communications with Whoever-The Hell-You-Arbitrarily-Decide-is-Media." I love to give 'em hell - but I can't give it like this.

A hat tip also to David K. over at Refuse the Juice who posted this on 9/21: http://refusethejuice.typepad.com/thinkaboutit/2012/09/a-blog-post-you-should-read-react-to.html

Mr. Thornton did deign to put me on his official "press" list for press releases. He joins others at City Hall who had never had such problems with the "interface [that I have] with the community": Neighborhood Services, Economic Development, Planning, several City Representatives. What is disgusting is that he had to be forced to do so. 

Tin Mines Hike September 22 at 7:30 a.m.

Entrance to Tin Mines

Tomorrow morning, Saturday, September 22 plan to hike to the only Tin Mines ever in the United States. They are located in the northeast Franklins. The hike begins at 7:30 a.m. Meet in the parking lot of Chuck Heinrich Park. (Map)  Just turn off MLK onto Jon Cunningham which dead ends into the parking lot.  This really is an easy hike with an elevation gain of only 935 feet. I'm rating it moderate because it is 6.5 miles round trip and takes about 4 hours. The trail is good. The short climb to the mine entrance is a short scramble.

I'm excited to see so many hikers have signed up for this hike at the El Paso Hiking Meetup site. This is a great hike and definitely one everyone should do not just for recreation but for learning something about the geology and mining history of El Paso. Remember, we will be in the State Park. There's a $5 per person fee which I'll collect upfront. If you have a State Park Pass, please just write down the name and number on the pass and give it to me. This way we can expedite entrance fees and not spend more time than necessary at the Iron Ranger pay station. If you bring your dog, please be sure the dog is on a leash. This is so critical as there is always the possibility of running into rattling reptiles!

Be sure to bring plenty of water (2 liters at least and more for your dog) and a hardy snack. (Hobbits will need elevensies as well as second breakfast.) Wear sturdy hiking shoes/boots. Bring a flashlight. You will be able to walk into the mines - but you will need illumination.

Hike BEGINS at 7:30 not 7:35 or 7:40. Please be prompt. You can contact me at this email address or at 915-525-7364.

The El Paso Tin Mining and Smelting Company operated in the northeast Franklins from 1909 until 1915 when it was shut down for lack of productive ore.  The principal mineral was cassiterite.  UTEP’s Art Harris wrote: What most of us don't know is that cassiterite, the major ore of tin, is rare in the United States and Mexico, and we are reliant on sources in Malaya, Bolivia, Indonesia, Zaire, Thailand, and Nigeria.  One of the few sources in the United States was located in the northern Chihuahuan Desert, on the eastern side of the Franklin Mountains. These tin mines were founded in 1909 and worked until 1915. However, during this time span, only 160 100-pound pigs of tin were recovered [a “pig” is a smelted block of the crude metal], and the mines were abandoned as uneconomical. At least 27 shafts and trenches were dug. Today, these lie within the Franklin Mountains State Park, presented to visitors as part of our regional history.”

If you are really interested in the history and geology of the Tin Mines, there is a very informative 1901 publication by the U.S. Geological Survey that you can read online.

Know that, while we are on the trail, autumn will begin.  Fall for 2012 begins in the Northern Hemisphere at 8:49 a.m. our time. You might want to check out a future hike to Devil’s Hall in the Guadalupe Mountains. We always schedule that for Celebration of Our Mountains to coincide with the brilliant fall colors of the leaves.

The 12^th Annual Artistic Celebration of Our Mountains begins next Thursday evening with a reception at 6 p.m. at Ardovino’s Desert Crossing.

There are so many great, organized hikes now. Just check out El Paso Hiking Group, Guadalupe Mountains National Park Meetup Group,  Las Cruces & El Paso Adventurists, Celebration of Our Mountains and Peak Fitness Challenge – just to begin with.  And Scenic Drive is open to all hikers, bicyclists, walkers, strollers (with attached parent), even Chihuahuas (with attached human) every Sunday from 6 to 11 a.m. even though the road is currently closed to all motorists until September 29^th for roadway improvements.

Excelsior!

Jim H. Tolbert

Publisher, Elpasonaturally and the El Paso Hiker

Leading the way for sustainable living in the El Paso Southwest

jimhtolbert@elp.rr.com
www.elpasonaturally.blogspot.com

Get your friends and family outdoors in this beautiful part of the Chihuahuan Desert. Forward this message to them and suggest that they subscribe.

This email message is written and published by Jim Tolbert who takes sole responsibility for the content of the letter. To subscribe or unsubscribe, just reply to jimhtolbert@elp.rr.com and say “Unsubscribe Hikers”.

"A million tax-free dollars would probably tempt me to divulge your email address.

However, know that your privacy is safe with me . . . Nobody has offered me the million yet.”

The El Paso Hiker E-Letter Volume 2, No. 25, September 21, 2012

Parks and Recreation Department Disdains Freedom of the Press

I routinely get press releases from several City of El Paso Departments - both for my newman park blog and my elpasonaturally blog. Associated with both blogs are two e-letters that people subscribe to: elpasonaturally and Hola Vecinos, the Newman Park Association and friends letter. Today, Mr. Wayne Thornton, Public Relations Director for the City's Parks and Recreation Department, refused to put me on his press release distribution list because I'm "not media"/"not press". I wouldn't have thought to have asked him about it except that a reader of my neighborhood association letter asked why I had not included the Arts in the Park event this weekend sponsored by the Parks Department. I didn't because I hadn't heard about it. I certainly would have promoted this event at Memorial Park, if I had known. Apparently, I won't know about future parks and recreation events because I'm "not media"/"not press" according to Mr. Wayne Thornton, who by the way writes a delightful column for the El Paso Times and who, therefore, should have a stronger value of freedom of the press.

I not only think that the Parks and Recreation Department's refusal is wrong - it is wrong on so many levels. First, I'm a member (appointed by City Council) of the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board. For no other reason, you think that I would receive the courtesy. Next, other City Departments have no problem including me. Third, as a citizen (and, yes, as someone who publishes and distributes to subscribers, i.e., PRESS), my civil rights have been violated not to mention the slander involved. Finally, if this matter isn't resolved to my satisfaction, I believe that the Open Records laws of the State of Texas have been violated and that the Attorney General of this State should become involved.

To think - all I wanted to do was to promote a Parks event and help get the word out to a wider audience. Silly me.

Jim Tolbert
www.elpasonaturally.blogspot.com
www.newmanpark.blogspot.com
Publisher of elpasonaturally and Hola Vecinos

Why a Monitor Won't Work for EPISD

A note from Senator Eliot Shapleigh of Kids First/Reform EPISD:

http://myemail.constantcontact.com/Why-a-Monitor-Will-Not-Work-.html?soid=1110593985569&aid=JqXiB5LyE3U