Some FYIs

Hat tip to Judy Ackerman for sending me a link to an El Paso Times story, Bats are the overlooked wonders of our desert. Last June, Celebration of Our Mountains had a special bat watching event. Someone who follows the COM Facebook page just a day ago asked whether there would be another bat event. COM is ready. Hopefully Judy and Urban Biologist, Lois Balin, will repeat the bat watch next summer. 

Check out the concept being used in this store in Cape Town (a bit out of the way). It's a zero waste store called Nude Foods. Might be a good idea to start pushing that idea here. Read 10 Ways to Adopt a Zero Waste Lifestyle. 

Finally, here is a commercial site selling fermentation kits. I saw it on Facebook and it looks interesting. Bon appetit.

Inc. Gives Kudos to Celebration of Our Mountains

Hikers enjoy the Hitt Canyon Loop Hike led by the Dean of El Paso Hiking, Carol Brown. Photo by Shu Y. Mayr

Fellow creature on the Hitt Canyon Loop Hike. Photo by Shu Y. Mayr

The El Paso Inc. recognized Celebration of Our Mountains in their most recent edition. Cindy Graff Cohen wrote a wonderful article about this yearly program of events: Play in the Franklins.

It is good to get the recognition. I have been the Director of COM since 2009.

On the Hitt Canyon Loop Hike. Photo by Shu Y. Mayr

On the Hitt Canyon Loop Hike. Photo by Shu Y. Mayr

This year's program is already off to a great start. Just this weekend, folks enjoyed the Hitt Canyon Loop Hike, biking to Scenic Drive with a blessing of the bicycles and a field trip to Percha and Caballo Dams to see the migratory birds. 

Last week's Beginners Hike ensemble. Photo by Carol Brown

Coming up tomorrow will be another Beginners Hike led by environmentalist, Judy Ackerman.

Dr. Paul Hyder talking about "The What, Why, Where and Who of Deserts" Photo by Shu Y. Mayr

On Saturday there is a Northern Pass Hike, a field trip to the Prehistoric Trackways in the Robledos and a repeat of the always popular "Who's Running Around the Desert at Night" led by biologist and ecologist, Dr.  Paul Hyder.

On Sunday, the UTEP Geology Club will lead a hike to the El Paso Tin Mines, the only tin mines ever operated in the United States.

Check out all of the upcoming Celebration of Our Mountains events at www.celebmtns.org. 

What Now?

Photo by Shane C. Canada

In less than two hours Donald Trump will become the 45th President of the United States which means, of course, that the presidency of Barak Obama will be history. The chances of Castner Range becoming a national monument are now zero. So, what now? 

One of the leading activists behind preserving Castner, Judy Ackerman, told me that efforts will now be in the direction of making Castner part of the State Park. "There were too many complications," she said about Obama's decision not to make it a national monument mainly the unexploded ordnance. However, she assured me, no one is stopping in the drive to preserve Castner. Work has been going on since 1978, she said, and will continue. There is an "outpouring of support" from over 35,000 El Pasoans who signed letters. Judy also said that Beto O'Rourke has made it known that he will pursue other avenues.

So the cause to preserve Castner is not over. In some ways, it has really just begun.

Hope was one of President Obama's themes. It is now ours as the community pursues the preservation of the beautiful Castner Range.

The Friday Video: Interview with Janae' Reneaud Field and Judy Ackerman

This is a must see video of an interview of two people who have done much toward making Castner Range a National Monument. I asked Judy Ackerman what was next and she told me that people should keep sending in letters. The clock is ticking. Obama will leave office and Trump will become President. President Obama is the last great chance that we have. Now is the time to help make Castner Range a National Monument. Please help. Go HERE.

If you can't see the video on your device, go to elpasonaturally.blogspot.com.

The Friday Video: July 10, 2015 Flash Flood in Northwest El Paso

Judy Ackerman told me that the video shows a "graphic example of why NOT to build on our mountains." The entire 14 minutes is a jawdropper especially the last exciting 2 or 3 minutes. The footage was taken in the 6200 block of Franklin Dove in northwest El Paso. BTW, if you receive elpasonaturally by email, you won't see the video above. Go to www.elpasonaturally.blogspot.com to view it.


Please support the work of Elpasonaturally.

Monday Links: Armed and Dangerous

Keep an eye out for Violet Palmer. (Mug shot above courtesy of the Denton Police.) She is armed with a rocking chair and considered dangerous by the State of Texas and the Denton police. She's charged with criminal tresspass and obstructing a highway passageway. She's also guilty of protesting against Texas' almighty oil and gas fracking industry.

Texas is ruled by Republicans who do not like local control (although once upon a time Republicans did.) They like State and Corporate control. So much so that they overturned a vote by Denton citizens to ban fracking. Denton citizens, Violet Palmer and her son Theron were protesting fracking. Theron chained himself to a gate leading to a fracking operation. Dear Violet sat by her son in her ominous rocking chair.

Read the story HERE and HERE. 

The story reminds me of one of the greatest moments in El Paso's conservation/environmental movement: the 2008 arrest of Judy Ackerman who was blocking construction of the border wall at the Rio Bosque. (Photo above.)

Breaking an unjust law has consequences. But is it unethical? Theron Palmer held up a sign while protesting fracking that quoted Martin Luther King, Jr.: "One has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws." His words echo St. Augustine of Hippo who said: "An unjust law is no law at all.”. And one more:

Ackerman Calls for Conservation of Castner Range

Photo compliments of Doug Agee

Judy Ackerman, one of El Paso’s most outspoken environmental advocates and Secretary of the Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition (FMWC), spoke last night to a nearly packed auditorium at the Chamizal National Memorial Theater about conserving Castner Range. Entitled “Conserving Castner Range, Crown Jewel of the Franklin Mountains” Judy urged the audience to sign a petition to save Castner Range from any future development.

Photo compliments of Virginia Galarza

The presentation was sponsored by the El Paso Sierra Club Group and UTEP’s Environmental Advocates. FMWC formed in 1978 and was largely responsible in organizing local citizen efforts to create Franklin Mountains State Park in 1979. Today the organization is working with stakeholders across the city in helping to preserve from potential development the 7,081-acre Castner Range—previously used by the Army for artillery exercises from 1926-1966. Located at the state park’s eastern boundary, the range is closed to the public. 

Prior to Judy's presentation, Jackson Polk introduced and showed his video:

Visit Jackson's El Paso Gold web site to see and purchase his outstanding documentaries about El Paso history and lore.

El Paso Sierra Club Hosts Public Event at Chamizal for Conserving Casner Range

Click on image to enlarge.

Did you know that, if it wasn’t for a group of El Paso citizens back in 1978 coming together to support protecting the Franklin Mountains, we might not have the Franklin Mountains State Park today?  If you have ever traveled across Trans Mountain Road you know that in the northeast there is a large area of the Franklin’s administered by Fort Bliss.  This area used to be an artillery range and over the past ten years a new movement has developed to protect what is called the Castner Range as an addition to the State Park. 

Click on image to enlarge.

A growing number of people across the city are showing their support for this effort and a number of organizations are hosting a free public presentation on conservation efforts to protect the Castner Range at Chamizal National Memorial next to Bowie High School on Wednesday night, January 28 at 7pm. (MAP) 

After introductions by El Paso Zoo Education Curator, Rick LoBello, El Paso's renowned documentary producer, Jackson Polk,  will show his film about Castner Range. Then Judy Ackerman of the Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition will speak and give a presentation about conserving Castner Range. She will take questions at the end of her presentation.

Learn more about the program HERE.

elpasonaturally urges you to attend and bring family and friends.

Joint Land Use Study Needs Your Attention

Got this message from Judy Ackerman today:

"This sounds like something we should pay attention to.  Please spread the word." judy ackerman


El Paso County: Tuesday, October 14 2014 from 6 to 8PM 
El Paso Community College-Transmountain Campus 
9570 Gateway Blvd. North El Paso, TX

The Southern New Mexico – El Paso, Texas Joint Land Use Study (SNMEP JLUS) is a cooperative process among city, county, and state governments; the public; agencies; and the military installations of Fort Bliss, Holloman Air Force Base and White Sands Missile Range. The study looks at issues such as land use, economic development, infrastructure, environmental sustainability, and the operational demands and mission change of both military and civilian entities within the six counties of Doña Ana, Lincoln, Otero, Sierra, and Socorro in New Mexico and El Paso County in Texas. The intent of the study is to highlight common interests such as economic growth, more efficient infrastructure, healthier environments, improved quality of life, and the protection of Department of Defense and civilian investments and missions. [Emphases mine.]

More info:  http://snmepjointlanduse.com/

Water - Why YOU Should Care

Water – Why YOU Should Care

by Judy Ackerman

For over 60 years  El Paso Water Utilities (EPWU) and the Public Service Board (PSB) have done such an outstanding job of ensuring El Pasoans have water, (with the few restrictions for days to water and time of day during the hot months), that now the public takes water for granted.  We take water for granted at all our peril.

On September 26, the PSB held a strategic planning meeting to outline progressively more complicated and more costly methods to obtain water for our growing city.  The meeting was to share information and solicit ideas from the public on managing our most critical and life-giving resource - water.  But only one member of the public and zero elected officials, bothered to attend.

Question:  Living in the desert, where every living thing depends on water, how did we get so complacent?  

Answer:  Because of the excellent work of the PSB.

A Brief History  

In 1951 we had the “drought of record” meaning it was the worst drought in recorded history.  Every day, El Paso papers headlined the drought.  Even with water restrictions, wells ran dry and some El Pasoans had NO water at all.  The public called for the creation of an independent board to manage water resources and do long range planning (50 years out).  The PSB was born in 1952.  The drought of the 1950s lasted 20 years.  In 2013 we set the new “drought of record” with much less water available than in 1951.  This drought could last 20 years or more.    

Currently, EPWU gets water from groundwater, the river, desalination and reuse (purple pipe).   In case of continuing drought, or growing population, the EPWU needs to expand its portfolio of water options.  Future sources of water could be advanced purification, additional desalinization plants, purification of water from agricultural drains and piping in water from near and far.  These options require planning and capital expenditures now, in order to be available for future demands for water.

Facts:

• Elephant Butte Dam in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, controls “waters of the US” for agricultural use – NOT municipal.
• Because of agreements with El Paso County Water Improvement District # 1 (the irrigation district), the EPWU usually gets 50% of our municipal water from the river during the irrigation season which normally lasts from 15 Feb to 15 Oct (nine months).  
• In 2013 the irrigation season lasted only 6 weeks because there was so little water available in Elephant Butte and only 9% of our water came from the river.  Additional groundwater pumping had to make up the difference.
• The amount of rain we receive in El Paso has very little impact on the water available in the river.  
• Water in the Rio Grande comes from snow melt in Colorado and Northern New Mexico.
• The ground water we use from the Hueco and Mesilla Bolsons is a limited resource and we are depleting it faster than we can recharge the aquifers.  
• More than half of the Hueco Bolson is brackish; too salty for drinking water.
• EPWU and the PSB are eager to share their information and expertise.

What Can We Do?

To ensure El Paso’s sustainability and future growth, stay informed on water issues.  Attend PSB meetings.  Check the PSB website.  Visit EPWU’s TecH2O Center.  Practice water conservation.

Weeds Are Native Plants Too

In response to a City of El Paso Department of Transportation notice that herbicides will be applied on city streets and in alleyways, Mountainside Neighborhood Association resident, Judy Ackerman, sent this message to Rep. Carl Robinson:

Dear Rep. Carl Robinson,

 

Please instruct the City of El Paso Department of Transportation NOT to use ANY chemical weed control in the vicinity of the Mountainside Neighborhood Association. We are actively growing native plants including forbs and grasses.  Our area includes the west side of Alabama from Stoney Hill north to Mountain Walk and the following streets:  Big Bend, Eileen, Emmett Larkin , Mountain Walk, Stoney Hill, and Umbria. 

 

You may want to discontinue the weed control thoughout the city.  Native plants hold the soil in place and prevent blowing dust.  Many native plants have pretty flowers.  You can save money and improve aesthetics by eliminating “weed control”.  Instead, have a program to educate about the benefits of native plants!

 

I greatly appreciate your assistance with this project!

 

Judy Ackerman

Here is the nefarious notice by EPDOT:

Click on image to enlarge.

elpasonaturally has sent an open records request to El Paso DOT for a list of all herbicides that they use to control weeds throughout the city.

Eco El Paso Eyewitness Report

Judy Ackerman sent me this eyewitness summary of the first day of the Eco El Paso Symposium yesterday:

Pipeline to Bosque Under Design and Lessons Learned

Click on image to enlarge.

Three bits of good news that should be shouted from atop every peak on the Franklin Mountains: 

First, the El Paso Water Utilities does have direct right-of-way access into the Rio Bosque.

Second, plans to build a direct pipeline from the Bustamante Treatment Plant to the Rio Bosque for the purpose of supplying effluent is being designed.

Third, Water Improvement District Mis-Manager, Chuy Reyes, not only can do nothing about it, he is irrelevant in the process.

Let's take a look.

In the very bottom far left triangle in the map above, the Park and the treatment plant abut each other at the Riverside Drain. Recognizing this fact and having spoken with Mr. Reyes, environmental activist, Judy Ackerman, wrote to the CEO of the EPWU:

"Thank you very much for all the efforts of EPWU to create a direct connection from the Bustamante WWTP to El Paso’s Rio Bosque Wetlands Park that will allow the opportunity for waste water to be utilized at the Park in the future. The Park needs the water.  Several of the Park’s mature trees have died this season due to lack of water.

"By the end of July, El Paso County Water Improvement District # 1, should have received more than 13,333 Acre Feet [the amount actually varies as I understand it based on how much is released from Elephant Butte during any given season - though I could stand to be corrected] of effluent from the Bustamante WWTP  – the amount obligated to them by the Third Party Contract.   Any remaining BWWTP effluent, between now and 15 Feb 2014, is EPWU’s to utilize as you choose.  If you directed that effluent into the Riverside Intercepting Drain, instead of the Riverside Canal, it would be available to the Bosque.  

"Mr Jesus 'Chuy' Reyes is on record saying he will cooperate fully with EPWU to deliver effluent to the Bosque via the Riverside Intercepting Drain if you choose to utilize your effluent that way.   Here is a link to audio clips of my conversation with Mr Reyes on 23 Oct 2012.

"I encourage you to send BWWTP effluent to the Bosque as soon as possible since it will greatly benefit EPWU, the Park, El Pasoans, and visitors from far and wide.  Thank you for considering this option."

In a swift rebuke, Mis-Manager Reyes caustically replied:

"I don't know where you are getting your calculations from, but you have no authority or are you or the Bosque in anyway connected to our agreement with our 2001 contract with EPWU. EP#1 will continue to use the effluent water for irrigation of crops until late SEPTEMBER [emphasis his]."

So, what caused Ackerman to believe that she had heard otherwise from Mr. Reyes?  The interviews on the audio clips that she mentions: 






On record, Mr. Reyes says: "It's their [EPWU's] water. What they do with it is their business." And: "I'm willing to cooperate with them [EPWU] in anyway..." Note that he never disputes that one-third of the effluent belongs to the EPWU even during irrigation season. Note that he agrees that, even if all the water goes into the drain, one-third could be pumped to the Rio Bosque Wetland Park as directed solely by the EPWU even during irrigation season. Note that he suggests that the EPWU build some direct line to the Bosque. (Deal! It's in design.) Note that, when Ms. Ackerman honestly and innocently writes John Balliew with the facts after having spoken to Mr.Reyes, Mr. Reyes lambasts her claim! Note the audio tapes. Note who is honest and note who is obviously dis-honest.

Lessons to learn:

First, Mr. Chuy Reyes is irrelevant to talks about supplying water to the Rio Bosque from the Bustamante plant.

Second, it seems to be the case that for a long time there were some backroom handshakes and winks of eyes between the EPWU and the WID. There is now new management at the EPWU. All deals between the EPWU and the WID should be made public and transparent.

Third, other than buying water from the WID and other contractual agreements, the EPWU should have as little to do with Mr. Reyes and the WID as possible. Winks and handshakes no longer count (and the old ones should be accounted for.)

Fourth and finally, some in El Paso's environmental community should cease acting as if Mr. Reyes matters at all regarding the Rio Bosque.  This means that they can speak out when Mr. Reyes destroys habitat and vegetation during nesting season as he has been doing in the Upper Valley. He's not a friend. He's not useful. He's the Manager of a Water District operated under antiquated laws about water rights and rights of capture that really should be the hot-button issues for conservationists along with protecting habitat and the natural open space of our mountains and Chihuahuan Desert.

El Cucuy is no longer scary, boys and girls.

Is Chuy Reyes Necessary?

Agreement on El Paso Drain Maintenance 

Above is a copy of the outdated and expired agreement between the United States of America (Department of Interior/Bureau of Reclamation) and the City of El Paso.  Basically the City agrees to maintain the Nemexas-Montoya Drain since it needs the drain as part of its stormwater control.  No where is there any mention of the El Paso County Water Improvement District #1, the organization whose General Manager is Jesus "Chuy" Reyes.  Yet, when a single complaint resulted in a call to the WID, Reyes ordered the total clearing of vegetation (and with it habitat) in the Nemexas-Montoya Drain which required the El Paso Water Utilities to participate as the agent of the City of El Paso charged with stormwater maintenance and control. By what authority did Chuy Reyes order such radical clearance? 

[Are you paying attention El Paso Times?]

A similar issue involves the IBWC's dredging of the Rio Grande at the Licon Siphon north of Las Cruces.  One issue with the dredging had to do with endangered species.  In a meeting attended by Mr. Reyes, Reyes mentioned that his authority to supercede concern for endangered species was "emergency".  Obviously Mr. Reyes determines what is an emergency there being no objective criteria transparent to anyone else for defining an emergency.  But the bigger question still looms: by what right does Mr. Reyes have to order the massive clearance of the drains when the agreement never mentions the Water Improvement District.  In an Open Records request today I asked Mr. Reyes the following:

"As the agreement to help maintain the drain that we have been discussing is between the City of El Paso (the EPWU being the City’s entity) and the United States (via the Bureau of Reclamation), where does the El Paso County Water Improvement District #1 fit in?  Does WID have a separate agreement with the Bureau?  If so, may I please get a copy of that?  If not, would you please document what authority the WID has over the drain which would obligate the EPWU to assist in maintaining it."

No reply yet.

I have been in email conversation with Mr. Jeff Hild, the Legislative Director for Rep. Beto O'Rourke, regarding the destruction along the drain.  He was unaware of any federal connection that might involve Mr. O'Rourke's office as I was until now.  I wrote him the following email attaching the agreement which you read at the top of this post:

Jeff,
Attached is the outdated and antiquated agreement which requires EPWU to help clean the drain in question.  The agreement is between them and the United States of America because the United States of America owns the drain!  You’ve got your federal hook!
The agreement was written prior to the popularization of environmental concerns. It is pre-Rachel Carson.  It was also written when there was probably more farm land in the Upper Valley than residences.  We now know that vegetation plays a key role in cleaning up water as it moves to a river. Besides vegetation and animal habitat provide much for the human spirit – something that can’t be easily quantified.  A new agreement must show more environmental sensitivity, proper and ongoing land and habitat management.  
You may be told that it was good to remove the salt cedars.  Yes, that’s true; but they should have been removed and replaced with native cottonwoods or other trees over the long-run and never during nesting season.  As this was federal land, then as a civil engineering friend of mine pointed out: “If federal funds or federal property is involved you could not disturb the area during nesting season if threatened or endangered species are present.”  Several Audubon people have told me that the Southwest Willow Flycatcher was present.  Perhaps we ought to investigate what kind of fine or jail term Chuy Reyes should serve.
I hope that the Congressman’s office will get involved especially with the EPWU and John Balliew, the CEO, and Robert Andron, the Attorney for the utility.  I know that Beto knows both well. They should be encouraged to draft a more sensitive document that will maintain the drain while protecting the plants and wildlife and the ecosystem services that they provide.  Working with Mr. Reyes is probably pointless and may even be unnecessary as the agreement again is between the United States and the City of El Paso. When I asked Mr. Reyes if he might be interested in mitigation, he responded: “I am not interested in replanting native vegetation. The drain will be maintained the proper way, the way the City of El Paso and EPWU are required to do so, this is an agriculture drain and not a habitat."
I look forward to your response at your very first convenience please.
Jim Tolbert

Mr. Reyes may be acting without authority and it may be that he really is unnecessary for many agreements.  In a side issue also reported here at elpasonaturally, getting water to the Rio Bosque seems to have been held up for a long time by Chuy Reyes.  (Perhaps he has to use the rest of the water to help his friends in Hudspeth County keep their reservoirs filled. Are you paying attention El Paso Times?)

A group of persons interested in resolving the water issue at the Bosque has been holding clandestine meetings at the home of Judy Ackerman in 2013. Those who are part of this hush-hush group include from UTEP: John Sproul, Scott Cutler, Vanessa Lougheed, John Walton, etc.; John Balliew; from the IBWC: Gilbert Anaya, Rebecca Little Owl; Mike Landis from the Bureau of Reclamation; David Will from TCEQ; Friends of the Rio Bosque; Ruben Vogt from the County; Charlie Wakeem, and others including Chuy Reyes. 

At the last meeting it was brought up that the license with the TCEQ which has prevented some irrigation from the Bustamante directly to the Bosque may be moot anyway.  In fact, a bid to do the pipe directly from the Bustamante to the Rio Bosque may go out to bid in August.  The Water District would be cut out of the deal.  Chuy Reyes was not at the meeting.  My question with the Bosque and more pertinently with the Drain is this: Is Chuy Reyes necessary?  Does he really have the authority that he claims to have? To whom are he and the Water District accountable?

Chief Justice Chew Takes Niland to Task

Few living El Pasoans have earned more respect for their service to community and country, their integrity and their wisdom than Chief Justice David Wellington Chew, Chief Justice, Senior Status, and former City Council Representative, District 2. You can read his biography and an announcement of his receipt of the prestigious Trailblazer Award. David's father was also a prominent community servant and El Paso has named one of its Senior Centers after him. David's sisters, Linda and Patricia, are also highly respected judges in El Paso.


Upon hearing about Rep. Cortney Niland's desire to speed-up land sales in El Paso, Justice Chew wrote her the following letter:

July 20, 2012

The Hon. Cortney Niland,
City Representative District 8
2 Civic Center Plaza, 12^th Floor
El Paso, TX 79902

Dear Representative Niland:

The El Paso Times recently quoted you as saying that estimates that the water supply for the City of El Paso will be severely strained as soon as 30 years from now [sic] are “scare tactics.” Chris Roberts, (2012, July 17). “Rep seeks to speed up PSB land-use process.” El Paso Times. pp. A1,A5.

If you said that, then I am personally disappointed in your position, and take great exception. 

May I remind you that El Paso is the driest major city in Texas, lying in the Trans-Pecos region of the Chihuahuan Desert, and it has faced water problems and drought throughout it’s history.  And while El Paso is in a perpetual drought, Texas, including El Paso, and much of the rest of the United States is confronted with the beginning of almost certainly the worst drought of the century.  We will see the depletion if not the drying up completely of the only surface water source that El Paso has --  the waters of Rio Grande from the reservoir at Elephant Butte.  Indeed, one only has to drive by, as I did this past weekend, and look out onto the much larger but nearly empty Lakes Falcon and Amistad, the reservoirs that serve the lower Rio Grande, to know that the drought in West Texas has begun. 

I am proud to have been a member of the 1991 El Paso City Council, which at the urging of the EPWU/PSB, enacted the earliest and most comprehensive water conservation measures in the state.  Then too, there were critics saying that “scare tactics” were used to enact "draconian" measures; but the unequivocal fact is that the Water Conservation Ordinance and subsequent water conservation and expansion measures taken by the EPWU/PSB since 1991 have preserved and enhanced the ground waters of the Mesilla and Hueco Bolsons, which provide the majority of the water to El Paso and are its lifeblood. 

It also seems to me that your and others’ criticism of the PSB are likely based on “Potemkim numbers,” groundless estimates of property tax revenues and job creation,  numerical facades so often created by proponents of unregulated economic growth for short term profit.  Without water, the prospect of economic growth in El Paso is simply dust.

I thank you for your service to the City of El Paso.    

With best personal regards,

David Wellington Chew,
Chief Justice, Senior Status, and former City Representative, District 2

Also in response to Niland, 2010 Conservation Award recipient and environmental activist, Judy Ackerman, wrote elpasonaturally the following:

"Representative Niland and the Mayor's Blue Ribbon Committee on the City's relationship with the PSB’s land management want to speed up selling City owned land for development.  STOP IT!  Hurry-up development got us Crazy Cat, widely cited as a huge mistake and eyesore.  Hurry-up development got us eastside sprawl with no parks, but plenty of traffic jams. 

"Remember that taxes generated from sprawl do NOT cover the cost of maintaining the streets, water, sewer, police, lighting, etc.  Sprawl development must be subsidized by existing taxpayers.

"El Paso has just been through the Master Planning Process with world renowned Dover Kohl.  Now is the time for carefully thought out, planned, sustainable, low impact, smart growth development.  Take your time and do it right.  “NO!”, to hurry-up development."

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”.

Congratulations to Judy Ackerman the 2012 Recipient of the Rock Award

Frontera President, Michael Gaglio, presenting the 2012 Rock Award to Judy Ackerman

At last week's Taste of Frontera, the Board of Directors of the Frontera Land Alliance presented Judy Ackerman with their "Rock Award" in honor of her hard work to promote conservation. 

". . . the activist's activist"

In his presentation of the award, Frontera President, Michael Gaglio, many of the organizations that have been enriched by Ackerman: the Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition and its Castner Conservation Conveyance Committee, Master Naturalists, the El Paso Cactus and Rock Club, the El Paso/Trans-Pecos Audubon Society, the Friends of the Rio Bosqye, the Poppies Fest Steering Committee, the West Texas Transmountain Scenic Corridor Petition Group, League of Women Voters and the Toastmasters. Whew!


Gaglio called her "the activist's activist". He concluded by saying that "she is an inspiration to me and a great big part of the reason I am standing here tonight."


John Sproul, manager of the Rio Bosque Wetlands Park, was the recipient last year.

Options and Obstacles for Water at the Rio Bosque

Friends of Rio Bosque Board member, Judy Ackerman, has well outlined the options and roadblocks for getting water to the Rio Bosque. Her document is a must read:

Friends of the Rio Bosque Wetlands Park currently see four options to get water to our wetlands park: Effluent from the Bustamante Water Treatment plant, Turnout from the Riverside Drain, a Connection between Basin G and the Riverside Drain, and More wells.

Overview of four Options

1. Effluent from the Bustamante Water Treatment plant.

Cost: NONE

Infrastructure Requirements: NONE

Agreements and legal hurdles: Agreement from El Paso County Water Improvement District Number One (ElP #1)

Drawbacks: Agreement from ElP #1.

2. Turnout from the Riverside Drain.

Cost: ~ $ 10,000

Infrastructure Requirements: The turnout itself, connection to the Old River Channel in the park, and a bridge for the Tornillo Trail.

Agreements and legal hurdles: Donation of water rights and more.

Drawbacks: unknown

3. Connection from Basin G to the Riverside Drain
Cost: unknown

Infrastructure Requirements: Building the connection and more.

Agreements and legal hurdles: unknown

Drawbacks: Could only deliver water when Basin G, Feather Lake, or Feather Lake 2 has storm water.

4. More wells.

Cost: Considerable initial investment and then cost of electricity and maintenance.

Infrastructure Requirements: for drilling wells, and creating appropriate electrical infrastructure.

Agreements and legal hurdles: unknown

Drawbacks: Requires electricity or noisy generators that will need considerable continuing maintenance. Removes water from the Bosque’s groundwater to put on the surface.

More details:

Currently the Bosque is watered by John Sproul with a water trailer owned by the Friends of the Bosque that carries 750 gal. He spends all his available time, all day, 5 days per week, hauling water from the Bustamante Treatment plant to deliver to individual trees and plantings in the park. By this labor intensive process, the Bosque received approximately one acre foot of water in 2011.

There is extensive documentation on water quality improvement, natural habitat and quality of life improvements achieved by utilizing wetlands to processes effluent. The advantages of doing this at the Bustamante Treatment Plant and the Rio Bosque Wetlands Park are beyond measure.

Effluent from the Bustamante Water Treatment plant.

The Bustamante Water Treatment plant is directly adjacent and upstream from the Rio Bosque Wetlands Park. The volume of water from the plant is about 30,000,000 gal / day (about 92 acre-feet per day, during the summer months). The Rio Bosque Wetlands Park started to receive water from Bustamante in 1998. In 2001 and 2002, the park received water almost all year, including the growing season and plant life in the park responded with profusion.

The Rio Grande Project 2001 Implementing Third-Party Contract obligates EPWU to give about two thirds of the Bustamante effluent to ElP #1. Because ElP #1 owns the infrastructure, they decide where ALL the effluent goes. The infrastructure allows two possibilities: the effluent can go into the Riverside Cannel (the irrigation channel) or the Riverside Drain (also known as the Hudspeth Drain).

When ElP #1 does not want or need the treated water in the Riverside Cannel, it directs the water into the Riverside Drain by turning valves at the Bustamante Treatment Plant. When water is in the Riverside Drain, park managers can divert it through the park in the old river channel and, if desired, by a series of gates, to three wetland cells. In recent years, water is available in the Riverside Drain for 2 – 3 months in the winter (NOT the growing season). The park can accommodate between one half and all the water from the drain. At the southeast (downstream) end of the park, the water is returned to the Riverside Drain.

By simply turning the valve, the park could receive at least the one third of the treated water that is not obligated to ElP #1. This is an easy, no-cost solution, which would greatly benefit the citizens of El Paso.

Turnout from the Riverside Drain.

Chuy Reyes, General Manager ElP #1, says that ElP #1 will construct the turnout this winter (2011 – 2012), but not pay for the construction or the design costs. Bosque Program Coordinator/Manager, John Sproul has secured funding grants from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and from the IBWC to cover the cost of the turnout and the connecting channel between the turnout and the old river channel. The Friends of the Rio Bosque have committed to covering installation of the footbridge for the Tornillo Trail.

Charlie Wakeem had been trying to donate his water rights to the Bosque. His application has been pending with ElP #1 for five years. This would be a test case for HOW to donate water rights to the Bosque. El Paso County owns 137 acres of water rights at the Tornillo Port of Entry. Many people, including Chuy Reyes, General Manager ElP #1, and Ernie Carrizal, the County’s Acting Public Works Director, agree the county should donate those water rights to the Bosque.

Connection from Basin G to the Riverside Drain

This option may be of interest in relation to storm water issues.

More wells. The Bosque has a well near the northwest corner of the park that pumps 400 gal/min. In the winter when groundwater levels are at their highest and evaporation at its lowest, the pump can deliver water to approximately one quarter of the Old River Channel. At the height of the summer, the pump can flood about one-eighth of the channel. More wells would require too much cost, noise and maintenance to be a viable option at this time.

Other points:

El Paso Water Utilities (EPWU) is aware of issues with water at the Bosque and Rudy Valdez is the primary contact. In public forums, Ed Archuleta, President/Chief Executive Officer, said, “we can fix that” referring to no water at the Bosque.

Stealing water from El Paso citizens by pumping groundwater from the Rio Bosque Wetlands Park: ElP #1 owns the water under their own land along the Riverside Canal. They operate 6 wells that pump water from the land immediately adjacent to the Bosque. This summer, and as of 13 Oct 2011, these pumps are running 24/7, each pumping up to 1,750 gal/min from the groundwater into the Riverside Canal for irrigation use. In 2011, this pumping is primarily responsible for dropping the groundwater level in the park by 15 feet – below the roots of the cottonwood and other trees.

El Paso County Water Improvement District Number One (ElP #1) and lining the Riverside Cannel with cement:

http://www.usbr.gov/uc/albuq/envdocs/ea/epcwid1/index.html

This “finding of no significant impact” is in direct opposition to the facts and considerable data on file at UTEP.

Note that Chuy Reyes, brother of Congressman Silvestre, has not addressed Charlie Wakeem's offer of five years. He now says (with a fork tongue?) that they will build a turnout but not pay for it. The improvement district is clearly "stealing" water from the Bosque. Environmental studies are now just political covers for some to do whatever they want to do to the land and water. Someone remind me to check to see Silvestre's footprints all over that "environmental" document.

Judy Ackerman Receives Audubon's Conservation Award

Judy paraphrases John Sproul's words as she accepts the award: "Every conservation victory is temporary."

Environmental and political activist, Judy Ackerman, received this year's Conservation Award from the El Paso/Trans-Pecos Audubon Society this past Saturday. The award was given during the Society's annual dinner which was held at Jaxon's on Airway. In announcing the award, the Audubon newsletter called Judy a "local human rights activist and conservationist" who was being presented the award "for her dedication and hard work to make El Paso a better place to live and more conservation-minded."

Often I hear understatements and appreciate them. However, Judy is nonpareil in her work to preserve natural open space and habitat in El Paso while, at the same time, speaking out for human justice.

Sunrise Hikers, Judy Ackerman and Tommy Young, enjoy the view from atop Ranger Peak after a climb up the Directissimo and Jackaloop Trails.

I cannot say when I first met Judy or her husband, Jamie. They were just always part of the "conservation/progressive milieu." She was there at Master Naturalists, the Native Plant Society, the Cactus and Rock Club, Celebration of Our Mountains meetings and events, and a regular among our Sunrise Hikers. I probably began using the term "usual suspects" to describe our conservation community because Judy's was the picture on that Most Wanted poster.

One of my earliest memories of Judy was her fight against the construction of the border wall being built along our precious river - especially where that wall cut off the Rio Bosque from the Rio Grande. It wasn't just a human rights issue that inspired Judy to sit down in front of God, bulldozers and the Texas Rangers, it was betrayal of an ecosystem, a fracture in the gene pool of species who belong as much to this land as we do. Her civil disobedience did not stop the billions of dollars wasted on a fence that people now just climb over. It did bring a whole bunch of us together and inspired us to care more deeply about the borderless Chihuahuan Desert in which we live and move and have our being. (Read more here and here.)

Judy's tireless work makes each annual Poppy Festival more successful than the last.

Judy is the expert about the preservation of Castner Range (map) as natural open space with the goal of eventually incorporating it into the largest North American urban park: the Franklin Mountains State Park. She was a major force in the preservation of Arroyo 41A - the Mountain to River Trail and for bringing together people who held contrasting opinions at FMWC-sponsored Stakeholder meetings. (The City of El Paso Department of Parks and Recreation just never seemed to be able or to desire to put together such meetings to help save that precious arroyo. Judy did it as a one-woman show.) She has worked hard with the petition drives to save the Scenic Transmountain Corridor. She is endlessly teaching others about the flora on our hikes and she is the guardian angel of the poppies that pop all over Castner Range in the spring. Some of us bushwhack from time to time - but she is quick to remind us of the environmental hazards our adventures might cause. A retired Sergeant Major, she once lectured each and every member of an entire platoon of soldiers for their taking an off-trail shortcut up an arroyo in the State Park.

Judy is often there at Open Space Advisory Board meetings, City Council and League of Women Voters - just to mention a few. She is always a willing volunteer at the Franklin Mountains Wilderness Association booth at numerous venues including Ardovino's Desert Crossing Farmers Market. She keeps us all informed in her emails about announcements, events, timely articles and more. She indeed serves to make our City a better place - and I've never heard her despair or complain.

I suggest that the local Audubon Chapter would do well to rename their annual award "the Judy Ackerman Conservation Award". Future recipients will proudly proclaim: "I won the Judy Ackerman!"

County to Vote on Resolution to Preserve Castner Range

Castner Range carpeted with Mexican poppies

The very first item on the agenda for Monday's County Commissioners meeting is a resolution "advocating the preservation of Castner Range for future generations." The meeting on Monday, March 29, begins at 9:30 a.m. Those who wish to show support for the resolution should plan on arriving before the meeting begins.

The El Paso City Council passed a similar resolution in 2006. The Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition has long been advocating for the preservation of the range. Judy Ackerman, Secretary of FMWC, has tirelessly worked on this issue for several years now.

FMWC has published a white paper on the conservation conveyance of Castner Range.