Water managers warn that stretches of the Rio Grande will dry up without more rain - Associated Press
The ongoing lack of rain and hot conditions have left one of North America's longest rivers in dire shape again, prompting water managers on Thursday to warn farmers in central New Mexico who depend on the Rio Grande that supplies will be drying up in the coming weeks.
That means stretches of the river through the Albuquerque area are expected to go dry — much like last year.
Water managers and fish biologists at the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District and the Bureau of Reclamation say they're working to mitigate the effects on the endangered silvery minnow — a shimmery, pinky-sized native fish.
Water users in the Middle Rio Grande have been given notice to anticipate changes in availability and delivery schedules soon.
Due to a higher-than-normal irrigation demand and lower than expected natural river flow, the conservancy district began releasing water on July 17 from the San Juan-Chama Project, which brings water from the Colorado River Basin into the Rio Grande Basin via a system of diversion dams, tunnels, channels and other infrastructure. About 40% of the current irrigation supply is from project storage releases, with the rest from natural river flow.
Irrigation district officials expect water from the project to run out before Aug. 23, leaving them to rely solely on natural flows to continue making water deliveries through the fall.
"The lack of rainfall is difficult on its own, coupled with the challenges of not being able to store water for summer releases, is disheartening, but we are doing our best to work with water users in the middle Rio Grande Valley to deliver what is available," Jason Casuga, the irrigation district's chief executive, said in a statement.
The Bureau of Reclamation will release water to supplement flows in cooperation with the irrigation district and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to target specific areas of the river with known silvery minnow habitat and to manage the rate of anticipated river drying.
The Rio Grande went dry in Albuquerque for the first time in four decades in August 2022 due to persistent drought.
Over the past 20 years, the Bureau of Reclamation has leased about 700,000 acre-feet — or 228 billion gallons — of water to supplement flows through the Middle Rio Grande for endangered and threatened species.
The silvery minnow has been listed as endangered since 1994. It inhabits only about 7% of its historic range and has withstood a century of habitat loss as the nearly 1,900 mile-long river was dammed, diverted and channeled from Colorado to New Mexico, Texas and northern Mexico.
Oil worker health care fund is sought by New Mexico congressman in swing district - By Morgan Lee Associated Press
U.S. oil field workers and their immediate relatives would be compensated for uninsured medical costs related to air pollution and heat-related illness, under a bill introduced by a first-term Democratic congressman from New Mexico.
U.S. Rep. Gabe Vasquez said Wednesday his bill would require oil and natural gas companies to pay into a trust that provides reimbursement to workers for health costs associated with ailments linked to methane and smog, including respiratory problems such as asthma.
Workers would be eligible to seek reimbursement for costs not covered by private insurance, Medicare or Medicaid, he said. Eligibility for specific medical conditions would be determined under federal labor and workplace safety guidelines.
Vasquez said the proposal is an outgrowth of concerns he has heard from oil field workers in southeastern New Mexico — and his observations about extensive profits and executive compensation among major petroleum companies. New Mexico is the nation's second-largest oil producer behind Texas.
"If you're an energy worker in Hobbs or Carlsbad who has a child who has asthma, you would benefit from this legislation," Vasquez said.
Annual contributions to a health care trust for oil workers would be required of energy companies with annual revenues over $50 million. Those companies would have to pay into the fund the same amount of money as they pay their 10 highest-paid employees, including bonuses and deferred compensation.
The bill has little chance of passing in the GOP-controlled House, where Republicans this year approved a package that would sharply increase domestic production of fossil fuels and ease permitting restrictions that delay pipelines, refineries and other projects.
The initiative still marks a shift in focus from an unfettered support of the oil industry under Vasquez's Republican predecessor, Yvette Herrell, and her criticism of energy policies under the Biden administration that she said hindered production of oil and other fossil fuels.
Vasquez flipped the district — which extends from the U.S. border with Mexico to Albuquerque — to Democratic control in 2022, under newly drawn congressional districts that divvied up a major oil-producing region of New Mexico among three districts. Republicans are challenging the redistricting in state district court.
The bill from Vasquez includes compensation for heat-related illness in the workplace — an area of increasing concern as the energy sector and other industries contend with record-breaking temperatures this summer. President Joe Biden in July announced new steps aimed to protect workers, including hazard alerts for extreme heat, improved forecasting and better access to drinking water on the job.
Vasquez announced details of the health compensation bill at a gathering in Hobbs, accompanied by advocates for the immigrant-rights group Somos Un Pueblo Unido. The event included testimonials from oil field workers and their spouses, who spoke in Spanish about frustrations with working conditions.
"In reality my heart breaks because we're left with the effects of this industry and the corporations that don't pay what they should for it to be a just system," Vasquez said, also in Spanish. "I ask you today to support us in the proposed legislation."
The bill is modeled after a compensation program for coal miners disabled by black lung disease, under the provisions of a 1969 law, Vasquez said.
Heinrich urges FDA to get tribal input on at-home opioid disposal policy - By Nash Jones, KUNM News
As the Food and Drug Administration finalizes a policy for disposing of left-over prescription opioids at home as a means of combating the national epidemic, U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich is urging the agency to better meet the needs of New Mexico’s tribal and rural communities.
The proposal would have residents get rid of unused pills through the mail using prepaid envelopes. Heinrich, along with fellow Democratic Senators John Tester of Montana and Patty Murray of Washington, in a letter to the FDA today/yesterday [THURS] pointed out that their rural constituents don’t always have reliable mail service.
The lawmakers wrote that “any policy that focuses solely on mail-only disposal creates an undue burden for those individuals to safely remove opioids from their homes.”
To better the policy, the Senators recommended that the administration engage in meaningful tribal consultation and hold discussions with rural residents that lack consistent mail pick-up, along with USPS employees. They asked that the FDA incorporate any feedback into the policy before finalizing it.
New Mexico Governor removes outspoken critic from statewide Juvenile Justice Advisory Committee - Joshua Bowling, Searchlight New Mexico
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Wednesday removed Albino Garcia, founder and executive director of the grassroots organization La Plazita Institute, from his seat on the statewide Juvenile Justice Advisory Committee. Garcia said he received the notice, in the form of a one-page letter, as he was making the drive from Albuquerque to Taos for the committee’s bi-monthly meeting.
Garcia recently spoke up about the deplorable conditions in the Bernalillo County Youth Services Center, New Mexico’s largest juvenile detention center, in a Searchlight New Mexico article.
In that article, he equated the facility’s practice of detaining children in cells with no toilets or sinks to solitary confinement. On Wednesday, he said Lujan Grisham’s decision was a disappointing reminder of the flaws in New Mexico’s juvenile justice system.
“This is what happens when you speak truth to power,” he said. “The system will do what the system is designed to do, and that’s protect itself.”
Caroline Sweeney, a spokesperson for Lujan Grisham, said the Children, Youth and Families Department secretary “is focused on making sure the Department better serves the most vulnerable New Mexicans and their families. This process will, inevitably, involve change.
“It is critical that those working in support of that mission are in positions where they can best help move the state of child wellbeing in our state forward – that’s why this decision was made,” Sweeney said in a statement. “Mr. Garcia will continue his work serving the children of New Mexico leading a nonprofit.”
Exactly one year ago, a sergeant in New Mexico’s largest jail, the Metropolitan Detention Center, was placed on administrative leave by Bernalillo County following a Searchlight article that quoted from letters that he wrote to policymakers. Those letters expressed serious concerns about the facility’s understaffing and unsafe conditions.
The county later fired Sgt. Robert Mason, who has since filed a lawsuit under New Mexico’s Whistleblower Protection Act. Read the full story here.
US attorney pleads with young men in New Mexico's largest city: Stop the shooting - Associated Press
The top federal prosecutor in New Mexico has a message for young men in the community who may be spiraling out of control and feeling trapped in a world of hatred and fear: "The shooting must stop."
Alexander M.M. Uballez, the U.S. Attorney for the District of New Mexico, made the comment Wednesday while he announced a new $2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Justice that is meant to help address the root causes of violence in the state's largest city. The funding will support efforts by Albuquerque's Community Safety Department and its violence intervention program.
The city has been rocked by recent shootings, including one that left a 5-year-old girl dead after someone fired at a mobile home where she was spending the night. Police renewed their plea Wednesday for anyone with information about the shooting to come forward.
"By centering the safety of those who are most at risk of shooting and being shot, we make the community safer for us all," Uballez said in a statement.
To those young men in the community, he added: "We will help you if you let us and stop you if you make us."
The city's Community Safety Department is separate from the police force and the fire department. Launched in 2021 as the city marked another year of record homicides, the agency provides crisis aid, welfare checks and makes referrals for people in need.
As part of the intervention program, the department's responders focus on those at the highest risk of becoming part of the city's cycle of gun violence. Mayor Tim Keller said sending the responders into the community and meeting people where they are can interrupt that cycle and ultimately change lives.
Aside from expanding existing work, city officials plan to use some of the funding to explore the possibility of creating an Office of Violence Prevention, similar to those operating in cities in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. They say such an office could bring together prevention programs that cover schools and hospitals as well as trauma recovery centers.
Bosque Chile Fest heats up EXPO New Mexico this weekend - By Nash Jones, KUNM News
It’s been a hot summer and Expo New Mexico is set to get even hotter this weekend as Bernalillo County holds its Bosque Chile Fest in the venue’s Villa Hispana on Saturday and Sunday.
New Mexicans can get creative with what they put green chile in, and the county says that variety will be on full display with vendors selling chile-infused honey and olive oil, chile-rimmed cocktails and chocolate chip chile cookies.
The new official state aroma will also be in the air as Chile Konnections and Señor Torta host chile roasting demonstrations.
The festival will also feature chile crafts, including candles, ristras and chalk art, along with live local music.
The event runs from 3:00 to 8:00 p.m. Saturday and 11:00 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday. Tickets must be purchased online. Visit KUNM.org for more information.
Santa Fe-based lawyer and Trump ally says he’ll fight Georgia charges - Albuquerque Journal, KUNM News
John Eastman says he’ll fight the criminal charges he’s facing in Georgia. The Santa Fe-based attorney was one of 18 allies of Donald Trump to be indicted along with the former President for conspiring to overturn his 2020 defeat.
The Albuquerque Journal reports Eastman faces nine counts altogether.
He’s accused of conspiring to establish fake electors for Trump in Georgia, as well as trying to get former Vice President Mike Pence to reject certain votes for Joe Biden, and making false allegations in federal court in an attempt to overturn the results.
In a statement, representatives for Eastman said the activity set out in the indictment is political. They characterized the attorney’s charges as criminalizing legal advice, adding that, “Lawyers everywhere should be sleepless.”
They said the Santa Fe resident would challenge the Georgia charges “in any and all forums available to him.”
US wildlife managers agree to review the plight of a Western bird linked to piñon forests - By Susan Montoya Bryan Associated Press
U.S. wildlife managers announced Wednesday that they will investigate whether a bird that is inextricably linked to the piñon and juniper forests that span the Western United States warrants protection under the Endangered Species Act.
The pinyon jay's numbers have declined over the last half-century as persistent drought, more severe wildfires and other effects of climate change have intensified, leaving the birds with less food and fewer nesting options as more trees die or are removed.
Environmentalists also are concerned that without the pinyon jay — a social bird that essentially plants the next generation of trees by stashing away the seeds — it's possible the piñon forests of New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada and other Western states could face another reproductive hurdle.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's decision to review the jay's status comes in response to a petition filed more than a year ago that included research showing the species' numbers have declined by an estimated 80% over the last five decades, a rate even faster than that of the greater sage grouse.
"This decision moves us one step closer to reversing the trend of one of the fastest declining birds in North America," Peggy Darr of the group Defenders of Wildlife said in a statement. "Without pinyon jays, we stand to lose iconic Southwestern landscapes, cultures and cuisines intimately tied to piñon pine nuts."
Piñon-juniper forests cover more than 75,000 square miles (190,000 square kilometers) in the United States, and wildlife managers in several Western states already have classified the bird as a species of greatest conservation need.
Nearly 60% of the jay's remaining population can be found in New Mexico and Nevada, but its range also includes central Oregon and parts of California, Utah, Wyoming, Oklahoma and Mexico's northern Baja California.
Defenders of Wildlife pointed Wednesday to research published this year that indicated one hypothesis for the birds' decline was habitat loss and degradation due to climate change. Another was land management policies that call for the thinning or removal of piñon-juniper forests to reduce wildfire threats or improve habitat for other species. And development has resulted in the clearing of trees to make room for homes as Western cities expand.
Fewer trees mean less food for the birds, and previous research has shown that the jays will forgo breeding when piñons are scarce.
Pale blue with a white bib, the pinyon jay typically mates for life and can be choosey about where to build a nest. For example, taller and older trees aren't high on the list as they typically have less foliage and can double as perches for potential predators.
While environmentalists say there still is much research to be done on pinyon jays, it was well known by the 1970s that the birds' habits revolved around harvesting, stashing and later retrieving pine seeds. In one case, a researcher watched a bird carry 56 seeds in one trip.
Drought and high temperatures also have been shown to affect the production of piñon cones, forcing the birds to fan out over hundreds of miles when food is scarce.
Researchers have said that understanding the bird's needs and effects on its habitats will be fundamental to managing Western environments to ensure pinyon jay colonies can be protected.
The Fish and Wildlife Service also agreed to review the status of the bleached sandhill skipper, a butterfly with golden-orange wings that has been the focus of a fight over a geothermal energy project near the Nevada-Oregon state line.
The proposed power plant would be outside the butterfly's habitat, an alkali wetland that spans about 2 square miles (5 square kilometers). But environmentalists are concerned that tapping underground water sources likely would affect the flows that support plants where the butterflies lay eggs and get nectar.
Interest in Santa Fe Indian Market grows among vendors - Albuquerque Journal, KUNM News
Organizers of this weekend’s Santa Fe Indian Market say there was a 30% jump in applications to participate.
The Albuquerque Journal reports over 14-hundred vendors applied to the market and the Southwestern Association for Indian Arts, which runs the market, selected 1-thousand to participate. This year’s artists represent more than 200 tribes across the U.S. and Canada.
Painters and photographers made up the bulk of the uptick, but organizers also say they saw an increase in first-time applications from both younger and older people this year.
To accommodate a bigger market, organizers say the annual event will expand into Cathedral Park in addition to its usual site on the Santa Fe Plaza.
Spaceport paid out $130K in settlement with former employee - By Danielle Prokop,Source New Mexico
The New Mexico Spaceport Authority paid $130,000 to settle the lawsuit with former employee Karen Barker last month, according to court documents released Tuesday.
In the agreement, Barker agreed to drop the 2020 lawsuit alleging discrimination and retaliation when she worked for the agency between 2017 and 2019.
Barker sued both the agency and the former New Mexico Spaceport Authority CEO Dan Hicks, claiming they subjected her to “different, less favorable treatment than male counterparts,” while she was the Strategic Solutions Director.
Spaceport attorneys countered in motions that she wasn’t fired for sex discrimination, but due to “unfitness for management.”
The parties settled just before the trial scheduled for July 31.
The settlement does not equal any admission or fault on the New Mexico Spaceport Authority’s behalf. Most of the settlement paid Barker’s legal fees – totaling $117,000, the remaining $13,000 went directly to Barker, according to theagreement.
The settlement was part of a batch of 18 other settlements published on the New Mexico Sunshine Portal Tuesday. Before Tuesday, the portal would only show settlements issued before July 26. Instead, the portal would display a message reading “No records match your search.”
Thom Cole, a spokesperson for the General Services Department, did not return calls or respond to texted and emailed questions about why there were delays in publishing the 18 settlements, which totaled nearly $1.7 million.
Melanie Majors, the executive director for New Mexico Foundation for Open Government, said Friday the gap could be due to a backlog after a vacation.
“But, government shouldn’t stop because someone goes on vacation,” she said. “I question why the state would not have the site updated for such a timeframe, especially since these are required to be made available in a timely manner,”
State law requires settlements be made available for inspection on or after the date the settlement is signed by all parties.
In other near-space news, Virgin Galactic launched a commercial flight with three passengers, from Spaceport America, near Truth and Consequences on Aug. 10. The plans are to fly passengers in a suborbital flight once per month, with another flight scheduled for September.