Issue #12, September '09

5th Annual Gila River Festival Begins Thursday!

We’re ready for an exciting Gila River Fest to take place September 17 - 20. If you haven’t registered already for field trips, please call the office or register on-line at www.gilaconservation.org. Kayak trips and the birding field trip “Bird on Birds” are full. But we’ve still got more space for trips such as “Round River” – fishing trip with Dutch Salmon of GCC and Kent Salazar of NM Wildlife Federation—and “Charms of Cherry Creek: Wildflowers of the Gila National Forest” with Gene Jercinovic of the Gila Native Plant Society.

We’ve got plenty of FREE events during the weekend. The Silver City Farmers Market will be host to a number of fun family events, such as “Gila River Skit,” “What Would Aldo Leopold Do?,” “Who Lives Along the Gila River,” and “Aldo and the Wolf.” Gila Wilderness District Ranger Al Koss will be leading a FREE hike "The Wild in Wilderness" at the Gila Cliff Dwellings on Saturday at 10am. Carrie Tomlinson of the Gila Conservation Education Center is leading a FREE hike "Mystery Trail Tour" of the San Vicente Creek walking trail on Sunday. Meet at the Silver City Visitors Center at 8:45am.

The Silver City Downtown Gallery Association has organized a FREE gallery tour on Saturday from 2pm – 5pm. View paintings of local flora and fauna, landscape photographs, and fiber arts Lois Duffy, the artist that painted the image of Aldo Leopold for the Gila River Fest poster, will be hosting a gallery opening at 5pm at 211-C N. Texas St. JW Art Gallery in Hurley will have an opening reception “Gila Wilderness Landscapes” by Tom Holt on Sunday 6 pm – 8pm.

And remember our evening events all taking place at the Silco Theater in downtown Silver City. Tim Evans will be giving an Aldo Leopold Living History Performance on Thursday at 7pm. Conservation champion, Dave Foreman, will provide the keynote address Friday night at 7pm. An Aldo Leopold Film Festival will take place Saturday at 7pm.

Hope to see you at the Gila River Festival!

Interim Water and Natural Resources Committee to Meet Next Week in Silver City

State legislators will be gathering in Silver City next week for the Interim Water and Natural Resources Committee meeting to be held at the Grant County Business Center (old Stream Building) on Monday, September 21 and Tuesday, September 22. (Click here for agenda) Two key sessions will be held during the committee session. On Monday at 1:30 pm, the ISC and members of the Arizona Water Settlements Act stakeholders group will be providing an update on the AWSA planning process. Steve Harris of Rio Grande Restoration will be discussing Environmental River Flows at 9am on Tuesday. There is no public comment session listed on the agenda, but this is your opportunity to talk to legislators and tell them you support Gila River protection.

AWSA Planning Update

The Implementation/Technical Committee met last month to review progress on the Planning Framework and to reach consensus on priority expenditures for FY2010. The group has completed identification of desired future conditions and planning objectives and constraints. Progress has been made in completing assessment of current and future water needs. Supply studies have been completed and demand work will be conducted by June 2010. The group decided to issue another call for ideas for how to spend AWSA subsidy funds. Ideas are due by November 30 (click here for form) for consideration at the committee’s December 11 meeting.

To date, studies have been completed totaling ~$400K - $500K (i.e. 2009 Gila Science Forum, Economic Forum, supply studies, and information compilation). Stakeholders agreed on the following priorities for the remainder of the funding (~$300K - $400K) and work plans have been developed or are in process.

* Demand studies (agricultural and mining sectors; municipal demand management; water rights marketability) * Development of surface/groundwater interaction model * Screening level evaluation of Gila Basin Irrigation Commission projects * Retain services of facilitator

The results of the screening evaluation of Gila Basin Irrigation Commission project ideas will be presented at the next meeting of the Implementation/Technical Committee on October 26 at 1pm at the Grant County Administration Building.

LAST CALL: New Belgium Brewing "Vote for a Cause" Deadline September 30th

Help the Gila Conservation Coalition Win $10,000

Calling all friends of the Gila River. If you haven't voted for the Gila River yet at New Belgium Brewing's Skinny Dip site, you've got until September 30 to cast your vote for Gila River Conservation. The organization with the most votes wins $10,000 and we're currently in fourth place after a couple weeks in the number one position. Go to www.newbelgium.com and click on "How to Skinny Dip" and then "Vote for a Cause". Clicking on "Gila River Conservation" will register your vote. Thanks everyone for your support! The winner will be announced October 15. Help us to spread the word and forward this e-mail to a friend so that they can vote for Gila River Conservation!

Upcoming Meetings

• *Interim Water and Natural Resources Committee - September 21 - 22, 2009; Silver City. Monday 10 am – 5pm; Tuesday 9am – noon. Grant County Business Center, 3031 Highway 180 East, Silver City.
• Combined Implementation/Technical Committee and Stakeholders Group Meeting – Monday, October 26, 2009; 1 pm - 5 pm; Grant County Administration Building. * Implementation/Technical Committee Meeting, Friday, December 11; 8:30 am. Grant County Administration Building.

Issue #11, August '09

5th Annual Gila River Festival September 17 - 20: Online Registration Now Available!

By now, many of you have received Gila River Festival brochures in the mail. If you haven't received your paper copy, not to worry! The complete Festival schedule and event descriptions are available online at http://www.gilaconservation.org/5thannualgrf.shtml

You can also register online at the above address, and pay with PayPal or send us a check.

Scheduled for September 17 - 20, the 5th Annual Gila River Festival highlights the centennial of Aldo Leopold's legacy in the Southwest and features guided birding, archaeology, wolf, wildflower and natural history hikes; kayak trips down the Gila River; keynote address by Dave Foreman; living history performance with Tim Evans portraying Aldo Leopold; gallery tour and reception; Aldo Leopold Film Festival; and much more.

See you at the Gila River Festival!

New Belgium Brewing "Vote for a Cause" Deadline Approaching: Help the Gila Conservation Coalition Win $10,000

Calling all friends of the Gila River. If you haven't voted for the Gila River yet at New Belgium Brewing's Skinny Dip site, you've got until September 30 to cast your vote for Gila River Conservation. The organization with the most votes wins $10,000 and we're currently in second place (17% of votes) after a couple weeks in the number one position. American Rivers is in first place with 23% of the votes. Go to www.newbelgium.com and click on "How to Skinny Dip" and then "Vote for a Cause". Clicking on "Gila River Conservation" will register your vote. Thanks everyone for your support! The winner will be announced October 15. Help us to spread the word and forward this e-mail to a friend so that they can vote for Gila River Conservation!

AWSA Forum Reports Available

The final reports for the Gila Economic Forum and 2009 Science Forum held in May and June are both available for download at www.awsaplanning.com . These forums were held to inform the planning process as stakeholders move ahead to reach consensus on how to best utilize the federal subsidy and Gila Basin water under the Arizona Water Settlements Act.

Upcoming Meetings

• Implementation/Technical Committee Meeting - Wednesday, September 9, 2009; 1 pm - 5 pm; Grant County Administration Building.
• Interim Water and Natural Resources Committee - September 21 - 22, 2009; Silver City. Location TBA
• Implementation/Technical Committee/Stakeholders Group meetings - Monday, October 16, 2009; 1pm - 5 pm; Grant County Administration Building.

Issue #10, July '09

Dear Friends of the Gila River:

Here’s the latest news from the Gila Conservation Coalition. Hope to see you at our 25th Anniversary Party at the River!

CELEBRATE NEW MEXICO’S LAST WILD RIVER: GCC 25th Anniversary Party on the Gila!

We think it’s a safe bet that you’re really busy and don’t take enough time to enjoy our beautiful Gila River. So we’re extending an official party invitation to you to visit the river, hear some great music and stories, eat delicious food, and have fun with your friends, too. Call it multi-tasking if that’s what it takes to get you out there.

This year, the Gila Conservation Coalition is celebrating its 25th anniversary. We want to thank you, our friends and supporters, for helping us to protect the Gila River over the past two and a half decades from short-sighted attempts to divert water from the last free-flowing river in the state.

Please join us for a party on Saturday, July 25, from 3 to 9 pm. We’ll be playing at the river at the Mogollon Box Campground in Cliff. From 3-6 pm, we’ll have games for kids and adults, in and out of the water. At 6 pm, GCC will BBQ food for meat-eaters and vegetarians. Please bring a potluck dish to share. Andrew Dahl-Bredine will entertain us with his original songwriting, folk and world music, starting around 7 pm. And when dusk starts to fall, we’ll gather around the campfire to hear the adventures of the GCC founders and share stories about our good times on the Gila River.

Please plan to bring: a potluck dish, plate, cup & eating utensils, swimsuit and water toys, hat, sunscreen, water, and your stories about the Gila.

Directions to Mogollon Box Campground: From Silver City: Hwy 180 west to Cliff. Turn right onto Hwy 211. At the bottom of the hill, take a left onto Hwy 293 (Box Canyon Rd). After about 5 miles, Hwy 293 turns to dirt. Stay on this road all the way down to the river, where you’ll see signs for the GCC party.

Please RSVP so that we have enough food on hand. 575.538.8078. See you at the river!

You may have received an invitation in the mail. If not, it’s because we don’t have your mailing address. Please let us know if you’d like to be on our mailing list.

AWSA Planning Process Holds Forums on Economics, Science and Water Supply

The Arizona Water Settlements Act (AWSA) Stakeholders Group held three forums to further the public’s understanding of available economic tools for water planning, a potential framework for evaluating hypothetical withdrawals from the Gila River, and preliminary information on water supply in southwestern New Mexico. The AWSA planning process was established to reach consensus on how to utilize the AWSA in a cost-effective manner to balance historical and future demands for water against uncertain supply while protecting the environment.

The Gila Economic Forum was held May 28 and brought together eight experts to present a range of decision-making tools available for water planning under the AWSA. Dr. David Gutzler, climatologist at the University of New Mexico, described the predicted impacts of climate change on Gila River flows. “Streamflows in southwestern rivers, especially in snow-fed rivers like the Gila, are expected to decrease significantly in this century. It is possible that the Gila Basin could lose its snowpack altogether by the end of the 21st Century, effectively eliminating seasonal snowmelt runoff. Streamflows from late winter into early summer would decrease most markedly.” These predictions have serious implications for efforts to spend millions to divert water from the Gila River under the AWSA. If flows become significantly diminished, why build a large scale diversion project that may not be used given the constraints of the AWSA, endangered species and other considerations? Lower-cost alternatives are available to the region to meet future water needs that do not rely on an unreliable surface water supply. Read more here.

An update on these reports and subsequent planning tasks will be discussed at the July 13 AWSA Implementation/Technical Committee meeting (see calendar and link to agenda below).

Vote for Gila River Conservation on the New Belgium Brewing “Skinny Dip” Site

Since water makes up 90% of their beer, New Belgium Brewing Company has taken an active role in advocating for clean water. The Gila River is now on the company’s list of potential grant awards, but we need your help to receive $10,000 in funding. Visit New Belgium’s site at www.newbelgium.com/skinnydip, click on “Vote for a Cause” and cast your vote for “Gila River Conservation.” The winner is the advocacy group with the most votes, so please send this to your friends and family and get them to vote for us. Thanks!

Calendar of Upcoming Events

• AWSA Implementation/Technical Committee Monthly Meeting – July 13, 2009; 1:00 – 4:00 pm Grant County Administration Building. Click here for agenda.
• AWSA Stakeholders Group Quarterly Meeting – July 13, 2009; 6:00 – 8:00 pm; Grant County Administration Building. Click here for agenda.
• GCC 25th Anniversary Party at the Gila – July 25, 2009; 3:00 – 9:00 pm; Mogollon Box Campground (see directions above)
• AWSA Implementation/Technical Committee Monthly Meeting – August 3, 2009; 10:00 am Grant County Administration Building
• 5th Annual Gila River Festival – September 17 – 20, 2009; Silver City. Visit http://www.gilaconservation.org/5thannualgrf.shtml for more information.

Issue #9, May '09

Dear Friends of the Gila River:

Here’s the latest news from the Gila Conservation Coalition. As you start to plan your summer vacations, mark your calendar for GCC’s 25th Anniversary Party at the River. Hope to see you in July!

Update: Arizona Water Settlements Act Planning

The Arizona Water Settlements Act (AWSA) Stakeholders Group is poised to initiate a number of water supply, demand and ecological studies that will assist the region in assessing the future water supply needs of the four-county area. The AWSA provides New Mexico consumptive use of an additional 14,000 acre-feet of water per year from the Gila and San Francisco Rivers and a federal subsidy of $66 million to meet water supply needs regardless of whether additional water is developed in the Upper Gila Basin. The AWSA planning process was established to facilitate consensus on how to utilize the AWSA in a cost-effective manner to balance historical and future water demands against uncertain supply while protecting the environment.

In 2008, the legislature made available $800K for the AWSA planning process, and the Stakeholders Group, through its Implementation Committee, has allocated that funding for contractor support for development of planning studies and other services, such as facilitation, data compilation, communications coordination, and modeling. A draft work plan is being reviewed and discussed for water supply/demand studies. A public forum is scheduled in June to present and receive public input on ecological study questions and design that will be incorporated into a work plan for ecological studies.

GCC is strongly encouraging that a public forum or workshop be organized to obtain public input on the water supply/demand study work plan. These assessments are critical for objective evaluation of the water supply needs for southwestern New Mexico. In the past, projections of water demand have been greatly exaggerated in an effort to justify development of Gila River water.

Later this month, an economics forum will be held to provide the public with an overview of the economics tools available to assist in the AWSA planning process.

• Gila Economic Forum – May 28; 8 am – 5pm; Global Resource Center Auditorium, Western New Mexico University, 12th and Kentucky Streets, Silver City. Topics include: • benefit methodologies for residential, agricultural and commercial water use • tools for determining economic values of instream flow • valuing multidimensional ecosystem services • demographic and economic trends • projected hydrological climate change • flexible water allocation mechanisms
• Gila Ecological Studies Forum – June 3 – 4; Global Resource Center, WNMU. Agenda forthcoming.

Dave Foreman to Speak at the 5th Annual Gila River Festival

The 5th annual Gila River Festival, September 17-20, features prominent author, conservationist, and environmental historian Dave Foreman as our keynote speaker. Other Festival highlights include an Aldo Leopold Living History performance, natural history and birding field trips, kayak trips, kids’ activities, and much more.

The full Festival schedule will be posted on our website in July, and online registration will begin in August. For more information about the 5th Annual Gila River Festival or to request a Festival brochure, email us at info@gilaconservation.org call 575.538.8078.

River Otters: Returning Soon to the Gila River

otterskissing.jpgOnce abundant in New Mexico’s rivers and streams, river otters played an important role in river ecology by helping to maintain balance between native fish and other aquatic species. After an absence of more than five decades, this important keystone species will soon be reintroduced on the Gila River, and The Nature Conservancy has made available its Gila River Preserve as a home for these playful mammals.

The Upper Gila Watershed Alliance (UGWA), a partner in the Gila Conservation Coalition, has received funding for a biological assessment, a crucial step in the reintroduction process. Once the paperwork is completed, otters will be transported here from the state of Washington. If all goes as planned, we can welcome otters back to the Gila, perhaps as early as this fall. For more information, call UGWA at 313-2203.

GCC Upcoming Events Calendar

• May 11 - AWSA Implementation Committee Meeting. 10am; Grant County Administration Building, Silver City.
• May 28 - Gila Economic Forum. 8am - 5pm; Global Resource Center Auditorium, WNMU, 12th and Kentucky Streets, Silver City.
• June 3, 4 - Gila Ecological Studies Forum. Global Resource Center, WNMU
• May 30 - Next Meeting of San Augustin Water Coalition. 6pm, Datil Gym.The San Augustin Water Coalition would like to invite you to the annual meeting of protestants to the Augustin Plains Ranch LLC attempted water grab. Bruce Frederick of the New Mexico Environmental Law Center will be present to bring us up to date from his perspective on what has transpired since the amended application was filed. The meeting will begin at 6:00 PM (registration at 5:00 PM) in the Gym in Datil on Saturday, May 30th. We are in the process of recruiting other speakers that can bring new and helpful information to this proceeding. For more information, contact Lucy Cloyes at 575.772.537r or lcloyes@gilanet.com.

Issue #8, February '09

Mark Your Calendars!!

* MARCH 2 - AWSA Implementation Committee; regular quarterly meeting - 10 am, Grant County Administration Building, Silver City.

* APRIL 4 -AWSA Stakeholders Group; regular quarter meeting - 8:30 am - 1 pm, Grant County Administration Building, Silver City.

Dear Friends of the Gila River,

We're pleased to continue to provide you with updates on issues associated with the Gila River. In this issue, you'll find:

• Gila Conservation Coalition: Saving New Mexico's Last Wild River Since 1984
• M. H. "Dutch" Salmon Receives Lifetime Achievement Award at the 3RD Annual Gila River Day
• Gila River Photo Exhibit at Albuquerque Open Space Visitor Center February 15 - April 12, 2009
• Gila Conservation Coalition 25th Anniversary Celebration

Gila Conservation Coalition: Saving New Mexico's Last Wild River Since 1984

2009 marks the Gila Conservation Coalition's 25th year of working to protect the Gila River. Founded in 1984 by GCC's current chairman, Dutch Salmon, the late Bob Langsingkamp, Herbie Marsden, Jack Brennan and Jim Goodkind, the organization is known for its success in stopping the Hooker and Conner Dam proposals in the 1980s. GCC was instrumental in calling attention to the huge environmental and economic impacts of these large-scale water development projects. The Hooker Dam would have flooded part of the Gila Wilderness, our nation's first wilderness area. The Conner Dam and its alternative, the Mangas Diversion, were so costly that Silver City was unwilling to sign on to the repayment contract. Once these dam projects were laid to rest, GCC achieved protection of the East Fork of the Gila River from road building and partial closure of the wild San Francisco River to ORV use.

But in 2004, the water developers were back and the Arizona Water Settlements Act was passed providing New Mexico with a federal subsidy and the ability to develop up to 14,000 acre-feet/year of Gila River water. The Gila Conservation Coalition sprang back into action and reconfigured itself. By forming a partnership between local environmental and conservation groups - Gila Resources Information Project, Upper Gila Watershed Alliance and the Center for Biological Diversity - GCC expanded its base of support and political strength. Working as a coalition, GCC partners are able to leverage scarce resources across partner organizations and enhance collaboration at the local level.

For the past five years, GCC has lead Gila River protection efforts at the federal, state and local levels. Through the annual Gila River Festival, Gila River Photography Exhibit, annual Gila River Day at the state capitol, America's Most Endangered Rivers designation and the Gila River outreach campaign, GCC has been successful at raising awareness of the threat to the Gila and the need for its protection.

GCC continues to advocate for Gila River protection in planning processes under the Arizona Water Settlements Act. Our position is that a fair analysis of water supply/demand management alternatives to meet our future water needs will demonstrate that the "no diversion options" are both feasible and more economically sound and will also protect the Gila River for future generations.
GCC will be celebrating its 25th anniversary throughout 2009. Check out some of the activities we're planning below in this e-newsletter.

M. H. "Dutch" Salmon Receives Lifetime Achievement Award at the 3RD Annual Gila River Day

In contrast to the slow pace of laid-back New Mexico, the Roundhouse is full of buzz and excitement during the annual legislative session. It's always fun to add our annual Gila River Day event to the mix of legislating and lobbying.

award.jpgOn February 4th, at the 3rd annual Gila River Day, Lieutenant Governor Diane Denish, Representative Mimi Stewart and GCC Executive Director, Allyson Siwik presented a Lifetime Achievement Award to M. H. "Dutch" Salmon for his 25 years of work on behalf of the Gila River, the Gila and Aldo Leopold Wilderness areas and New Mexico's wildlife.

The chairman and co-founder of the Gila Conservation Coalition, Salmon was instrumental in preventing the construction of the ill-conceived Hooker and Conner Dams on the Gila River in the 1980s. Dutch is a two-term member of the New Mexico Game Commission and has served on the boards of the New Mexico Wildlife Federation and Quivira Coalition, among others. He also served on the Interstate Stream Commission in the late 1980's. Dutch is the author of several books, including the Southwestern classic Gila Descending and the recently released Gila Libre! A member of the New Mexico Game Commission, he still finds time for fishing, hunting, and running his publishing business, High Lonesome Books.

In presenting the conservation award, Lieutenant Governor Diane Denish spoke about the beautiful Gila River and Dutch's efforts on its behalf. Representative Mimi Stewart said she "didn't even know where the Gila was" until she went on a GCC-sponsored raft trip two years ago, and that she supports protecting this jewel of a river. The award was a surprise to Dutch, who quickly recovered and exhibited his usual eloquence in speaking on behalf of his beloved Gila River.

The audience was also treated to the premiere of GCC's new video, Saving the Gila: New Mexico's Last Wild River. You can check it out at www.gilaconservation.org .

Gila River Photo Exhibit at Albuquerque Open Space Visitor Center February 15 - April 12, 2009

As the 5th largest state, New Mexico covers a lot of territory. If you want to visit the free-flowing Gila River, but don't want to drive for several hours to do so, there's another way to get a taste of the Gila's beauty and unique ecology. Until April 12th, the Albuquerque Open Space Visitor Center is hosting stunning photos of the Gila River, along with an informational display.

After this glimpse of the wild Gila River, no doubt you'll want to visit it in person, to experience its charms with all of your senses. Here at the Gila Conservation Coalition, we're working hard to ensure that the Gila River remains wild and free-flowing, today, tomorrow, and forever.
The Albuquerque Open Space Visitor Center is located at 6500 Coors Boulevard NW, between Montaño and Paseo del Norte. For more information, call 505.897.8831 or visit www.cabq.gov/openspace

Gila Conservation Coalition 25th Anniversary Celebration

Issue #7, February '09

Dear Friends of the Gila River,

We're pleased to continue to provide you with updates on issues associated with the Gila River.

AWSA Stakeholders Provide Input on "Desired Future Conditions"

What is your vision of a water future for Southwestern New Mexico? About 30 stakeholders from the area spent a beautiful Saturday morning at a recent workshop designed to solicit input on this important question. The meeting was held as part of the Arizona Water Settlements Act (AWSA) water planning process that was established to find consensus on how to utilize the AWSA in a cost-effective manner to balance historical and future water demands against uncertain supply while protecting the environment. The AWSA provides New Mexico consumptive use of an additional 14,000 acre-feet of water per year from the Gila and San Francisco Rivers and a federal subsidy of $66 million to meet water supply needs regardless of whether additional water is developed in the Upper Gila Basin.

Definition of Desired Future Conditions (DFC) is the first step in outlining planning objectives, strategies and alternatives for the AWSA water planning process. For instance, if one's vision is for a dependable supply of water to meet the needs of the various interests in the region, what are the strategies that might be used to meet this objective? They might be water reuse strategies, water conservation, groundwater management, etc.

Stakeholders representing municipal and state governments, irrigators, conservation community, business sector and general public were given 5 minutes each to present their DFC statement and supporting information. Not surprisingly, there was common ground among most stakeholders around the theme of sustainable balance of our water resources, with many mentioning the need to do this in a cost-effective manner. Water conservation in the municipal, agricultural and industrial sectors was also highlighted as a critical need. Read more

Give us feedback on this article here.

Note: The AWSA Planning Process maintains a webpage that contains meeting agendas, minutes, and presentations from all of the Stakeholder Group meetings at www.awsaplanning.com

Gila River Festival Songwriting Competition Winner "Banks of the Gila" Now Available for Download

"The song isn't factual, and it takes liberties, but it's based on my real experiences at the Gila River," said singer-songwriter Wally Lawder. The 4th annual Gila River Festival featured a songwriting competition, and there were two winners: Wally Lawder and Jeff Goin, both local songwriters.

The two winning songs debuted at the Dance for the Rio Gila during the Gila River Festival in September. Lawder's song, Banks of the Gila, was written over the span of two months, as it evolved from "a commercial jingle into a real song." And not just "real," but lovely, too!

Two local recording studios donated professional recording sessions as prizes for the winning songs. We owe big thanks to the studios for their contribution to the Gila River Festival and to the local music scene. Wally recorded his song at Mountain Air Productions. Jeff Goin's song, Roll On, Gila River, will be recorded at Barefoot Studio by the Silver City String Beans. Watch for it on our website soon. Both songs will be featured on KSIL, a Silver City radio station featuring folk, alt-country, bluegrass, roots rock, and more fine music. To listen to Banks of the Gila, click here.

A Water Grab on the San Augustine Plains could alter the Gila

By Guest Contributor, Mary Katherine Ray

The Plains of San Augustine in south central New Mexico are a long way from the Gila River across the Continental Divide. Looking across the vast concave landscape ringed by mountains it seems like an enormous bowl of grass and not much else.

The plains are the remnant of what once was a huge lake which dried up about 10,000 years ago. All the rain that falls on the mountains ringing the Plains drains into them. But for a lake to persist, the amount of rainfall has to exceed the amount of water that is lost from evaporation and percolation. 10,000 years ago, the climate changed and the amount of rainfall decreased, so that now more water evaporates or percolates to groundwater thus drying up this ancient lake. It turns out the basin is a leaky one and this water doesn't just go underground and stay there. A 1973 New Mexico Tech hydrology report concluded that the water seeping into the plains leaks out from under them to supply the headwaters of the Gila River.

A water well application has been submitted to the New Mexico State Engineer's office by Augustin Ranch LLC, a private corporation owning land near Datil at the north end of the plains. The plan calls for drilling 37 wells with 20-inch well casings to a depth of 3,000 feet in order pump out 54,000 acre feet of water a year from under the San Augustine Plains. That is over 17 billion gallons that will be removed annually. The application states that the intent for the water is to pipe it over to the Rio Grande to make up for shortfalls caused by over-consumption upstream. This amount could supply water to an entire city over twice the size of Las Cruces and could deplete the aquifer in only a few decades. Not only would neighboring landowners discover their wells running dry, surface springs would disappear and water that makes its way to the Gila River would wind up in the Rio Grande instead. The entire region would be placed at risk of catastrophic loss.

John Muir said, "When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe", and never was that more true than with the San Augustine Plains water grab. The list of protests received by the State Engineer's Office, approximately 500, reveals how far reaching the water grab actually is. Ranchers, concerned citizens, Indian tribes, acequias and government agencies at the local, state and federal level all submitted protests. So did the Gila Conservation Coalition (Click here for more inof on GCC's protest). You can still be involved even though the time for official protest has passed. If you'd like to help, contact Carol Pittman who lives right next door to the proposed pumping sites at pittray@gilanet.com to get updates and find out how.

GIVE US FEEBACK HERE
The author is also a protestant who lives on the south side of the Plains.

5th Annual Gila River Festival to Begin Planning

Autumn Turkey Creek Dennis Okeefe.jpgPlease join us for the kick-off planning meeting for the 5th annual Gila River Festival, scheduled for September 17 - 20, 2009. Next year's festival theme will highlight the centennial of Aldo Leopold's conservation legacy in the southwest.

Come with your energy and ideas to make next year's festival another successful event!

We'll meet on Tuesday, December 9 at 10 am in the GRIP office at 305A North Cooper St. in Silver City.

Ongoing Improvements to GCC Website

We'd like to let you know about a few new features we've added to our website:

1) Internal search engine.
You can now enter keywords to do a quick and easy search of all content in our site, including PDF's.

2) Plogger Photo Gallery.
Our new online gallery is growing, with over 150 pictures from this year's Gila River Festival, plus an expanding cache of images from other GCC events, like Gila River Day and workshop photos. Check out our collection of fine art photos portraying the awesome beauty of the Gila River in its free-flowing state. Double click on any thumbnail to view a larger version of each picture. You can even post comments online!

If you have photos from previous festivals or GCC events that you'd like to share, please email them to us or get instructions for uploading many images, so that everyone else can enjoy them too!

3) We Want Your Feedback on GCC articles.
Through GoogleDocs, we have now set up a place for you to share comments and ideas at the end of many of our online articles. Your thoughts are valuable to us in our work to preserve the Gila, New Mexico's last free-flowing river.

Issue #6, October '08

We're pleased to continue to provide you with updates on issues associated with the Gila River. Read below of the many exciting happenings since our last e-newsletter and important upcoming events. And please forward this e-mail on to friends and family whom you think would be interested. Thanks for helping us spread the news!

• 4^th Annual Gila River Festival highlights and thank you's
• River Otters Return to the Gila - public forum October 23; 7pm
• AWSA Planning Process to hold workshop on "desired future conditions" - October 25; 9 am
• AWSA Implementation Committee Special Meeting - October 25; 1:30pm
  

4th Annual Gila River Festival Highlights:
Celebration Inspired All!

Held during a beautiful September weekend, this year's successful Gila River Festival "A Source of Inspiration" was not only an opportunity to celebrate the Gila River through the eyes of artists, writers, musicians and performance artists, but also for participants to engage in the creative process themselves.  Check out the fun by viewing the photo gallery of Gila River Festival images. 

2008 Guggenheim Fellow Michael Berman (www.fragmentedimages.com) led two outdoor photography workshops. Aspiring photographers were thrilled to get expert advice from Berman, whose black and white photographs have appeared in Charles Bowden's Inferno, as well as many other publications. The Gila River Festival, along with Blue Dome Gallery, also hosted an opening of Berman's Gila River photos.

Saturday was a big day for the Gila River Festival in downtown Silver City. The 75 foot long Gila River mural was dedicated on the corner of Bullard and Yankie streets. The Mimbres Region Arts Council's Faye McCalmont and artist Diana Ingalls-Leyba, the driving forces behind Silver City's mural program, introduced conceptual artist Zoe Wolfe, who talked about the mural's evolving design. Created by kids during the MRAC Youth Mural Camp this past summer, the young student-artists pointed out the plants and animals they had painted and rendered in colorful tile work. 

Saturday evening, participants heard the debut of the two winners of the Gila River Festival songwriting contest, when Wally Lawder played his original composition Banks of the Gila and the Silver City String Beans did a cover of Jeff Goin's Roll On, Gila River. Winners of the songwriting contest received a professional recording of their songs, generously donated by local recording studios, Barefoot Studio and Mountain Air Productions. The next surprise was a long - 11 minute! - ballad, The Flood of 2009,  written and performed by Gurnie Dobbs of Gila. Edie and the Silver Blue Roots continued the river theme with their first number, and filled the dance floor for a few hours with their infectious R&B jams. 

The Gila River Festival also featured a nature writing workshop on the river with Silver City's Sharman Apt Russell, author of several books, including Anatomy of a Rose, An Obsession with Butterflies, and the recently published Standing in the Light.  

The festival keynote speaker, art historian Dr. Gray Sweeney, kicked off the event with his entertaining talk on the role of art in the settling of the Southwest. Highlighting the artists associated with the US-Mexico Boundary Survey, beginning in 1848, Sweeney zoomed in on painting details, many of which featured angels beckoning settlers to the lands along the Gila River. 

Friday night's community performance, "The Elements: Forces of Nature" featured music, dance, and poetry performed by community members of all ages.  The program told the story of the elements - water, earth, air, fire - through the myth of the Goddess Sophia.   

And outdoor enthusiasts were treated to a variety of field trips and workshops - truly something for everyone. The most popular events, selling out within two weeks, were the two kayak trips on the Gila. Guides Steve Harris (Far-Flung Adventures, Rio Grande Restoration), Todd Schulke (Center for Biological Diversity) and Adrian Oglesby (The Nature Conservancy) showed participants how to float the mellow stretch of the Gila from Mogollon Creek down to The Nature Conservancy's Gila River Farm in the Cliff-Gila Valley. Along the way, kayakers were treated to stories about the natural history of the river, and threats to its ecological integrity. 

Rock art photographer Anthony Howell led a field trip to the Gila Lower Box, where hikers enjoyed the beauty of a stunning canyon and observed pictographs and a granary, artifacts of the area's Native American population. On a separate trip to the Lower Box, led by HawkWatch International's Mike Neal, birders scanned the skies for migrating raptors. One highlight of their day was a good look at an immature Golden Eagle. Another birding trip took birders far upstream, to glimpse water birds at Lake Roberts. 

Thank You! 

The Gila Conservation Coalition and festival organizers thank all of the wonderful foundation supporters, sponsors, presenters and volunteers that helped us organize a successful 4^th Annual Gila River Festival.   

The 4^th Annual Gila River Festival was supported in part by the New Mexico Humanities Council, Kalliopeia Foundation, New Mexico Arts--a division of the Department of Cultural Affairs, the National Endowment for the Arts, McCune Charitable Foundation, and Silver City Lodgers Tax. 

Major sponsors

Trail of the Mountain Spirits National Scenic Byway

Center for Biological Diversity

Mimbres Region Arts Council.

Home after 50 Years: River Otters Return to the Gila

Public forum with:
M.H. Dutch Salmon
Gila Conservation Coalition
Rachel Conn
Amigos Bravos
Steve MacDonald
Upper Gila Watershed Alliance


Thursday, October 23, 2008

7:00 pm
Silco Theatre, downtown Silver City 

Learn about how river otters disappeared from the Gila and the reintroduction efforts to recover this important species. 

For more information on our speakers and their presentations, click here.

Arizona Water Settlements Act Planning Process to Hold Workshop on "Desired Future Conditions"  

The Arizona Water Settlements Act (AWSA) Stakeholder Group will hold a workshop on Saturday, October 25 at 9 am at the Grant County Administration Building on stakeholders' ideas for the future of water management in southwestern New Mexico over the next 40 to 50 years.  Presenters will be given 5 minutes each to briefly describe specific future conditions he/she would like to see for the entire region, in specific geographical areas, or particular water use sectors (agricultural, ranching, municipal, industrial, environmental, etc.). 

The Southwest New Mexico Stakeholder Group was formed to find consensus on how to utilize the AWSA in a cost effective manner to balance historical and future water demands against uncertain supply while protecting the environment.  The AWSA provides New Mexico consumptive use of an additional 14,000 acre-feet of water per year from the Gila and San Francisco Rivers and a federal subsidy of $66 million to meet water supply needs regardless of whether additional water is developed in the Upper Gila Basin. 

AWSA Implementation Committee to Hold Special Meeting  

Southwest New Mexico Stakeholder Group
to Review Arizona Water Settlements Act
New Mexico Process Framework

Gila River Festival Song Writing Competition
Deadline: August 15

Gila River Festival: Call for Exhibitors
Deadline:  June 30

Gila River Festival: Volunteers Needed

Gila River Festival Accepting Youth Art Show Entries

Southwest New Mexico Stakeholder Group
to Review Arizona Water Settlements Act New Mexico Process Framework

At the request of the Southwest New Mexico Stakeholder Group, the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) has developed a draft framework to guide the planning process under the Arizona Water Settlements Act (AWSA), entitled “Arizona Water Settlements Act New Mexico Process Framework.”

The draft document will be reviewed at the Stakeholder Group’s next meeting on June 21.

The AWSA planning process was established in October 2007 to determine how best to utilize the AWSA in a cost-effective manner to balance historical and future demand for water against uncertain supply while protecting the environment.

The New Mexico Process Framework will provide a planning structure to:

• Conduct comprehensive baseline studies to identify current and future water supply and demand in the four-county area of southwestern New Mexico;
  

• Identify a broad and balanced range of water supply alternatives that close the gap between supply and demand and evaluate each with a common and agreed upon set of criteria.

The Process Framework will guide development of a needs assessment documenting the region’s current water sources and uses, baseline biological and watershed conditions, future projected water demand, and water development alternatives. Alternatives will then be categorized and screened to eliminate those options with fatal flaws based on a set of yet-to-be-defined criteria (e.g., technical, social, economic, environmental, institutional, and legal feasibility; acceptability to public; costs; risk and uncertainty; etc.) Based on this screening analysis, alternatives will be selected for further development and analysis.

The next meeting of the Southwest New Mexico Stakeholder Group will be Saturday, June 21, 2008, in the Grant County Administration Center, from 8:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

Visit the GCC Gila Settlement Implementation webpage for a complete listing of Stakeholder Group workshop reports and other materials.

4th Annual Gila River Festival
September 18 - 21

The fourth annual Gila River Festival, scheduled for September 18-21, 2008, is an opportunity to celebrate the Gila River as a source of inspiration. The theme for the festival will bring together experts and laypersons, artists and scientists from many disciplines, to converge on the topic of the Gila River as experienced through creative expression. Through rock art, nature writing, field sketching, weaving, song writing, performance and photography, we will bridge the arts and sciences through active discussion and demonstration. The festival format will include intensive workshops co-led by artists and scientists, a keynote speaker, lectures, hikes, and performance over a four-day period. Visit us on the web for a complete list of festival events and activities.

Gila River Festival Song Writing Competition
Deadline: August 15

Get in touch with your personal muse,and write a song worthy of our beloved Gila River!

The Gila River Festival is soliciting original songs about the Gila River. Winning songs will be premiered on Saturday evening of the festival, September 20, 2008, at Isaac’s in downtown Silver City.

Two winners will each receive a professional recording session for their prize-winning song at a Silver City recording studio.

For songwriting rules and entry form, click here or call 575.538.8078.

Gila River Festival: Call for Exhibitors
Deadline: June 30

The Gila River Festival is looking for organizations to set up exhibits/info tables for two events at the historic Silco Theatre in downtown Silver City:

• Keynote speaker, art historian Gray Sweeney: “Dreams of Angels and Dust Storms: An Evening on the Rio Gila in 1848,”Thursday, September 18, 7 – 9 pm
  

• Community performance, Friday, September 19, 7 – 9 pm

There is no fee for a booth space. Exhibitors must provide their own table. SETUP BEGINS AT 6 pm on Thursday, September 18.

For more information, call Allyson Siwik at (575) 538-8078 or info@gilaconservation.org

PLEASE RESPOND BY JUNE 30 TO ENSURE YOUR SPACE AT THE FESTIVAL!

Gila River Festival: Volunteers Needed

Volunteering for the Gila River Festival is a great way to spend time at the enchanting Gila River. Festival events include workshops, hikes, art openings, dance, community performance, and our keynote speaker’s presentation.
We will need volunteers to help out with workshops and hikes (i.e. check attendance, assist leader, and collect evaluation forms) and other festival activities. We will waive registration fees for workshop and hike volunteers.
If you’d like to attend an event free of charge, in exchange for a small amount of work, please contact Donna Stevens at 575.388.5296 or donnastevens@aznex.net.

Gila River Festival Accepting
Youth Art Show Entries

Organizers of the fourth annual Gila River Festival are looking for youth of all ages to submit entries that illustrate the 2008 festival’s theme: Celebrating the Gila River as a Source of Inspiration.

Youth are invited to submit their original work for the youth art show to the Upper Gila Watershed Alliance no later than September 1, 2008. Any 2-D or 3-D media will be accepted. Entries should represent some aspect of the Gila River. Entries will be on display at the Silco Theater during the Gila River Festival, Saturday, September 20, and Sunday, September 21.

Entries must be received by September 1 by the Upper Gila Watershed Alliance at P.O. Box 383, Gila, NM88038.

Entries will be returned only if accompanied by a self-addressed, stamped envelope, or may be picked up from the Alliance after September 21.

Entries must have the artist's name, address, phone or e-mail. Digital entries may also be sent to director@ugwa.org.

For more information about the festival art show, call Melanie Gasparich at (575) 313-2203.

During this year’s legislative session, the Gila Conservation Coalition along with its conservation partners from around New Mexico, and state elected officials will come together for the 2nd Annual Gila River Day. The event is an opportunity to learn about Gila River restoration and protection efforts and the latest in the Gila planning process under the Arizona Water Settlements Act.

SPECIAL GUESTS INCLUDE:

Lieutenant Governor Diane Denish
Representative Mimi Stewart
Estevan Lopez, Director, Interstate Stream Commission
Ron Curry, Secretary, New Mexico Environment Department
Bruce Thompson, Director, New Mexico Department of Game and Fish
Sandy Buffett, Executive Director, Conservation Voters of New Mexico

Presentation of “Champion of the Gila River” award to
Governor Bill Richardson

Additionally, a number of local, state, and national conservation groups, will be on-hand with information about their Gila River conservation efforts.

Gila River Day is sponsored by the Gila Conservation Coalition in partnership with Center for Biological Diversity, New Mexico Wildlife Federation, Gila Resources Information Project, Upper Gila Watershed Alliance, Gila Native Plant Society, Southwest New Mexico Audubon, Amigos Bravos, Environment New Mexico, The Nature Conservancy, Rio Grande Restoration, Audubon New Mexico, Far-flung Adventures and Conservation Voters of New Mexico.

Please join us for Gila River Day on Tuesday, January 29, from 1:30 to 2:30 pm, in the State Capitol Rotunda in Santa Fe. Light refreshments will be served.

  by M.H. "Dutch" Salmon
Gila Conservation Coalition Chair

Best I recall, I met Mike because I needed someone to fix my truck. This would have been the early 1980s. A mutual friend, the late Bob Langsenkamp, had told me central Grant County was the “old hippie burial ground,” and when I first saw Mike at his shop (we both lived in the Mimbres at the time) I thought, "Bob's right again; here's another one!" Looking like John Muir, but of placid rather than fiery demeanor, Mike proved a bundle of contradictions, with the trappings of a live-for-today lifestyle but in reality a careful and competent mechanic and a quiet but bulldog tenacity for the right cause. We soon both found one in the Gila River.

I fished. Mike was struck by the river's beauty. We both floated it, but neither one of us was going to let the State Engineer, the Bureau of Reclamation (BoR), or the local boosters sully our playground with Hooker Dam or Conner Dam or the Mangas Diversion. And so the redneck enviro and the hippie enviro started the Gila Conservation Coalition. And we started kicking butt. I got appointed to the Interstate Stream Commission, but Herbie Marsden and Jim Goodkind and especially Mike did all the dirty work: lobbying, organizing, writing letters to the editor, satirizing and making sense of the untenable economics of a boondoggle project. And when the big public hearing came to Light Hall in 1986, the river's friends outnumbered the dam builders; a gut shot as it turned out. As one BoR engineer told me: "When a big federal water project can't get majority support in the town it's supposed to benefit, that project is in trouble."

Later, Mike would journey with me to a hearing at Glenwood Ranger Station where we achieved a partial closure to off-road vehicles (ORVs) in the San Francisco Canyon. Fearless, Mike the mechanic chastised the ORV clubs for abusing their vehicles in the river crossings (as well as the canyon itself) and for changing their oil on the beaches of what should have been a pristine wilderness.

For a time, we teamed with a strangely humorous and committed Oklahoma farmer named David Sheegog. The plan of the boosters this time was a road up the East Fork of the Gila River that played out in the courts, the Forest Service, and the County Commission. The courts were no match for an East Fork landowner named Frank Werber, the Forest Service, shaken by Sheegog's down-home bombast, just used common sense on behalf of the resource. Mike and I both spoke the night the Grant County Commission wisely declined to take on the expense and liability of an East Fork road.  Mike drifted into a decades’-long cause to rid the Diamond Bar Ranch of cows. Here, bad management and bovine riparian concentrations were ruining a vast landscape and a number of stream courses. I don't have to tell you that his new group, "Gila Watch" won that one too. He's been quieter of late, tending to a successful Gila Hike & Bike business, and now I hear he's moving to Maine. He'll be missed here and will no doubt be underestimated there, till they figure out this placid John Muir hides a bulldog tenacity for the right cause. Give 'em hell Mike, and thanks for the memories!

Teach Your Children Well

by Maria Russell
Gila Conservation Education Center

There's a kid in the front of the class, hand straining above his head, who can't wait to tell me that the skull in my hands is a mountain lion's. In a different classroom, on another day, a third-grader watches as water from a spray bottle falls on to crumpled aluminum foil, trickling down the sharp edges and collecting in dips of the foil. Her group is arguing whether to call the now-forming pond Green Lake or Bear Lake. It's not hard to get kids interested in science or in conservation. They like learning more about the animals, rocks, and rivers around them.

The lesson plans for the Gila Conservation Education Center's trunk program center around involving kids' natural sense of wonder and fun to get them curious about their local environment and spending time outside. The Gila Conservation Coalition, Upper Gila Watershed Alliance, and Gila Conservation Education Center (yes, the similarity in our names does cause some confusion!) all partnered to create two Gila River Discovery trunks. One trunk focuses on the natural history of the Gila River, with its unique plant and animal communities. The second trunk highlights the cultural history of the Gila River: which peoples settled along the river, and how the river was central to their lives. All of the presentations are done by community volunteers--some experts in the field, some people who are just interested in the subject and want to learn along with the kids. The involvement and support that our volunteers have given this program are greatly appreciated, by the GCEC staff, by the teachers, and most importantly, by the children. For the 2007-2008 school year, GCEC has over 200 requests for presentations through the trunks program. If you are interested in becoming involved, contact the Gila Conservation Education Center at 388-8265 or email@gcecnm.org.