Press

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 18, 2020

Contact:          Allyson Siwik, Executive Director

                        Gila Conservation Coalition

                        575.590.7619 cell

New Mexico Interstate Stream Commission Votes to End Work

on the Gila River Diversion

The Gila Conservation Coalition would like to thank the Interstate Stream Commission for its vote this morning to end work on the Environmental Impact Statement for the Gila River diversion project. This effectively ends the 15-year battle over the future of the Gila River. 

Additionally, we would like to thank Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, Lt. Governor Howie Morales, Senator Martin Heinrich and Senator Tom Udall for their strong leadership in ensuring fiscally responsible use of Arizona Water Settlements Act (AWSA) funding to meet the water needs of thousands of people in southwest New Mexico. 

The ISC voted 7-2 to end the Gila diversion Environmental Impact Statement process.  In a separate decision, the Commission tabled the vote regarding the future role of the NM CAP Entity in using the $70 million in AWSA funding to improve water security in Grant, Luna, Hidalgo and Catron counties.

“For the past 15 years, the diversion planning process has fumbled along and spent a lot of money to get to the inevitable conclusion that the Gila diversion was not going to work. Now it’s time for the ISC in collaboration with local communities to step forward and take responsibility for efficient and effective use of the remaining funds to secure a resilient future water supply for everyone in southwest NM,” stated Allyson Siwik, Gila Conservation Coalition Executive Director.

“Two birds, two snakes, two fish, and a frog, the endangered species on the Gila River, are breathing a sigh of relief after the ISC’s amazing decision to finally end work on the Gila Diversion” said Todd Schulke, co-founder of the Center for Biological Diversity. “This decision bodes well for all the wildlife and the river forest that makes the Gila so beloved to the many of us that spend time along the river or those that just feel better knowing places like the Gila are still there,” added Schulke.

“I’m grateful for today’s outcome and many political leaders and citizens who led the way to it.  It’s an encouraging sign that we New Mexicans can face our water problems rationally, based on facts and science,” stated former ISC director and Gila River champion Norm Gaume.

“We look forward to working with the Interstate Stream Commission as it develops its own process to consider allocations from the NM Unit fund for the benefit of southwest New Mexico,” stated Donna Steven, Executive Director of the Upper Gila Watershed Alliance.

There are millions of dollars in priority water projects that need funding now in order to supply clean, reliable water to thousands of people throughout southwest New Mexico. Funding these projects with AWSA funds will strengthen the resiliency of local water supplies. 

The available $70 million in AWSA funding could be used on projects such as the following: 

—         14,605 Deming residents could benefit from projects seeking funds for well upgrades ($2.2M), effluent reuse ($1.8M), and water system line replacement/repair ($1M); 

—         2,797 Lordsburg residents could benefit from projects seeking funds for drinking water treatment to remove fluoride ($3.1M) and rehab/drill new wells ($10.5M);

—         26,000 residents of Central Grant County could benefit from completion of the Grant County Regional Water Supply Project ($15M);

—         20,000 residents of Silver City and area water associations serviced by Silver City’s water system could benefit from new wells; well, water line, and storage tank replacement/improvements; and effluent reuse improvements ($17.9M).

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 11, 2020

Contact:        Allyson Siwik, Executive Director, Gila Conservation Coalition

                       575.590.7619 cell, info@gilaconservation.org

Conservationists reject Gila diversion alternatives

Proposed action is unaffordable, not economically viable,

and ecologically harmful

Silver City, NM – On Monday, on behalf of 47 local, state, and national conservation, sportsmen, outdoor recreation organizations and businesses, the Gila Conservation Coalition submitted public comments on the environmental impact statement for the Gila River diversion project. Commenters supported the No Action Alternative and rejected all diversion alternatives.

“The diversion alternatives do not pass even minimum standards of viability,” stated Gila Conservation Coalition Executive Director Allyson Siwik. “All alternatives considered produce negative economic benefits, with costs exceeding benefits by three to four times. Farmers can’t afford to pay for the project water under any of the alternatives, and the diversion project harms threatened and endangered species and riparian habitat along the Gila and San Francisco Rivers.”

The Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) and the New Mexico Interstate Stream Commission (ISC) released a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the Gila River diversion project (NM Unit) proposed by the NM Central Arizona Project (CAP) Entity. As joint leads for the environmental compliance process the BOR and the ISC asked for public comment on four diversion/storage action alternatives and the no action alternative.

The Gila diversion project was proposed by the NM Central Arizona Project (CAP) Entity, a group of 14 representatives from local governments, community ditches, and soil and water conservation districts in southwest New Mexico. Gila diversion planning has gone on for more than 15 years and wasted $16 million without producing a feasible project.

“The DEIS omits analysis of the non-diversion projects under the No Action Alternative,” said Donna Stevens, Executive Director of the Upper Gila Watershed Alliance and a partner in the Gila Conservation Coalition. “Non-diversion community water projects could benefit thousands of people throughout southwest New Mexico, while the diversion project would benefit very few irrigators – approximately 50 in Cliff-Gila Valley, 25 in the San Francisco Valley and 33 in the Virden Valley and potentially use up all of the AWSA funds that could otherwise be used to build resilient community water supplies throughout the four-county area.”

Flowing out of America’s first Wilderness Area, the wild Gila and San Francisco Rivers have been under threat from harmful water diversion and storage projects for decades. As the last free-flowing river in New Mexico, the Gila and its tributary the San Francisco is home to seven threatened or endangered species and are the centerpiece of the region’s outdoor recreation and tourism economy.  Federal legislation was recently introduced to designate 450 miles of the Gila and San Francisco Rivers and their tributaries as Wild and Scenic.

“Models show that the diversion could increase drying of the river,” said Todd Schulke, co-founder of the Center for Biological Diversity, and a partner in the Gila Conservation Coalition. “This could cause disappearance of riverside forests important to threatened and endangered birds, like the yellow-billed cuckoo and southwestern willow flycatcher and take away water from the endangered loach minnow and spikedace, which are on the cusp of extinction,” added Schulke.

“It’s well past time to stop wasting NM Unit Funds on the failed Gila diversion planning process. The DEIS demonstrates that the No Action Alternative is the best choice. It’s critical that we move forward and direct AWSA funding to high priority community water projects, such as water infrastructure projects in Hanover, Santa Clara and Deming and water treatment in Lordsburg,” stated GCC’s Siwik.

The Gila Conservation Coalition’s public comments can be downloaded from the following link: 

https://tinyurl.com/yaorda48

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Gila River named America’s Most Endangered River of 2019

Climate change and proposed diversion threaten New Mexico’s last wild river

April 16, 2019, Washington, D.C. – American Rivers today named the Gila River #1 on the list of America’s Most Endangered Rivers® of 2019, citing the grave threat that climate change and a proposed diversion project pose to New Mexico’s last free-flowing river. American Rivers, the Gila Conservation Coalition, Upper Gila Watershed Alliance and Center for Biological Diversity called on Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham to permanently stop the diversion project and advance more cost-effective, innovative water supply solutions.

“New Mexicans can’t afford to dry up their last wild river,” said Matt Rice, Colorado Basin Director for American Rivers. “Ruining the Gila River with an expensive diversion project doesn’t make sense when there are better, more cost-effective water supply options.”

“We are already feeling the impacts of climate change in New Mexico and across the Southwest, and it’s only going to get worse. The decisions we make today will determine whether we have healthy rivers and secure water supplies in the future. We have an opportunity on the Gila to demonstrate that it is possible to protect healthy rivers and meet our water needs in an era of climate change.”

Scientists estimate that due to climate change, the Gila River will cease to be a snowpack-fed river by mid-century. The proposed diversion project would put greater strain on Gila River flows already altered and reduced by the impacts of climate change. In turn, climate change likely will limit the amount and availability of water that can be developed by the proposed diversion, calling into question the project’s long-term viability.

American Rivers and its partners called on Governor Lujan Grisham to stop the diversion project and instead spend $66 million available through Arizona Water Settlement Act (AWSA) funding on alternative water supply solutions to meet the water needs of communities throughout southwest New Mexico. These solutions include infrastructure improvements and expansions such as the Grant County Regional Water Supply Project and municipal and agricultural conservation and efficiency projects.

“It’s time to stop the waste of millions in federal funds on a Gila River diversion to benefit a small number of irrigators and the world’s largest copper mining company, and instead direct AWSA monies to critically important community water projects that achieve long-term water security for thousands in southwest New Mexico,” stated Allyson Siwik, Executive Director of the Gila Conservation Coalition.

“It’s rare to see a wild river these days because so many of the nation’s rivers have been dammed,” said Donna Stevens, Executive Director of the Upper Gila Watershed Alliance. “People come from all over to visit the Gila Wilderness – the nation’s first wilderness area – and the Gila River. They boost the local economy with their tourist dollars.”

Flowing out of the nation’s first Wilderness Area, the Gila River supports outstanding examples of Southwest riparian forest, cold-water fisheries and a remarkable abundance of wildlife. The river is home to indigenous people who have lived in southwestern New Mexico for thousands of years, and remains vital to the region’s culture and heritage.

“A stronghold for many endangered species, the Gila is one of the last intact rivers left in North America. We have to work hard to make sure it stays that way. We urge Governor Lujan Grisham to help us protect the Gila River forever,” said Todd Schulke, co-founder and Senior Staff with the Center for Biological Diversity.

The annual America’s Most Endangered Rivers® report is a list of rivers at a crossroads, where key decisions in the coming months will determine the rivers’ fates. Over the years, the report has helped spur many successes including the removal of outdated dams, the protection of rivers with Wild and Scenic designations, and the prevention of harmful development and pollution.

The Gila River was previously included on this list in 1995, 1996, 2008, 2014. Other rivers in the region listed as most endangered in recent years include the Lower Rio Grande (2018), Lower Colorado River (2017) and Colorado River in the Grand Canyon (2015).

For more information, visit https://endangeredrivers.americanrivers.org/gila-river/

Conservationists critical of latest plan for Gila River diversion

Proposal is ill conceived, ecologically harmful, expensive and unfair

July 20, 2018, Silver City, NM – On behalf of 37 local, state, and national conservation, sportsmen, faith, and outdoor recreation organizations, the Gila Conservation Coalition submitted today scoping comments on the ecologically harmful and costly Gila River diversion project.

The diversion proposal could significantly impact the Gila’s threatened and endangered species and riparian habitat, will cost several times more than the federal construction subsidy provided, and will unfairly withhold NM Unit Fund dollars from community water projects that could meet the water needs of 60,000 people in southwest New Mexico.

Proposed by the NM Central Arizona Project (CAP) Entity, a group of 14 representatives from local governments, community ditches, and soil and water conservation districts in southwest New Mexico that have responsibility for project design, the Gila diversion (NM Unit) proposal is facing a legal deadline under the Arizona Water Settlements Act (AWSA).

The Bureau of Reclamation and the New Mexico Interstate Stream Commission, joint leads for the formal review and approval process under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), initiated preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Gila River diversion project on June 12. Public scoping comments are due today.

“It’s unfortunate that the NEPA process was started as the NM CAP Entity’s proposed action is poorly defined and continued to change even after the scoping period started. It’s been impossible to fully understand the specifics of the project. This lack of detailed information has made it difficult for the public to develop meaningful comments to inform the draft EIS,” stated Gila Conservation Coalition Executive Director Allyson Siwik.

Flowing out of America’s first Wilderness Area, the Gila River is New Mexico’s last major undammed river. It’s home to seven threatened or endangered species, such as the loach minnow, spikedace, Southwestern willow flycatcher and yellow-billed cuckoo, and is proposed for long-term protection under the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act.

“Given that the diversion proposal is little better than a cartoon it’s hard to tell, but models show that this latest version of the diversion could actually increase drying of the river,” said Todd Schulke, co-founder of Center for Biological Diversity. “This could cause disappearance of riverside forests important to endangered birds and take away water from endangered fish that are on the cusp of extinction,” added Schulke.

After more than a decade of planning and expenditure of $15 million on studies, consultants and lawyers, the proposed diversion remains too expensive, unaffordable and unfair.

The federal subsidy available under the AWSA will not cover the full cost of the proposed diversion, leaving a gap of tens of millions of dollars for citizens to cover. Additionally, project water is too expensive for farmers to buy. Current ditch fees in the Cliff-Gila Valley are approximately $20 per acre. Project water cost will run at least $1,500 per acre per year, calling into question the project economics and the ability of farmers to pay for the new AWSA water.

“We are very concerned about the fundamental unfairness in how AWSA funds are being used. The proposed action will require spending all the available AWSA funds for a small amount of new irrigation water to benefit approximately 200 irrigators and Freeport-McMoRan. It is wrong to provide the world’s largest publicly traded copper company with this government subsidy that comes at the expense of water security for 60,000 people of southwest New Mexico. We can immediately spend AWSA funding on priority community water projects that will meet our water needs far into the future without building a costly Gila diversion that requires massive ongoing public subsidy to benefit a very few,” stated GCC’s Siwik.

The Gila Conservation Coalition’s scoping comments and exhibits can be downloaded from the following link: https://tinyurl.com/yd4sg2kx

Gila Collective Participates in  Santa Fe Art Institute 2016 – 2017 Water Rights Residency

In August 2017, the Gila Collective participated in the Water Rights Residency Program of the Santa Fe Art Institute (SFAI) for 2016 – 2017.  The four-person team, comprised of painter and video artist Peter Bill, new media artist Stephen Dirkes, potter and animator Kate Brown, and Gila Conservation Coalition executive director Allyson Siwik, will explore the idea of equity in our water systems.

According to SFAI, the residency program “encourages creative minds to come together and examine the territory of Water Rights. Together, we will explore several questions: How do we describe and define the contested space around water? If water use is often parallel to culture, how can cultural activities result in greater models of equity in our water systems? How can diverse practices, from poetic to practical to political, create greater access to these and other parallel resources?” 

Responding to the Water Rights Residency theme, the Gila Collective’s project asks: if we were to give voice to the voiceless – rivers, non-human organisms, future generations, our cultural heritage, and disempowered indigenous and low-income communities – what would those voices tell us about water?  The project intends to reconnect people to water as the source of life through an immersive video experience that uses all of the senses to engage participants in this exploration by questioning our relationship to water and encouraging us to move toward an equitable sharing of our scarce water resources.

“Through our art, we’re trying to get people out of the hustle and bustle of every day life and to make them pause and think about what is happening in our world,” said Gila Collective member Peter Bill. “Are we leaving our grandchildren and great grand children enough water for the future? Are we putting systems in place that ensure that there are healthy rivers? Are we respecting the rights of indigenous and low-income communities and other species to have clean water in sufficient supply to survive? Our art will challenge our audience to answer these critical questions.”

The Gila Collective is comprised of four artists and activists who have worked individually and collectively to address issues of water use and misuse.

A painter and video artist, Peter Bill’s work both inspires and provokes. His murals and video works typically involve local communities in their conception and realization. Formerly Assistant Professor of New Media at Western New Mexico University, Bill has worked with street artists in Juarez to address border issues, and has brought their work to the U.S. to exhibit. The Gila River and the fight to protect it have been a focus of Bill’s collaborative work over the past three years and has included curating of the Gila River Three-Minute Film Fest, Gila Time-lapse Film Fest, Gila River Festival art exhibit, as well as creation of the video performance piece “Gila Immersion” and a number of short videos and documentaries.

Stephen Dirkes has been exploring multi-media/immersive/new media art for several decades. He has had extensive classical music composition study and currently works as a composer in New York City. After several years of composing for theatre, dance and film, he became involved with film making and narrative and non-narrative story telling.  Dirkes has worked extensively with Peter Bill to explore aspects of landscape and nature in immersive art installation, exhibitions and films. Exploration that embraces traditional painting, time lapse, stop motion, still photography, scent, sound, music and film informs our artist language and broadens our reach of creative communication. In 2015, he founded an “art centric” perfume house, Euphorium Brooklyn, with the ambition of exploring olfaction to incorporate this powerful and enigmatic sense in his multi-media creations.  Dirkes and Bill collaborated with the Gila Conservation Coalition to create “Gila Cycle – Tableaux Olfactif” multimedia installation that leverages creative expression to facilitate a “call to action” to protect the Gila River watershed.

Kate Brown is a master of slip-decorated, clear-glazed terra cotta ware, creating patterns that reflect her life in the foothills near the Gila wilderness: plants, animals, sky and human forms, bold and loose. During a sabbatical in 2001, she returned to school to study animation at Evergreen State College. To date she has created five animated short films: Ursa Dream, (2005) and Human Thing (2007), Fire Season (2013), First Light (2014), Gila River: Up Against the Wall (2015). She took possession of an antique Oxberry Animation Stand, and has spent the past five years on its restoration and updating. She creates under-the-camera, hand-made animations in her wilderness animation studio, Fundamentalist Flowerchild Productions.

Allyson Siwik is an environmental advocate based in Silver City, NM.  Serving as the director of the Gila Resources Information Project and Gila Conservation Coalition, she works to protect groundwater from pollution caused by copper mining in Grant County and advocates for conservation of the Gila River, New Mexico’s last free-flowing river.  A co-founder of the annual Gila River Festival, Siwik has collaborated with artists, writers, scientists, policy experts and activists to create events and experiences that provide opportunities for understanding and appreciating the importance of protecting our water resources and natural environment. Siwik has 25 years of experience in environmental protection, including 12 years with the US Environmental Protection Agency. She has worked extensively with communities locally, regionally and along the U.S.-Mexico border to identify and resolve environmental problems.

The Gila Collective presented its Water Rights Residency project, RIVER VOICE TIME, at the 13^th Annual Gila River Festival in September 21 – 24, 2017.

For Immediate Release: May 31, 2017

For more information contact:

Allyson Siwik: 575-590-7619; allysonsiwik@gmail.com

Gila Conservation Coalition; www.gilariverfestival.org

Announcing the 13th Annual Gila River Festival

Gathering the Gila

September 21 – 24, 2017, Silver City, New Mexico

The 13th annual festival, Gathering the Gila will engage participants in an exploration of the bountiful native foods, plants, and medicines found throughout the Gila River and its watershed. Presented by the Gila Conservation Coalition, the Festival will feature dynamic presentations and hands-on activities designed to foster a deeper intimacy with the Gila River, including river outings, field trips, workshops, storytelling, cooking, and foraging. Full schedule and on-line registration available at www.gilariverfestival.org

Ojibwe activist Winona LaDuke, who, in addition to environmental activism, works to preserve traditional foods in Native American diets, will give the keynote address on Friday, September 22. Ms. LaDuke will discuss innovative strategies for stewardship of our water, land, and traditional native plant foods.

On Thursday evening September 21, “aural” historian Jack Loeffler, author of Thinking Like a Watershed, and Adventures with Ed, will return to the festival with the presentation “Seeds of Consciousness,” featuring audio vignettes on gathering seeds, insights from indigenous peoples, and bioregional and watershed ideas from some of the Southwest’s most dynamic thought leaders.

In partnership with The Volunteer Center, workshops on acorn processing and mesquite milling will be lead by bioregional herbalist John Slattery and the volunteer group the “Mesquitos.” Returning favorite Alex Mares will again lead a rock art field trip. Photographer Diana Molina will explore the Gila region’s native plants through her art. There will be opportunities for kayaking the Gila River, fly fishing, birding, edible native plant gathering, and much more.

Las Cruces-based performance writer, novelist, and playwright Denise Chávez will lead a storytelling event focused on food stories. Chávez is author of A Taco Testimony: Meditations on Family, Food and Culture and former Executive Director of the Border Book Festival.

As part of the fundraising Native Food Brunch on Sunday September 24, Santa Clara Pueblo artist Roxanne Swentzell, author of the Pueblo Food Experience, presents a talk on her experiential work to improve the health of her people through the restoration of Native culinary customs.

Miguel Santistevan, a dynamic teacher and experimental farmer, will discuss the acequia-based agricultural traditions of northern New Mexico that preserved locally-adapted seeds and created traditions around growing, preparing, and sharing food. He will also lead a workshop on seed saving.

Musician, poet, and spoken word performer Lyla June Johnston will give a presentation entitled “Tending the Wild” and will speak to the importance of preserving indigenous plants, seeds, foods, and traditional ways of tending nature’s bounty. She will also play her original music and perform her spoken word compositions at the Gila River Extravaganza in downtown Silver City.

Saturday’s downtown Gila River Extravaganza takes place in Big Ditch Park and will feature live music, spoken word poetry, tastings of native food products, kid’s activities and the beloved Monsoon Puppet Parade. The Fort Sill Apache Fire Dancers with the Gooday Family from Oklahoma will return for an encore performance.

Thank you to our major sponsors: New Mexico Humanities Council, National Endowment for the Humanities, McCune Charitable Foundation, Fort Sill Apache Tribe, ALAYA, and the Center for Biological Diversity, with funding from the Town of Silver City Lodgers Tax.

For more details and registration, visit our website at: www.gilariverfestival.org or call us at 575-538-8078.

On-line registration begins July 1.

Like us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/GilaRiverFestival/, and follow us on instragram and twitter: @gilariverfest

Images available via Dropbox.

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For immediate release

May 5, 2017

Contacts:

Doug Wolf, Center for Biological Diversity

(202) 510-5604; dwolf@biologicaldiversity.org

Allyson Siwik, Gila Conservation Coalition

(575) 590-7619; info@gilaconservation.org

River Protectors Urge NM Attorney General To Seek Termination of AECOM Gila Contract

Today the Gila Conservation Coalition (GCC), the Center for Biological Diversity, and former Interstate Stream Commission (ISC) Director Norm Gaume petitioned New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas [letter is attached] to seek termination of an ISC contract with engineering giant AECOM.  At the same time AECOM was one of two finalists for the contract to provide design services for a potential Gila River diversion and storage project, it made a contribution to Susana PAC, the Governor’s political action committee.

Center Senior Attorney Doug Wolf explained: “This was a clear violation of section 13-1-191.1F(2) of the state procurement code. On January 19, 2017 we submitted to NM State Purchasing Agent Lawrence Maxwell a complaint outlining AECOM’s illegal campaign contribution and, except for an April 14 acknowledgement that our letter was received, have heard nothing from Mr. Maxwell or his office.  Today we are urging NM Attorney General Hector Balderas to step in and force the State Purchasing Agent or the ISC to terminate this wrongfully awarded contract.”

“The ISC has already paid AECOM $535,875 in Phase I of the contract and approved Phase II spending of $836,000,” noted GCC Executive Director Allyson Siwik.  “The ISC is now being asked by the New Mexico CAP Entity to continue these contracts and, potentially, commit money to AECOM Gila diversion design work that would be better spent on local water supply and conservation projects,” added Siwik.

“The ISC should cut its ties with this bad actor company–it certainly should not give it any more money, which the ISC is poised to do,” stated Todd Schulke, Senior Staff for the Center for Biological Diversity.

Mr. Gaume concludes: “the money the ISC has spent on AECOM work has been wasted: it has not identified a feasible diversion and storage scheme; worse, given the very high cost and low water yield of any Arizona Water Settlement Act diversion project, AECOM isn’t going to find a feasible approach no matter how much money the ISC approves for them to waste.”

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