I had a hard time titling this post. First, it was Extreme Regional Water Planning. Then it was Extreme Regional Water Planning: Running Amok in New Mexico. Then it was something else. And so on. I finally settled on the above, including the word 'thankfully' because the post is not meant to be derogatory.
What has prompted this post is my recent joining of the Middle Rio Grande Water Assembly (MRGWA) email list.
Hardly an auspicious event, right? Let me explain.
The MRGWA is a 501(c)(3) organization that arose in the mid-1990s as part of New Mexico's regional water planning process. At the time I was director of the University of New Mexico's Water Resources Program, so I was assumed to know something about water. As a result, I had some involvement in getting the planning process started, and then stepped back from the fray as the Middle Rio Grande regional plan, one of 16 regional plans in the state, was developed.
The plan was accepted by the State in 2004, but the MRGWA has persisted as stated on its WWW site:
The Middle Rio Grande Water Assembly is a grass roots all-volunteer organization that focuses on water-related issues for Valencia, Sandoval and Bernalillo Counties in New Mexico.
It's important to note that the MRGWA has no statutory authority to manage/allocate water.
You can read more on the MRGWA's 'About' page. As you will see, it has remained quite active in the realm of regional water planning. I think that's great - grass-roots water work.
The email list - a true discussion list - is something else. I had been posting to it (but not receiving posts) through an intermediary for about five years. Most of my posts had been about positions available or items I thought might be of interest to subscribers. I had been warned that some subscribers found its traffic volume oppressive and had quickly unsubscribed. But last week I took the plunge, prompted by a post about Maude Barlow (who else?) that friend and colleague Amy Ewing sent me and to which I responded through her.
On my first full day as a subscriber I think there were 2o posts or so. Many of these were not one- or two-liners, but multiple-paragraph, detailed posts. After a few days, the list manager posted a note saying she had received a large number of 'unsubscribe' requests, so I took that to mean that the volume was unusually high. Much of the discussion revolved around a proposed water agreement between the Interstate Stream Commission and Intel, which operates a large manufacturing facility in the area (see John Fleck's great post on this issue).
For those of you unfamiliar with the region, anything involving Intel and water is guaranteed to generate controversy. Why? Intel is a big, wealthy, high-volume water user and it is convenient for some to point fingers at such an entity rather than look in the mirror. It is also perceived to be easier (??) to change the behavior of one large user than the behaviors of thousands of smaller users.
[Disclosure notice: When I lived in Albuquerque my wife Mary Frances, was, and still is, Intel's corporate libraries manager and I served on Intel's community advisory board for a few years. I also served on the citizens' advisory board for the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority (ABCWUA) for a couple of years.]
But back to the list. Although my sample size is quite small, I am impressed with the engagement and passion of the list participants (I suspect a few participants dominate the posts - time will tell). To me, the degree of engagement on the list and other MRGWA activities reflect the vibrancy of the organization. As an example, just a few days ago I received the following document produced by these ambitious volunteers, New Mexico Water Basics and An Introduction to Water Markets:
Download NM Water Brochure Final
This publication could serve as a template for other regions and states.
So what is the purpose of all this? It's not just to pay tribute to my former friends and colleagues in the Middle Rio Grande region, but to salute citizen involvement in regional water issues. Sure, there may be arguing, acrimony, and posturing, but this is Western water and democracy. That is what it's all about.
Keep it up, folks.
Perhaps a vision for the Upper Willamette Valley? Wishful thinking on my part?
“Democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not." -- Thomas Jefferson
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