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livingontheland - Re: [Livingontheland] That cruel joke called water law

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  • From: "Lynn Montgomery" <sunfarm@toast.net>
  • To: <livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] That cruel joke called water law
  • Date: Thu, 24 Jul 2008 22:14:45 -0600

I am a holder of pre-1907 water rights in New Mexico, which are also protected by the international Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. The state constitution in it's Bill of Rights continues these Treaty protections. The reason that old rights get their's first is that these rights came about through a lot of sweat, blood, and negotiation. They represent hard won agreements between users to prevent conflict and ensure the continuation of cultural and social values. They underpin communities and without them, the future of these communities is dust. One should expect that one's grandfather's farm that one is still cultivating for a living would have some protection of the main resource that makes it all possible. I have been in litigation all the way to the NM Supreme Court and back down to District Court for a trial de novo, fighting new groundwater pumping that is proven, in court, to be drying up the spring I depend on for my farm. I know the people that wrote the editorial well, and am heartened that they have finally listened to me and many others that seek sanity to our water uses and administration. We are going to win. So, the little guy who is willing to stand up and sue the bastards can win and will, that is, if one can get out of the rut that the rich and powerful can never be beat.
    Senior water rights demand constraint in water use. Their main value is to limit how much stupidity will get it's way. New Mexico might be considered a backward place, but our water law is the most progressive in the nation. We even recognize that ground water and surface water are directly connected in our law, a scientific fact known the world over, but always denied when there is money to be made sprawling and mauling and asphalting the Planet over. Hopefully, we can keep on beating the heck out of the bureacracy and our bought out politicians, and with our allies in the courts, make New Mexico a shining example of how to deal with little water in the desert.
Lynn Montgomery, Mayordomo,
Acequia la Rosa de Castilla
Merced San Antonio de las Huertas (Spanish Land Grant est. 1768)
Placitas, NM

Date: Thu, 24 Jul 2008 12:17:27 +1200
From: Mike <mike.lists@mlxvi.org>
Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] That cruel joke called water law
To: Healthy soil and sustainable growing
<livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org>
Message-ID: <4887CA17.2050005@mlxvi.org">4887CA17.2050005@mlxvi.org>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed

It's pretty easy to see the many sides of this argument. But, rest
assured, the final outcome will be one that benefits the government and
their friends - certainly not the environment, nor the little guy. With
water, it is pretty hard to argue that the guy that got here first gets
it all. But equally, should someone be able to set up, knowing there is
not enough water?

Then you get the really stupid stuff. Entire cities being set up and
promoted where there is no water, or simply not enough. Many Australian
cities are like this. But, then again, if one is stupid enough to move
INTO one of these cities, then what do you expect?

Mike



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