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  • From: Scott Pittman <pci@permaculture-inst.org>
  • To: permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [permaculture] Decentralized Waste Water Treatment
  • Date: Sun, 19 Dec 2004 11:29:51 -0700

I am currently involved in the longest running federal lawsuit ever! It is the State of New Mexico /ex rel/ State Engineer v. Aamodt . While most of the country doesn't know of the existence of the Aamodt case, it is a precedent setting case on water law and the transformation of water from a human right to a mineral commodity. The arena is quite small, involving a multiple cultered community just north of Santa Fe which includes four Indian pueblos, and a mix of anglo and hispanic people who traditionally farmed this water shed sharing the water through acequias developed by the Spaniards some 400 years ago. Now the pueblos are insisting that since they have aboriginal water rights to the water in this valley that the non Indians should cap their wells and go onto a central water utility that receives its water from the Rio Grande rather than the aquafer that we are currently using - thereby giving the pueblos control of water for the development of more casinos/resorts and golf courses and selling water to the city/county of Santa Fe for development.

Our response is that we live in the desert and that we all have to share the water resources in a thoughtful and conserving way (no golf courses) and that the water should remain in the water shed and not treated as a commodity.

We need to document to the court water recharge through decentralized waste water treatment systems, small wetland systems for example, and runoff water recharge systems, like absorption basins. Would any of you who know of such systems that are currently working (serving communities of at least 4,000 households) and that have data, could you please send contact information.
Thanks,
Scott Pittman




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