No Dam Diversion on the Gila Rally scheduled for Monday, July 9 at 3pm

July 6, 2018, Silver City, NM – The Gila Conservation Coalition, Upper Gila Watershed Alliance, Gila Resources Information Project, Center for Biological Diversity and other conservation organizations will hold a rally on Monday, July 9 in opposition to the Gila River diversion as part of the NEPA scoping public meeting being held at the Grant County Veterans Memorial Business and Conference Center from 4 – 7 pm.

Out of time and facing a legal deadline, the proposed Gila diversion project has entered into the formal review and approval process under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), regardless of its incomplete plans, lack of review of feasibility, few beneficiaries, and huge costs.

As joint leads for the NEPA process, the Bureau of Reclamation and the New Mexico Interstate Stream Commission have initiated preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Gila River diversion project (NM Unit) proposed by the NM Central Arizona Project Entity (NM CAP Entity).

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 and is proposed for long-term protection under the Wild & Scenic Rivers Act.

The proposed NM Unit is expensive, unaffordable and unfair and will harm threatened and endangered species and riparian habitat along the Gila and San Francisco rivers. The NM CAP Entity's intention to divert in the future the full 14,000 acre-feet per year under the AWSA is speculative and unnecessary.

What: No Dam Diversion on the Gila Rally
When: Monday, July 9, 3pm; NEPA Scoping Open House scheduled for 4 – 7pm
Where: Grant County Veterans Memorial Business and Conference Center 3031 Highway 180 East, Silver City

During the public scoping period June 12 - July 20, the BOR and ISC are requesting public comment on the issues that they should analyze in the NM Unit EIS.

More information on the harmful Gila River diversion project is available in the Gila Conservation Coalition fact sheet at: http://www.gilaconservation.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/NMUnitNEPAScopingFactSheet070118.pdf