By Mary Alice Murphy

A letter from Timothy R. Petty, Ph.D., assistant Secretary for Water and Science, sent on Dec. 20, 2019 to New Mexico Central Arizona Project Entity Executive Director Anthony Gutierrez replied to letters sent by the entity to the U.S. Department of the Interior Office of the Secretary. The first letter was dated Aug. 20, 2019 and the others sent Sept. 17 and Oct. 30, 2019. They, as well as information provided in the Oct. 24 meeting in Washington, D.C. requested the extension of the funding deadline described in the Arizona Water Settlements Act of 2004. That deadline is Dec. 31, 2019.

The letter to Gutierrez states that the Department of the Interior is committed to supporting the management and development of water supplies critical to communities, farms and the environment.

A quote from Section 212(j) from the AWSA established the standard for any extension, which comes down to "for reasons outside the control of the State of New Mexico, the Secretary may extend the deadline, … not to extend beyond Dec 31, 2030."

Petty said in the letter that New Mexico has had 15 years to identify a feasible project and obtain a Record of Decision to meet the deadline for the additional funding as defined in the Act. The funding would be released by the Lower Colorado River Basin Fund for construction of a project.

"After careful consideration, I regret to inform you that due to the State's failure to make progress, an extension of the deadline… will not be granted," the letter states.

"It's a disappointment this project that would bring critical water supplies to rural communities in New Mexico has faced such scrutiny and a lack of support from the State of New Mexico," Petty wrote. "Water supply infrastructure is a priority of this Administration, and the Department of Interior is committed to helping deliver reliable water supplies to rural communities. The State's lack of action undermines the importance of the water supplies provided by the NM Unit in ensuring that rural communities in southwestern New Mexico have the water security necessary to thrive and grow."

Gutierrez talked to the Beat. "It was clearly the responsibility of the state to develop the water, but we got nothing but opposition from legislators and at least three governors during the time this project has been discussed. It was all about politics. It's sad."

He said the tragedy is the New Mexico will lose more than $50 million in federal funding.

"We did years of so-called consensus building to no avail," Gutierrez said. "Instead of groups and individuals being on opposite sides of the issue, we should have worked together. The project continued to be changed because of the insecurity of not knowing what legislators would try to pull on us each session. Part of the blame is due to our then-Senator and now-Lt. Governor, who never really supported the efforts of his constituents in southwestern New Mexico to develop the water."

Gutierrez noted the Interstate Stream Commission helped in development of a project, but "it came down to special interests opposing everything that was discussed. What's sad is that a handful of special interest groups, which have huge lobbying powers with the Legislature and the congressional delegation, opposed us at every turn."

He said someday, "maybe not in our lifetimes," a demand for the water will arise, and because of the opposing groups, who always said the taxpayers would be on the hook to pay for the water, "well, now when that demand comes, it will be the taxpayers paying for that water. With the federal funding, the taxpayers would not have been directly paying for it, but now taxpayers will pay. They will likely have to pay corporations that will be selling us the water. That's the effect of what the opposition achieved."

Gutierrez said the opposing groups do not get funding unless they create controversy, so they continue to create controversy to rile up their donors. They create lawsuits and then benefit from the settling of those suits.

"In the environmental impact statement, which has yet to be completed, our discussions were based less on impact on the system and more on the benefits to the river," he continued. "They (the opposition) were fighting that, but really it was about the dollar."

Gutierrez said a lot of benefit derived from the members of the ISC visiting the areas where diversions are proposed. "The Virden project can be funding using New Mexico Unit Fund money. The engineer's estimate was $5 million to $7 million, but we think it can be done with less money."

"This decision on the construction funding does not take away the ability to develop the water," Gutierrez continued. "It takes away the money, which is a great loss to the area and the state. We will not get the gross receipts taxes that would have derived from the construction. We don't get the jobs and the sales from the construction. We didn't just lose the more than $50 million, we lost everything to go with it, including jobs."

Projects can be funded through other sources, "it just takes longer. This money that we lost was Arizona water users paying for it. Now, it's just water under the bridge continuing to go to Arizona."

Copies of the letter went to New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, as well as to the members of the congressional delegation, Sen. Tom Udall, Sen. Martin Heinrich and Rep. Xochitl Torres Small.