Healys Bail Out Taos County
We fully recognize Staci Matlock’s New Mexican story and trust in Robin’s generosity re: “fair use” here to alert Taosenos to what’s going on!
Water deal could ease tensions between counties
Posted: Tuesday, March 17, 2015 7:00 pm | Updated: 12:26 am, Wed Mar 18, 2015.
By Staci Matlock
The New Mexican | 0 comments
“Close to New Mexico’s border with Colorado, the Top of the World farm in Taos County along the Rio Grande Gorge has been a source of tension with neighbors to the south for almost 18 years.
“Santa Fe County owns the farm and, until recently, about 1,700 acre-feet of water rights that went with the property. Its initial plans were to transfer the rights to a regional water system in the Pojoaque Valley — a plan Taos County residents bitterly opposed. On Tuesday, however, the state Board of Finance approved two actions that could ease but not resolve the tensions that have built up over the farm’s water rights by keeping some of them in Taos County.
“The state board approved the sale of the 3,166-acre farm to Agua Nueva, a private company owned by Taos County residents Ed and Trudy Healy, for $1.17 million. The board also approved an annual lease of 611.5 acre-feet of the water rights to the Healys for a minimum of $30,000 a year.
“Santa Fe County Manager Katherine Miller said the county in 2013 sold 1,100 acre-feet of the farm’s water rights to the federal Department of the Interior for $5.4 million.
“The county filed an application with the state engineer Jan. 12 to transfer the remaining Top of the World water rights south to the Pojoaque Valley as part of a settlement in the Aamodt water rights case with four pueblos in the area. The Top of the World water rights would be a portion of the rights the county promised to buy on the Rio Grande so river water could be diverted as part of a regional water system for the Pojoaque Valley in a settlement in the long-running Aamodt litigation, a decades-long effort to determine the water rights of Indian and non-Indian water users in the area.
“Public notice of the transfer has not yet been published, according to John Utton, the attorney handling the Aamodt case for Santa Fe County.
“The Department of the Interior also plans to apply to transfer its Top of the World water rights to Pojoaque as part of the Aamodt settlement.
“Such transfers from one area to another, sometimes many miles away, often from agriculture use to urban use, have become a regular part of New Mexico’s increasingly stressed water scene. And the battles over these water rights are likely to become increasingly bitter.
“The last time Santa Fe County tried to transfer water rights from the Top of the World farm, Taos County farmers and residents protested vehemently.
“Esther Garcia, former mayor of Questa, the village near the farm, said they will do the same thing this time if Santa Fe County files to transfer away water rights. “I think it is a good thing the Healys are buying the property,” Garcia said. “Trudy and her husband have very much been water and land advocates.”
“As for transferring water rights so Santa Fe County can use them more than 70 miles away, Garcia said, “We are totally opposed to that. There’s been drought here for the last four years, and we don’t expect much water this year. The village of Questa is already in debt to the state engineer for overdiverting water again. The village needs to look at purchasing water rights to replace that water.”
“If the transfer is allowed, Garcia said, “this is opening the door for everyone to come after the water rights in Northern New Mexico.”
“Santa Fe County bought part of the farm and its water rights years ago. The county and the city of Santa Fe intended to transfer some of the water rights to be diverted from the Rio Grande at Buckman for a joint city/county water system. But that diversion is below the Otowi gauge on the Rio Grande, and such a transfer messes with the complicated accounting system New Mexico has along the Rio Grande to ensure real water reaches West Texas and Southern New Mexico farmers below the Elephant Butte Reservoir.
“Taos County residents opposed the transfer, and said it did nothing for the public welfare of residents there. The transfer was never dropped but has languished all these years, according to Kay Matthews, a Chamisal resident and editor of the online La Jicarita News, who was one of the opponents. Like Garcia, she fully expects Taos County residents to be up in arms again if Santa Fe County tries to move the water down to Pojoaque.
“We just believe water should stay in its place of origin for economic development, agriculture and other local uses,” Matthews said.
“Part of the problem with Top of the World water rights is no one knows for certain how long it takes water from the farm to seep down through the ground naturally until it eventually leaks into the Rio Grande. Various hydrology studies have estimated the time at 10 to 50 years or longer, Matthews said.
“In addition, none of the water rights settlements that involve Rio Grande water, including Aamodt, has taken into account the long-term impact of climate change on water actually flowing in the river. “The way I see it, the transfer for Aamodt is just another straw in the Rio Grande,” Matthews said.
“The Healys promote a holistic ranch management method from the Albuquerque-based Savory Institute that advocates say improves soil health, increases grasses and helps capture more water. They plan to use the grazing method on the Top of the World farm and prove that, even if the water rights are eventually moved to Pojoaque, the ranch will survive. “Who else in the world would buy land without water rights?” asked Trudy Healy as she left Tuesday’s Board of Finance meeting. “We want to use this as a kind of experiment to show what can be done.”
“And, she said, “maybe heal the relationship between Taos and Santa Fe County. That’s the goal.”
“But, in a kind of ongoing checkers game, the Healys also are in the process of buying more water rights in the area to move to the ranch just in case.”