On August 19, State Engineer Elizabeth Anderson denied the mine's application to transfer water rights for use at Copper Flat Mine. This article reports on the reasons for her decision and analyzes some consequences of her action.
With the July 2020 flood and dam failure creating ongoing liability to the city, with the Office of the State Engineer requiring it be fixed "timely," this project became a priority. It will cost $9.725 million in engineering fees and construction costs, if the bids come in within budget.
If you are going to brag, it shouldn't be about getting a welfare check from the government.
Can this board set the mission and policies that will stick? They have 10 months as temporary appointees. Or will their work be wiped out, swept away by successors, since each of their five seats will be on the November 2025 ballot?
This article is a long comment on Kathleen Sloan's analysis, "New Mexico Copper Corporation will still use a lot of water" (https://sierracountycitizen.org/new-mexico-copper-corporation-will-still-use-a-lot-of-water/).
I apologize for not getting this bit of news out until now when it is no longer new. Texas's lawsuit against New Mexico for allowing groundwater wells in our area to syphon off water in the Rio Grande that belongs to Texas may end in a settlement.
270 jobs for maybe 20 years if copper prices don't fall in exchange for a polluted site for 100 or more years that will repel tourists and recreation seekers? Sounds like a trade-off a desperate third-world country would make.
How many voters understood they were raising taxes when they approved the new flood control taxing district on the November 2024 ballot? How many voters understood there was already a 1.50 mill levy for flood control?
Riverbend's glacial slow-walk as a legal strategy paid off, scrapping off all but one protestant. It has cornered the market on commercial hot springs, maybe to the detriment of the whole system, with the city and Office of the State Engineer looking away.
The past winter was not kind to us, and we are faced with water shortage in the Rio Grande this summer. I link to several descriptions of where we are and what is predicted. Impacts will be important for farmers, ranchers, recreational businesses. We might get sued again by Texas.
High cost of home insurance is here to stay. I link to several recent articles on homeowners' insurance, its relation to climate change, its relation to banking, to construction, to real estate, to what the state is doing about this problem. I try to explain those relationships.
Our President has created a "sovereign wealth fund," which considers all government holdings as assets, investments for return of capital. This business enterprise immediately turns the federal holdings from their original purpose of public service into assets to be used to make money. Public land is now an asset.
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