I’ve been receiving phone calls and emails about an issue down in Datil. I don’t have all the details at this point, but according to one email I received, there will be a community meeting Tues, Dec. 4 at 6:30 at the elementary school in Datil.
Apparently, a company named Augustine Plains Ranch LLC is planning to drill 37 wells, each 2000 feet deep. The wells are proposed for Catron County, on land the company has recently bought. Here are some of the details, according to the application on the New Mexico State Engineers Office’s website:
The applicant proposes to drill 37 wells, all with 20-inch casing, and all approximately 2000 feet deep, to be located at coordinates described below in Catron County on land owned by the applicant. The applicant further proposes to divert and consumptively use 54,000 acre-feet of ground water per annum for domestic, livestock, irrigation, municipal, industrial, and commercial purposes of use, to include “providing water to the State of New Mexico to augment its capacity to meet [Rio Grande Compact] deliveries to the State of Texas…at Elephant Butte dam,” and “[offsetting] effects of ground water pumping on the Rio Grande in lieu of retirement of agriculture” via a pipeline to the Rio Grande.
And here’s some more information from the application, which is dated October 12, 2007:
The proposed wells are generally located north and south of U.S. Highway 60 between the Catron-Socorro County Line and Datil, New Mexico. The proposed place of use includes all of Catron and Socorro Counties.
Any person or other entity shall have standing to file an objection or protest if they object that the granting of the application will: (1) Be detrimental to the objector’s water right; or (2) Be contrary to the conservation of water within the state or detrimental to the public welfare of the state, provided that the objector shows how they will be substantially and specifically affected by the granting of the application.
A valid objection or protest shall set forth the grounds for asserting standing and shall be legible, signed, and include the complete mailing address of the objector. An objection or protest must be filed with the state engineer not later than 10 calendar days after the date of the last publication of this notice. An objection or protest may be mailed to the Office of the State Engineer, 121 Tijeras NE, Suite 2000, Albuquerque, NM 87102-3465, or faxed to 505/764-3892 provided the original is hand-delivered or postmarked within 24 hours after transmission of the fax. The State Engineer will take the application up for consideration in the most appropriate and timely manner practical.