State must come together to protect water

The Santa Fe New Mexican has published an Op-Ed entitled “State must come together to protect water.” It addresses Clean Water Act rule changes that endanger streams in New Mexico.

“… Like capillaries of watersheds, streams that don’t have water in them year-round recharge aquifers and deliver water downstream for wildlife and human use. If pollutants are discharged into a smaller stream, contamination will flow into the larger rivers that 900,000 New Mexicans depend on for drinking water.

“That’s one of the reasons why the federal Navigable Waters Protection Rule, also known as the Dirty Water Rule, is such a bad policy for New Mexico. Already, the rule is facing several New Mexico-based legal challenges due to how detrimental it will be for our waters. The state of New Mexico has joined with other states to challenge the rule. In addition, nonprofits Amigos Bravos, New Mexico Acequia Association and the Gila Resources Information Project joined to challenge the Dirty Water Rule, and just last week, Laguna and Jemez pueblos filed a third suit ….”

Click here to view the entire Op-Ed.