Pearce: Gila diversion would protect region's future

U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce, R-NM, said Saturday that the proposed diversion of the Gila River was an important step to make sure water would be available for Grant County residents in the future. "For eight years under (former Gov. Bill) Richardson nothing was done," Pearce said. The Central Arizona Project had received the water rights and by the time Pearce became involved in the issue, the water belonged to Arizona and not New Mexico, he said. "When I went to Arizona to see about getting our water rights back, they had the water rights, it belonged to them," Pearce said. "I went to Congress and got the money so we bought those rights back, But there won't be money in the future to buy those rights back again." The Grant County Board of County Commissioners voted unanimously on June 25 in favor of a resolution approving the Joint Powers Agreement to create the New Mexico Unit of the Central Arizona Project as required by the Arizona Water Settlements Act. Luna County's Board of County Commissioners also agreed to support the JPA and join the CAP Entity on June 24. However, Silver City Town Council voted on June 23 not to support the JPA. The Arizona Water Settlements Act allocates to New Mexico an annual average of 14,000 acre-feet of water from the Gila Basin and up to $128 million in non-reimbursable federal funding, according to the website, nmawsa.org. The water is in addition to that allocated to New Mexico in the 1964 U.S. Supreme Court decree in Arizona v. California. The funds may be used only in the southwest water planning region of New Mexico, which includes Catron, Grant, Hidalgo, and Luna counties. The draft of the agreement was finalized on May 15 and the next step is the adoption of the agreement, which will clear the way for the proposed water projects to move forward...more