This week’s program focuses on a funding proposal by NM State Senator John Arthur Smith for a pipeline which threatens the Gila River and a cascade of developments regarding the Arizona Water Settlements Act.
Earth Matters co-producer Allyson Siwik of Gila Resources Information Project and the Gila Conservation Coalition hosts this week’s program with Todd Schulke, senior staff and co-founder of the Center for Biological Diversity in which they discuss the details behind Senator Smith’s threat and what it means for the future of the Gila River.
Senator Smith’s $25M capital outlay request for a pipeline from the Gila to Las Cruces had its desired effect. In secret meetings not open to the public, state and local officials have been scrambling to cut a back room deal on the Arizona Water Settlements Act to divert Gila River water for use in Silver City, the Mining District and Deming so that Senator Smith won’t fulfill his trumped up threat to send the Gila water to the Rio Grande if southwest New Mexico doesn’t come up with a unified plan.
For more information on the Gila pipeline issue and the latest on the AWSA, visit the Gila Conservation Coalition at gilaconservation.org
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Earth Matters / Todd Schulke on AWSA Pipeline Threat
