Dear HCN,
Following the lead of our
Illustrious and Infallible Leader, Emperor Bush the Second,
Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chavez has declared war on the endangered
silvery minnow. Chavez has promised to appeal the decision of Judge
James Parker, Chief Justice of the U.S. 10th Circuit Court (HCN,
10/14/02: Albuquerque is dragged into Rio Grande fight). The minnow
represents a clear and present danger to the children of
Albuquerque, according to Chavez. A new phase of a Middle Rio
Grande Water War has begun.
In a move of
uncharacteristic generosity, Mayor Chavez sold and released 70,000
acre-feet of water earlier this summer to the Middle Rio Grande
Conservancy District. This move was done in flagrant disregard of
the anticipated drying of the river in the midst of the drought and
in disregard of needed Endangered Species Act requirements that
could be readily anticipated at the time. Now there is noise being
made by New Mexico’s congressional delegation about changing the
protections guaranteed under the Endangered Species Act. And even
Gov. Johnson is considering an appeal to the Endangered Species
“God Squad.”
It’s time for concerned citizens to
engage in this battle for life and the river. Call your city and
federal representatives to uphold the Endangered Species Act. The
city needs to learn to build a conservation program that goes
beyond its existing one. We need to establish a program of
rainwater harvesting and catch basins. We need a moratorium on the
construction of golf courses within the city and ongoing water
audits for commercial, institutional and industrial users. It is
time for public officials to act responsibly and for all of us to
act as responsible stewards for a species being threatened with
extinction.
But to the mayor of Albuquerque we
should say simply: You have painted yourself into this corner and
you deserve to pay the political costs for your irresponsibility
and lack of foresight. You have failed to implement a serious
conservation program that takes into account changing conditions
and federal requirements. You have acted as though there was no
drought throughout the summer. We can not support any manipulation
or subterfuge to obscure the real culprit in this matter. It is not
the minnow, but it is Mayor Chavez.
Martin
Zehr
Albuquerque, New
Mexico
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Mayor, not minnow, is to blame.
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
