As an Albuquerque resident of 13 years,
I read with interest your story “Truce remains elusive in Rio
Grande water fight,” (HCN, 8/4/03: Truce remains elusive in
Rio Grande water fight). The story was very good, but one bit of
relevant information was not in the story.
ALL of
Albuquerque’s drinking water comes from wells. The water in
the Rio Grande that’s being litigated will be used to water
golf courses and city parks. Therefore, Mayor Marty Chavez’s
remark about taking “water from the mouths of the
city’s children” is true only if they drink from the
park or golf course sprinklers. Or maybe Mayor Marty intends on
watering the parks and golf courses with our drinking water if he
doesn’t get his way with the Rio Grande water.
The
mayor also stated on a local PBS show that “Albuquerque has
the strictest water conservation measures in the nation.”
That would come as quite a surprise to the people of Denver,
Tucson, Phoenix, et al. Albuquerque’s water conservation is
essentially voluntary. Currently, each day is marked by a drop. A
red drop asks that you don’t water at all because of rain or
high winds. A yellow drop asks that you consider refraining from
watering should the wind pick up or it start raining. A green drop
means you can water all you want to from 6 p.m. to 10 a.m.
Under this system, there were 63 straight days already this summer
where you could water under the green drop.
Strict? I
think not. One thing is certain. Jim Brooks of New Mexico’s
Fishery Resources Office of the Fish and Wildlife Service hit the
nail on the head when he said that the real solution is “it
just means we need to conserve water.” I wish Mr. Brooks was
our mayor.
Randy Lantz
Albuquerque, New
Mexico
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Fish vs. kids? or kids vs. golf carts?.
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