“To say that the New Mexico Environmental Law Center is an asset to the state is an understatement. ”
“The center represents those who have no other advocate, leveling the playing field so that ordinary citizens have a chance to prevail against odds that are stacked against them. Here in the Augustin Plains, for example, we face an international corporation with deep pockets that is intent on mining water from an aquifer of fossil water that sustains the residents and the economy of Catron County…
The project of the Augustin Plains Ranch LLC would, if approved, pump 54,000 acre-feet of water – 17 billion gallons – per year from the aquifer, put that water in a pipeline and ship it to the Albuquerque area… This amount of pumping from the aquifer would deplete it in a finite amount of time, and the people here in Catron County would be left literally ‘high and dry’… The New Mexico Environmental Law Center stands on the front line with us, helping to safeguard our future.
Should the project be approved, that approval would set the stage for such projects across the state, and rural communities would find themselves fighting similar battles. It is of the utmost importance to keep the New Mexico Environmental Law Center alive and vibrant, giving our communities a fighting chance to preserve our water which will by extension preserve our culture, our way of life, our economy, and the environment, which, indeed, makes all life possible.”
–Quotes taken from Carol’s letter to the editor of the Albuquerque Journal published November 17, 2017.