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November 14, 2004
Environmental Center Looks To Buy Farmland, Water Rights
The Associated Press
LAS CRUCES — An environmental organization that has butted heads with farmers in the past about how the Rio Grande's water and natural habitat should be managed is looking to join those same farmers as a constituent of the Elephant Butte Irrigation District.
"If we want any water, we have to become farmers," said Kevin Bixby, director of the Southwest Environmental Center. "Our crops will be cottonwoods, wetlands — basically food for wildlife instead of people."
The center wants to buy a 15-acre parcel of land, located north of Picacho, and its 7 acre-feet of irrigation district water rights from a private landowner. An acre-foot contains 325,900 gallons of water.
"Were trying to work within the system to bring the river back to health," Bixby said.
Bixby said groups in northern New Mexico have used lawsuits to accomplish the same goal.
"We would rather do it this way, in cooperation with farmers and other stakeholders," he said.
The group said the 15-acre parcel is desirable because native Rio Grande vegetation, such as cottonwood and willow trees, already grows there.
At a recent meeting of Elephant Butte Irrigation District board members, Bixby presented his proposal and asked for a public endorsement — something board members were unwilling to give.
However, they said as long as the environmental center owned more than two acres of land and developed some type of crop, it could become an irrigation district constituent.
"This is what we've encouraged the environmental community to do for years," board member Robert Fabian said.
The center is raising the $200,000 necessary to purchase the land, where it hopes to eventually establish a community outreach program to educate the public about river health, Bixby said.
The group is considering growing organic agriculture crops to demonstrate the compatibility of sustainable agriculture with nature preservation, Bixby said.