By: Danielle Prokop
Source NM
 
Congress held a hearing on six historic water right settlements for tribes and Pueblos on four rivers in New Mexico last week, which would bring $3.7 billion dollars for water projects, restoration and more.
 
The settlements address the Rio San José, the Rio Jemez, Rio Chama and the Zuni River. There are also bills for technical changes to two existing agreements, and extending funding for the Navajo-Gallup water project.
 
Zuni River
H.R. 8951 would settle litigation between the federal government, the state of New Mexico and the Pueblo of Zuni regarding the Zuni River stream system in Western New Mexico. It is sponsored by Rep. Gabe Vasquez.
 
There are still outstanding lawsuits by the Navajo Nation in the Zuni basin.
 
The settlement would establish $655.5 million in mandatory spending for a Zuni Tribe Water Rights Settlement Trust Account.
 
–       $29.6 million will go towards a trust fund for maintenance, operation and replacement
 
–       $750,000 in state funding from New Mexico for water monitoring and $500,000 to mitigate non-Indian domestic groundwater rights because of tribal usage.
 
–       $50 million in funding for economic water development plans, environmental compliance costs, design costs and establishing a water resource department
 
Another portion of the settlement will establish a 217,000 acre sanctuary and the withdrawal of 92,364 federal land from entry, appropriation or type of mineral leasing. The land will be managed by Bureau of Land Management and prohibits new water wells, grazing permits, timber sales and fossil collecting.
 
Another 4,756 acres will be placed into a “Tribal Acquisition Area Trust” which will now be managed by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
 
The remaining legislation is sponsored by Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández.
 
Rio San José and Rio Jemez
H.R. 1304 creates two funds, settling multiple lawsuits.
 
–   The Rio San José Settlement allocates 7,982 acre-feet per year for Acoma Pueblo and 12,263 acre feet per year for the Laguna Pueblo from both groundwater and surface water sources. The settlement establishes a $850 million.
 
–   The state of New Mexico will provide $36 million for non-Indian water users.
 
–   The Rio Jemez Settlement allocates 6,055 acre feet per year to Jemez Pueblo and 3,699 acre feet per year to Zia Pueblo. It would establish a fund for both tribal governments with $490 million. In addition to federal money, the state of New Mexico will provide $20 million for non-Indian water users.
 
Ohkay Owingeh Rio Chama water rights settlement
H.R.8685 adjudicates the Rio Chama for the Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo.
 
There are outstanding water rights claims on the Rio Grande that are not settled in the legislation. $745 million goes to the Ohkay Owingeh Water Rights Settlement Trust Fund. The state of New Mexico would contribute $131 million for water development projects.
 
The settlement agreement codifies Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo’s water rights for additional irrigation, using water for watering livestock and wildlife, use for drinking water and wastewater and groundwater uses.
 
Rio San José Navajo Nation
The bill H.R.8945 will settle the Navajo Nation water rights in the Rio San José Basin
 
in New Mexico. It is the counterpart to H.R. 1304. It creates a settlement trust fund of $223 million in mandatory funding. The state of New Mexico would contribute $5 million.
 
 Technical corrections
H.R. 6599 offers technical corrections to the settlements with Taos Pueblo and the Aamodt  litigation.
 
 The federal government made a mistake and incorrectly invested funds in settlement accounts. After the mistake was found the federal government was required by law to send any interest on those funds to the Treasury. This bill would return the $18.5 million in interest to the tribes.
 
–       $7.79 million would go to the Taos Pueblo Water Development Fund
 
–       $4.3 million for the Aamodt Settlement Pueblos’ Fund
 
–       $6.35 million to the Navajo Nation Water Resources Development Trust Fund.
 
 
Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project
Finally, H.R. 3977, extends the deadline for the Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project to 2029. The project consists of two pipelines, two water treatment plants and several pumping stations to bring San Juan River water to Gallup, the Navajo Nation and surrounding communities.
 
The project is a key provision in a Navajo Nation water rights settlement on the San Juan River Basin in New Mexico, and that settlement will not take effect until construction is completed.
 
 The bill will provide another $725 million to finish the project, putting the total bill to $2.1 billion.
 
Those new funds include:
 
–       $689.45 million to address a gap in how much the project costs
 
–       $30 million for Navajo Nation connections on the water transmission line
 
–       $6.25 million for renewable energy features
 
 H.R. 3977 also establishes $250 million for operations, management and repairs for the Navajo Nation and $10 million in a similar trust fund for the Jicarilla Apache Nation.

By Jessica Rath​​

For about eight years now, the Abiquiú News has provided us with the Bloom Blog. From April through October, Marilyn Phillips helps us to identify the many wildflowers growing around Abiquiú  and informs us of the various uses Native Americans have for these plants: as remedies for ailments and diseases, as dyes, as skin lotions, and as food.

​It’s always nice to put a face to the name, isn’t it. And I always like to learn a bit more about a person with an obvious mission, who is passionate about what they do. When I asked her, Marilyn agreed to meet with me and take me on a flower walk, telling me a bit about herself while  helping me to identify the various wildflowers that had popped up in early June.

​Because I learned British English at school when I grew up in Germany, I could spot Marilyn’s accent:  she must be from the United Kingdom. Sure enough, she grew up in London. Her father was a gardener who  planted delicious vegetables and beautiful flowers. While she feels that she didn’t inherit his green thumb, she credits him and his garden for her love of flowers. Although she was a city kid and clearly didn’t have many wildflowers growing nearby, she was always interested in the outdoors and nature. As a Guide – the equivalent to a Girl Scout in the U.S. – Marilyn  spent a lot of time outside, went on camping trips and hikes, etc.

But her involvement with wildflowers got really serious after she moved to Crested Butte, the Wildflower Capital of Colorado – they even have an annual Wildflower Festival which lasts for ten days!

“It's just a stunningly beautiful place”, Marilyn told me.  “And I got involved. I went on a wildflower hike with the Wildflower Festival that they have every July. And I realized that I really liked this. That’s why I did another one. And then eventually, long story short, I got involved with the Festival and ended up leading hikes myself within a couple of years”.

​I once spent a few days in Crested Butte and totally understand Marilyn’s enthusiasm. It is indeed striking. Nestled near the 12,168-foot summit of the Crested Butte Mountain, it has become a popular ski resort with lots of fun activities for the short snowless season: there’s an International Film Festival, a yearly Arts  Festival, there are live concerts, and endless offers for outdoor pursuits such as mountain biking, river rafting, and horseback riding.
Did you know that Crested Butte was a coal mining town in the late 19th century? When the coal mines closed, the town declined somewhat, until the construction of a ski area in the 1960s. Ever since then, the tourism business has guaranteed a booming economy.

​​“This was in the mid-90s, and all the pictures I took were on slides. There was nothing digital yet. My background is in computer science, and so I made a CD. Its purpose was to identify the flowers,  so you could do a search. It looked very similar to the  website that exists now. I haven't changed it much  from that original CD, which I think was published in the early 2000s. When the Internet came out, I got a website, and that's the one that's still going”.

​In 2012, Marilyn moved to Abiquiú. And in 2016 the Bloom Blog was added to the Abiquiú News as well as to Marilyn’s website: Wildflowers of the Southern Rocky Mountains. Check it out, it’s really useful if you want to find a particular flower: one can search by name, both common and Latin, by descriptive words, and – the easiest way – by color.

“It is different here from Colorado”, Marilyn explained to me. “In Colorado, you'll get one hundred blooms a week. Here, you'll get one or two or three or five, at the peak, in May and June. It would be impossible to do something like the bloom blog in Colorado because there are way too many flowers. It's stupendous, the flowers there – but the growing season is very short. We're talking about elevations above 9,000 feet. So there’s lots of moisture from the snow melt because a typical winter brings dozens of feet of snow”.

​“Everywhere I go I take my camera with me. I still go out hiking on trails, but there's not anywhere near the diversity of plants here that there is in Colorado. Of course we still have a huge number of flowers. I think there are over 200 that I found in this area. I start in April and go through September. I used to go through October but there's not much left then, just the odd sagebrush”. 

I mentioned to Marilyn that I used to live in Coyote, and there it's again very different from here. When I went on hikes there, I always found lots of wildflowers.
​
She agreed.  “Sure, there would be more flowers. What we have here around Abiquiú is called a piñon sagebrush environment, plants that grow in a hot and dry climate. But Coyote is about 1,000 feet higher, and that would make a huge difference”.

​“So, have you ever done any kind of guided tours here,  walking tours like you did in Colorado?” I asked.

Marilyn’s answer makes sense, of course: “No, there aren’t enough wildflowers. And I'm older as well. In Colorado I used to do major hiking in the mountains but I couldn't do that anymore. Also, I’d say the area here doesn't really lend itself for hiking tours because when the flowers are blooming, which is mainly in May and  June, it's too hot during the day. There are no trees like you had in Coyote;  you could go hiking during the day and you’d have shade, right? Well, when you have the piñons and the junipers there’s no shade. Piñon and juniper trees are too short. Along the river here we've got the cottonwoods and that's lovely. But often you can't really walk next to the river, there are no trails”.

“When I first moved to Abiquiú I walked down my road, and found lots of flowers just growing by the roadside. But there are few trails here, and they're not the sort of places where you would take a group of people”.

I was curious: “Did you ever get into mushrooms?” I asked.

“No way. In Colorado, there's tons of mushrooms, but it's a very different activity. And it's kind of dangerous, I think. Even in my blog:  I often talk about medicinal uses that the Native Americans had for flowers. But hopefully people realize that those were traditional Native American uses, and they won't go off and try some of these things. Although they've researched it a bit. But mushrooms – they can be deadly”.

“And the other thing is that they grow for only a short period, and this  varies depending on the weather. They need  the right rain. There was actually a mushroom festival in Crested Butte, which  was held towards the end of August, which makes sense. But then one year the mushrooms all came out in July because we had an exceptional amount of rain. So by the time the festival came around, there were no mushrooms!. They had to cancel the festival.
​
Mushrooms are a bit unpredictable”.

​And then Marilyn mentions something I had never thought about, but it has stuck with me ever since.

“There is  one special thing I love about flowers: it is their continuity. I'm going to the same place every year to meet the same flower. They are so reliable! It gives me faith to know that Mother Nature can keep going, despite all the craziness around us. ‘Oh, look, there's that flower that was blooming last year!’  Most of the flowers that survive here have to be perennial, meaning that they come back year after year. Their roots have to be really deep to reach what little moisture there is. So consequently, the same plant will be in the same place next year. And so, you know, they become like friends”.

Isn’t that a lovely thought! I hope we’ll all walk around from now on, greeting the many faithful friends all around us, that we so easily overlook. And let’s include all the trees as well in our new and larger circle of friends. Thank you, Marilyn, for an enjoyable and inspiring conversation.

Markets are in transition. Which is to say we are still in a Bull Market for stocks but in a seasonal transitionary period for the next 2-3 months. August - October tend to see the worst market performance of the year. Then the latter part of the year, late October through the end of the year, tend toward positive performance. It doesn’t have to happen this way but it’s statistically likely. How much in each direction is the variable no one can predict. Especially this year with an election coming up.
 
In all honesty, presidential elections have had a marginal effect on markets historically. It’s almost as if markets say “We don’t care who gets elected, just leave us alone!” But this year we are facing interest rate cuts, presumably in September and again in October or November. Lower rates are good for stock markets generally. But are especially good for bonds. Which is to say bond prices go up when interest rates go down. This is because bonds have fixed rates, and when interest rates in general go down, your fixed rate bonds having higher rates become more valuable. 
 
Think of it this way: if you own a 6% fixed rate bond today, and interest rates go down so that a similar new bond only yields 5%, your 6% bond automatically becomes more desirable. More desirable means higher price. So quality bonds as part of your portfolio may well be the best way to  ride out the next few months, if not the next year. If you’re investing in mutual funds as opposed to individual bonds, look at quality intermediate to longer term bond funds. They will react the best to lower interest rates. 

Just in: Fed Chair Powell just spoke (on Wednesday) and indicated there could be as many as 3 rate cuts this year. This is really exciting news and very favorable for the strategy discussed above. 
 
Questions or comments contact Peter J Nagle Thoughtfulincome@gmail.com

By Jeff Thorpe

​At the beginning of 2024, I helped launch the New Mexico Beaver Project with Chris Smith, the Wildlife Program Director at WildEarth Guardians. The NMBP is working on policy and resources  to help restore beavers in New Mexico waterways to save water, recharge aquifers, mitigate flooding and drought, reduce wildfire damage, create aquatic and wetland habitat, and provide more clean, cool water to all life that relies on it - including us. 

In short, we believe that beavers could be a key to fighting climate change in the southwest, much like this KUNM article that you might have read in last week’s Abiquiu News outlines. If you want to dive deeper, we highly recommend reading Ben Goldfarb’s 2018 award-winning book, Eager: The Surprising, Secret Life of Beavers and Why They Matter, the beaver bible to many of us “Beaver Believers.”

Chris and I are well-aware that there are those of you that might consider beavers to be pests. But in these days of increasing wildfires, flooding and extreme weather in New Mexico, we think that adding more beavers into our waterways would be incredibly beneficial in tackling these climate change related issues. 

There’s a lot of information on our website, but below are just a few benefits of our friend, the beaver. 

We love chatting with people about beavers, so please reach out if you have questions or comments. And we’d love to come see a dam that might be on your property too! My email is jeff@nmbeaverproject.org
​
Surface water
Beavers don’t technically “create” water, but it sure can seem like it. By slowing the flow of water, beavers make more water more available later in the summer and fall. Whether from snowmelt or summer monsoon, water in degraded and eroded watersheds can quickly flow downstream faster than it historically did. With beaver infrastructure slowing things down, water’s journey takes much longer and can keep more miles of waterway more wet later in the year.

Groundwater
Aquifers are like sponges underground. They store water and act as reserves during drought and dry periods. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, roughly 87% of New Mexico’s public water supply comes from groundwater. Aquifers in New Mexico are declining–especially in the eastern portion of the state.
Beaver dams and ponds allow water to seep down through the water table and recharge aquifers. As water slows and collects, it better saturates the ground underneath. So beavers can help us with water supply now and in the future.

By Brice Dix, KUNM
KUNM

It’s a beautiful day in the Jemez Mountains.
'
The early summer morning air is crisp – but not cold enough for a jacket – and dead silent. Above, a couple clouds lazily float across the deep blue sky.

As our group of 20 or so people clad in waders and hiking gear trudges along a rudimentary path deep in the woods, the ground quickly turns muddy. Soon the path widens, revealing a beautiful meadow lined with walls of tall ponderosa pine. A thin creek divides the land into two.
“We’re going to cross the creek and go over to the first set of holes which is, well, either here or there,” said Karen Menetrey from the environmental organization Rio Grande Return. It focuses on restoring damaged ecological systems across the state.

The goal today is to plant batches of willows for riparian wildlife – especially, the beaver.
The willow is usually seen as a “pest” species, but it plays a vital role in beaver survival, providing food and shelter in the winter. It’s also the construction material for the dams they create.

Volunteers place bundles of pre-cut stems into 3-foot-deep holes underneath the water table. They trim any leftover leaves and throw water into the hole.

Then, they use long sticks to tamp dirt into and around the hole – mainly to avoid any air bubbles.

Menetrey said widespread trapping in the 1860s and 70s in New Mexico nearly decimated the beaver population. Historically, beavers in the U.S. were killed for their fashionable pelts and unique scent glands typically used in perfumes or food flavoring.

“And they are extirpated from some watersheds,” Menetrey said. “Which means they’re not extinct, but they are gone from that particular area.”
​
An estimated 6,000 to 12,000 beavers exist in New Mexico right now, but Menetrey said exact counts don’t exist. Currently, Defenders of Wildlife is working on a beaver “census” of sorts to identify dams using aerial photograp

All of this work to reintroduce the beaver back into New Mexico’s streams and rivers is part of a larger push to combat climate change here in the Southwest.

“They're really like climate resilience superheroes and super engineers,” said Chris Smith, the brain behind a newly launched venture dubbed the New Mexico Beaver Project.

Smith’s vision is to reestablish the widespread benefits beavers and their dams had on New Mexico’s landscapes before commercial trapping, like ecological watershed maintenance. Plus it’s free charge because, well, beavers aren’t motivated by dollar signs.

“We have all these vacant waterways, and they could be repopulated by beavers, but we currently don't have a relocation and restoration program,” Smith added.

New Mexico doesallow the trapping of beavers, but only in certain areas at certain times of the year. Nowadays, tens of thousands of beavers are still snared, trapped, or shot across the country every year.

The Department of Game and Fish has tried its hand at some relocation and reintroduction efforts, namely at Bandelier National Monument.

In 2014, the New Mexico Senate passed a memorial requesting a beaver restoration plan from the Department of Game and Fish. They never got one.

The state does have some guidelines that make it fairly difficult for beaver relocation to happen – namely the five-mile upstream, five-mile downstream protocol, mandating all landowners within that radius give their explicit written consent for beavers to live there .

With a recent massive windfall of state revenue from the oil and gas industry, Smith wants some of that money to be set aside specifically for beavers to increase the state’s resilience to climate change.

“Beavers, I think, are one of the most cost effective ways to do that,” Smith said. “There's a budgetary reason to do it.”

In addition to helping with floods, beaver dams improve water quality, remove pollutants, and, surprisingly, help fight wildfires.

Emily Fairfax studies riparian beaver ecohydrology at the University of Minnesota’s Department of Geography, Environment, and Society.

“When beavers fight wildfires, that's actually sort of the last step of the number of disasters that they're helping us mitigate,” Fairfax said.

Fairfax says some people may see beavers as a “nuisance,” because they may chew on a property owner’s favorite tree, or accidentally flood a field or road.

But, she said the pros outweigh the cons.

The semi-aquatic rodents are really good at slowing down and storing water in the ground during storms and runoff seasons, she said. That allows water to be available to plants during droughts.

“Throughout the whole year, beavers are manipulating the hydrologic cycle in a way that builds up defense to a whole suite of natural disasters, and the wildfire really matters, because that's one that we struggle to manage ourselves,” Fairfax said.

These engineering marvels are pivotal to the survival of other species during a wildfire as well. Fairfax said beaver wetlands are too lush and wet to burn – providing a crucial fire break, slowing the blaze down.

“A single beaver family can engineer acres and acres and acres of these fireproof patches,” Fairfax said. “They are the safe place in the landscape, and we need more of it.”
​
Fairfax and Smith said the challenge is to overcome societal perceptions that beavers are merely obnoxious, toothy rodents and teach people that the beaver is much more valuable than a perfume ingredient or a fancy hat.

Story and Images Courtesy of Georgia O'Keeffe Museum

​New and familiar faces joined forces for the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum’s 11th annual Abiquiú Garden Project. Under the guidance of Agapita (Pita) Lopez, Projects Director of Abiquiú Historic Properties, Project Coordinators Josephine Dominguez, a former garden project intern herself, and Randy Garcia helmed the yearly undertaking of planting, tending to, and harvesting the beloved garden filled with the favorite foods of Georgia O’Keeffe. This year, three interns returned with two first-time interns who combined their experience and new ideas for a successful growing season.
​
The project allows for Northern New Mexico high schoolers to care for the garden, learning how one’s natural surroundings can play an instrumental role in fostering a healthy lifestyle, while also learning about the historic and artistic legacy of the community in which they live. Through this process, the interns gain an understanding and appreciation for the land and edible subject matter that O’Keeffe often represented in her paintings, as well learn about her keen work ethic and attention to detail.

​Andrea is a junior at Los Alamos High School. In her free time, she enjoys playing volleyball, softball, and riding horses. Family is important to Andrea, she has three brothers who are her best friends and she enjoys babysitting her cousins when not working. Her favorite part of the summer has been being outside and enjoying the apricots, blackberries, and figs.

​Art student Jazmine Dominguez plans to get her degree in graphic design and art history after graduating from Española Valley High School in 2026. When she’s not in classes, she is painting, drawing, and creating her own manga—a type of Japanese graphic novel. She also enjoys taking walks with her dogs.

​Gabriel attends Española Valley High School and returned to the Garden Project for a second year. He enjoys working at the Home & Studio because of the short morning commute, although he lives closer to Ghost Ranch than Abiquiú! In his free time, he likes to play guitar, tinker around with engines, and help on his family ranch.