The Drain Game

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Is a company trying to suck up our water and sell it back to us?

by Christie Chisholm, Weekly Alibi, March 17, 2011

Maybe you’ve never heard of Datil, N.M. It’s just a tiny town in Catron Country, a two-and-a-half-hour drive southwest of Albuquerque. Besides the pretty scenery, it’s generally unremarkable. But for the last three years, it’s played host to a furious debate on water rights.

Augustin Plains Ranch LLC, which sits on the cusp of the town, has a proposal. It wants to suck 54,000 acre-feet a year from the Rio Grande Underground Water Basin, which lies directly under Datil. An acre-foot refers to the amount of water it takes to cover one acre of land in one foot of water. One acre-foot equals about 325,851 gallons, and so Augustin Plains Ranch wants to annually pump about 17.6 billion gallons of water from the subterranean reservoir. To put that giant number in perspective, it’s about half of what the entire city of Albuquerque pumps every year.

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Guv + Dairy Industry = BFFs?

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by Christie Chisholm, Weekly Alibi, February 3, 2011

Gov. Susana Martinez got flak in January when she issued an executive order halting two key environmental rules. One requires that New Mexico decrease greenhouse gas emissions by 3 percent every year. The other sets a number of infrastructure requirements for the state’s dairy industry, such as synthetic barriers in manure lagoons to prevent groundwater contamination.

Results from a public information request suggest the dairy industry, which contributed nearly $50,000 to Martinez’ gubernatorial run, may have had a hand in crafting her executive order.

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Gov Sued Over Eco Rules

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Martinez halts dairy and greenhouse gas regulations

by Christie Chisholm, Weekly Alibi, January 20, 2011

One of Gov. Susana Martinez’ first actions after being sworn into office on Jan. 1 was to start a controversy.

Minutes after taking the oath, Martinez issued an executive order to halt all “proposed or pending” rules at executive branch agencies for 90 days so they could be reviewed. Many rules were affected by this order, but two have garnered a lot of attention—one would curb greenhouse gas emissions annually by 3 percent, and another would better control dairy farm discharge.

The New Mexico Environmental Law Center is suing the governor, the secretary of the Environment Department and the New Mexico state records administrator over both rules, claiming it was illegal to halt the regulations since they weren’t “proposed or pending” but already approved and awaiting publication. As the story unwinds, it may serve as a bellwether for how the Martinez administration will handle environmental issues.

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New Mexico Business Weekly's 2010 Power Book: Rainmakers

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by Christie Chisholm, New Mexico Business Weekly, September 2010

 

Dr. Thomas Bowles

Science Advisor to Governor Bill Richardson

Dr. Thomas Bowles just had his neck brace removed. He was glued to the thing for the last three months after falling in Tunisia and fracturing his head. He and his wife had been vacationing in the African country, exploring Roman ruins, when Bowles climbed on top of one and toppled off. “I got carried away,” he says simply of the event. 

Getting carried away seems to be a theme for Bowles, but the habit usually better serves him. Bowles has worked as Gov. Bill Richardson’s science advisor since July 2006, coming to the position from Los Alamos National Labs, where he’s been for the last 31 years. His background is in nuclear and particle physics, but these days his work spans far beyond those fields. Bowles has been an integral part of economic development in the state and the way it relates to science and technology. And the efforts he’s been involved with over the last few years have created remarkable opportunities for New Mexico.

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New Mexico Business Weekly's 2010 Small Business Heavyweights

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by Christie Chisholm, New Mexico Business Weekly, July 2010

 

Voss Scientific, LLC

Donald Voss works with something most people know little about, even though it makes up the majority of our universe: plasma. Not the kind of plasma you donate at blood banks; the kind that powers stars. 

For decades, physicists have tried to master the reaction that occurs within stars, which somehow churns out more energy than it takes to propel. If scientists can replicate this reaction, a process referred to as fusion, humankind could find itself with an endless supply of sustainable, waste-free energy. This is the mission Voss and his business, Voss Scientific, LLC, finds himself on. 

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