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River Otters Reintroduced to NM

Click to Play — Requires Apple's Quicktime Player

Video Credit — Valerie Williams, Taos BLM Wildlife Biologist
River Otter Press Release

November 11, 2010: Today ten river otters arrived in New Mexico from Washington state. They will join the other 23 river otters that have been reintroduced to the upper Rio Grande over the past two years. A native New Mexican, once found in streams and rivers throughout the state, river otters have returned home after a 60–year absence. With this final reintroduction thirty three river otters will have been released in the waters of the Río Pueblo De Taos on Taos Pueblo land.

The wild otters were captured and transported from Washington by USDA Wildlife Services and Taos Pueblo as part of a larger otter reintroduction program organized by the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish, Taos Pueblo, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, and the New Mexico Friends of River Otters (of which Amigos Bravos is an active member).

Help Us Monitor the Otters! The public is encouraged to participate in monitoring the presence of otters by reporting otter sightings. Click here to make a report. If possible, please fill out the river otter observation form and attach it to your email. For assistance in identifying otter tracks and scat, please download our monitoring guide.

EPA Releases Superfund Cleanup Strategy for the Chevron (Molycorp) Mine

On December 20 2010, EPA issued its Record of Decision (ROD) regarding the Superfund cleanup strategy for the mine. For a full text of the ROD (1,052 pages) click here. For a tour of the mine and more links to background information click here.

Court Rules in Our Favor
Cleanup Tab For Mines and Other Hazardous Sites Should Not Fall To Public

(In closing 25–year loophole, court protects public from hazardous waste sites and could save taxpayers billions.
San Francisco, CA) – A federal court has ruled that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency must close a loophole that has made it easy for mining companies, coal ash dumps, and a host of other polluting industries to skip out on costly cleanups by declaring bankruptcy. The case concerned EPA's failure to issue "financial assurances" standards that ensure that polluting industries will always remain financially able to clean up dangerous spills and other contaminated sites. Amigos Bravos was represented by EarthJustice.

Another Major Decision by the WQCC Provides Protection for New Mexico's Most Important Rivers and Lakes

Over 700 miles of 199 perennial rivers and streams, 29 lakes, and approximately 6,000 acres of wetlands have been designated Outstanding Natural Resource Waters (ONRWs) under the Clean Water Act, affecting close to 1.4 million acres of Wilderness lands. Activities that would contaminate these waters are now prohibited. Hearings on ONRW designations were held in September and October. Amigos Bravos provided extensive testimony. For more information about Outstanding Natural Resource Water designation, please click on the link on the left margin.

Two Major Amigos Bravos Victories Will Protect the Rio Grande from Radionuclides

On October 13th, the Water Quality Control Commission for the first time adopted water quality standards that are protective of human health for Tritium, Americium, Strontium, Plutonium and Cesium, for the Rio Grande downstream of Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). Amigos Bravos provided extensive testimony prior to the WQCC's decision.

On November 1st, the US Environmental Protection Agency (US-EPA) issued the first individual industrial stormwater permit for discharges from LANL. The permit, which was the cumulative result of an administrative appeal (filed by Amigos Bravos and our partner organizations in Communities for Clean Water) and months of negotiations, mandates the elimination of contaminated discharges from 600 dump sites at LANL within five years. The new permit represents another huge victory for citizen intervention. EPA has stated that the new LANL permit is the strongest individual industrial stormwater permit in the nation.

Nicola Ulibarri Joins the Board of Directors

Nícola is a PhD student at Stanford University in the Emmett Interdisciplinary Program in Environment and Resources. Born and raised in Taos, she has a long history with the Río Grande and with Amigos Bravos. Nícola worked with Amigos Bravos as an after-school volunteer, a community liaison for the Coalition for the Valle Vidal, a summer intern and finally as Project Assistant. This work fueled her interest in water policy and led to her ongoing research on how we make decisions on managing water and what the ramifications are for the environment and for society. In addition to study, teaching, and research, Nícola is a dancer, a flautist, and loves to hike, ski, backpack, and otherwise play in the mountains.

Court of Appeals Rules: City of Albuquerque Diverting Water Illegally

On November 28, 2011, after four years of deliberation, the Court of Appeals released its decision on our lawsuit against the City of Albuquerque's diversion of native Rio Grande water. The court recognized the importance of the case and ruled in our favor. We filed the lawsuit in 2004.

To quote from the beginning of a 68 page decision:
"In this significant case, we hold that granting a permit based on an application to divert water, to which an applicant holds no appropriative right and affirmatively asserts no beneficial use of the water diverted, was unsupported by law. Accordingly, we reverse the district court and remand to the district court for further proceedings."

The City has been and is currently diverting water from the Rio Grande without a right. We have always contended that the diversion of Native Water in this situation is drying up the river, impacting downstream users, and adversely impacting New Mexico's delivery obligations under the Rio Grande Compact. Water attorneys in New Mexico have called this case one of the most important cases in the history of New Mexico water law. Unfortunately, because the Court of Appeals has remanded the case back to District Court, we are not finished – and all bets are that the case will end up in the NM Supreme Court.

Stay tuned…

Amigos Bravos Offers Clean Water Act Workshops

Amigos Bravos, in cooperation with the Southwest Rural Policy Network, is offering a series of Clean Water Act Workshops. Individuals and organizations in New Mexico, Arizona, and Southern Colorado interested in sponsoring a workshop in their communities can schedule a workshop by contacting us. For more information about the workshops click here.

Dirty Water Bill in Congress

In July, 2011, the House of Representatives passed HR 2018, one of the worst dirty water bills in recent history. The vote was 239-184. How the NM delegation voted: Representatives Heinrich and Lujan voted against the bill and for clean water; Representaive Pearce voted for the bill and for dirty water. For those who don't live in New Mexico go to: http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2011/roll573.xml to find out how your Representative voted. We need to urge the Senate to not take up a companion bill in the Senate. Please call your Senators to urge them to not take up this dirty water bill in the Senate!

The Clean Water for Cooperative Federalism Act of 2011 (HR 2018 ) or more accurately the “Dirty Water Act of 2011” would weaken the federal Clean Water Act and make our nation’s waters dirtier. Specifically, this bill would take away EPA’s ability to revise the state’s water quality standards when those water quality standards fail to protect water quality. In addition, the bill removes EPA’s authority to veto US Army Corp of Engineers' permits when those permits would result in water pollution. This veto authority is currently used sparingly, but it provides a crucial backstop to pollution when it is used. Call your Senators today and tell them to not support this dirty water bill!

New Mexico Senators:

Senator Tom Udall: 202-224-6621

Senator Jeff Bingaman: 202-224-5521

To support the work of Amigos Bravos please donate through our shop site: http://shop.amigosbravos.org/index.html

Historic Victory for Clean Water In New Mexico

Amigos Bravos has reached a historic Clean Water Act lawsuit settlement with Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). In 2003, Amigos Bravos began documenting LANL’s stormwater discharges, which we found to be laced with PCBs and other radioactive and toxic substances. In 2008, we joined with other groups in filing a Clean Water Act citizen lawsuit aimed at stopping LANL’s pollutants from reaching the Rio Grande. The settlement agreement willl stop discharges from over 400 of the most toxic dumpsites within five years!

For more information click here to see the press release or contact the office. Also you can download the Final Settlement Agreement and the EPA-issues stormwater NPDES Permit

Many of you have supported this work over many years...THANK YOU!...All of us at Amigos Bravos are deeply grateful.

New Mexico Supreme Court Recognizes Amigos Bravos’ Right to Defend New Mexico’s Waters

In two seperate cases, the New Mexico Supreme Court ruled that Amigos Bravos has a right to defend its interest in clean water.

The cases both involve industry attacks on new rules approved at the end of 2010: one setting greenhouse gas (GHG) emission limits – approved by the Environmental Improvement Board, and one designating rivers, streams, and wetlands located in U.S. Forest Service Wilderness Areas as “Outstanding National Resource Waters” (ONRWs). Amigos Bravos had been denied the right to intervene in the NM Court of Appeals on behalf of our interest in clean water. Not allowing public interest groups like Amigos Bravos to participate in court challenges would have left no one to defend clean air and water against industry interests because the Martinez Administration is bent on overturning the greenhouse gas rules and other environmental safeguards,

We are extremely pleased with the Supreme Court’s wise decision that gives citizens and the environment a voice in defending the air we breath and the water we drink. The decision is especially important in the current political climate that favors economic interests over human health.

Previously, in January 2011, the New Mexico Supreme Court gave Amigos Bravos an additional important victory in our efforts to hold Governor Martinez's administration accountable to the rule of law. Within hours of taking office, the Martinez administration illegally brought to a halt steps in process for establishing new safeguards that protect the air we breath and the water we drink. In quick and dynamic response, Amigos Bravos,and a coalition of groups, represented by the New Mexico Environmental Law Center, petitioned the Supreme Court to intervene. In its decision, the Court recognized abuse of basic separation of powers issues, and mandated that the new greenhouse gas and dairy rules be published in the state register immediately. Chief Justice Daniels expressed the Court's opinion that the constitutional issues regarding the separation of powers raised in Amigos Bravos vs. Martinez are of "great public importance." The Court will provide a written decision in order to clarify their ruling on the issues and provide future guidance.

For links to more information click on:

press release
Emergency Petition.
For a pdf copy of the suppressed regulations click here.
The New York Times article click here.
To listen to KUNM news report click here.

Join Us

Founded in 1988, Amigos Bravos is a well-established nationally recognized state-wide river conservation organization guided by social justice principles and dedicated to preserving and restoring the ecological and cultural integrity of New Mexico’s rivers and watersheds. While rooted in science and the law, our work is inspired by the values and traditional knowledge of New Mexico’s diverse Hispanic and Native American land-based populations, with whom we work.

For the latest news on our efforts, please read about our projects, see our publications, and tune in to Radio Río, a monthly radio program dedicated to promoting stewardship and activism by building awareness and poviding the listener with the means to further river protection and to respond to water quality concerns impacting their communities.

Help preserve the legend! Join Amigos Bravos! Keep the ríos grand! Questions, comments, suggestions? Contact us: bravos@amigosbravos.org