MRGCD Board Candidate Elaine Hebard: Keeping Promises and Meeting Challenges

This is a guest blog by Elaine Hebard, a Democrat who is running for the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District in Bernalillo County. The MRGCD election is June 7, 2011.

My name is Elaine Hebard and I am a candidate for the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District (MRGCD) Board. I’m running because, above all else, I want to ensure that those who come after us won’t have to make ruthless ‘either/or’ decisions about who -- or what -- has the right to water in the future.

Various recent mailers have raised issues such as whether the District has adequately maintained levees and ditches, been receptive to recreational opportunities and been open about its financial managment. But what is omitted in these discussions is any sense of the urgency about our water resource itself.

Think about the person who responds to the tap on the shoulder while the pickpocket is lifting his wallet. Those issues come close to being distractions when compared to the overall health of our ecosystem and our water. The current drought highlights its tenuous existence. For decades, we have consumed more water than is renewably supplied, making up the deficit with groundwater. As an invisible deficit, consequences of living beyond our means may not show up by any specific date -- providing a useful excuse to office holders.

If we don't acknowledge the benefits that the District provides, then we won't be ready and willing to take steps to preserve it. We'll continue to transfer water from agriculture to urban uses without considering the overall effect such transfers have. We'll continue to act as if there will be new fonts of water to bail us out. We'll continue to think that there will be water in the ditches.

Anyone who seeks to serve as an MRGCD director needs a clear understanding of the conservancy’s statutory responsibility to deliver irrigation water, and to provide drainage and flood protection to property in the Rio Grande floodplain. Equally important is an understanding of the tremendous pressure the District faces from increased urbanization, Endangered Species requirements, the uncertainty of water right ownership and priority, recreational use of MRGCD facilities, and increasingly rigorous standards for water quality and infrastructure safety. In addition, we can’t forget that drought and climate variations are expected to further limit an already stretched water supply.

All who live in the middle valley are recipients of goods and services supplied by the MRGCD, not only those enduring original benefits, but many secondary amenities as well, from open space to habitat for wildlife. Unless there are concentrated efforts to defend both the water and the agency that conveys it, a day may come when there are no verdant ditches for walking, jogging or horseback riding; no valuable bonus of recharge from irrigation to help balance the regional water budget; and no longer the means to produce food locally.

To counter such a scenario, and to help direct conservancy policy toward the brightest possible future, I will work to:

• Improve current methods of regional water accounting, and to resolve the issue of water right ownership;
• Clarify title, right-of-way, easements, and maintenance responsibilities for community ditches in the conservancy’s service area;
• Ensure better MRGCD communication with all constituents through a neighborhood liaison program, and public service materials explaining the benefits of the MRGCD, and where to obtain information or help with conservancy-related issues.

Using my background in science, law, and planning, I’ve spent the past fifteen years learning about our water resource and its management in the Middle Rio Grande while helping to develop the regional water plan. That volunteer work provided me with insight into diverse and complex issues, and the opportunity to collaborate with all kinds of water users. I’ve served on a number of water advisory committees and commissions, both locally and throughout the state, and am a strong promoter of public education about water. In the past several years, I’ve coordinated public forums on the Rio Grande Compact, desalination, and aquifer recharge and recovery, to name just a few.

I would like to put my knowledge to work. I believe that changes to the oversight and administration of water resources are past due, and that the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District is well poised to protect the values we all hold most dear.

Please help me stop the pickpocket rather than falling victim to ancillary taps on the shoulder.

Water is my passion. As you can see, I really can fit all the pieces together. For more information, please visit my web site, www.WaterSage.org.

Election Day is June 7. Please vote for me so that I can serve you!

Bernalillo County polling locations:

• Raymond G Sanchez Community Center, 9800 4th Street NW
• Los Ranchos City Hall, 6718 Rio Grande Blvd NW, Los Ranchos de Albuquerque
• Valley High School, 1505 Candelaria Rd NW
• 4-H Center, 1500 Menaul Blvd NW
• Washington Middle School, 1101 Park Avenue SW
• Valle Vista Elementary School, 1700 Mae Avenue SW
• MRGCD Board Room, 1931 Second Street SW
• Rio Bravo Senior Center, 3910 Isleta Blvd SW
• Polk Middle School, 2220 Raymac Road SW
• Los Padillas Elementary School, 2525 Los Padillas Road SW
• Isleta Elderly Center – Kiva Room, 79 Tribal Road 40 SW, Isleta Pueblo

This post is a guest blog by Elaine Hebard. If you'd like to submit a piece for consideration as a guest blog, contact me by clicking on the Emaill Me link at the upper left-hand corner of the page. Publication of a guest blog does not necessarily mean that we agree (or disagree) with the points made.