Minutes for the South Sacramento Water Group Meeting March 13, 2008
By Ellen Wedum, Secretary
Published in the Mountain Monthly, April 2008, page 38
Part One.
Jeff Winkle, president of the Weed Community Association, welcomed the SSWG and guests to Weed, and SSWG chair Lou Wilkerson then called the meeting to order at 6:15pm. Twenty-one people were present in addition to the invited guests. Absent was Cloudcroft representative Jerry Sutherlin. The agenda, minutes of the previous meeting and treasurer’s report were approved. Under old business, Lou Wilkerson pointed out that our $300 check for the 501.C.3 application fee was cashed. Treasurer Marsha Slane reported that all she has heard from the agency was a list of questions that had already been answered in the application. “So I answered them again,” she said.
Lou then turned the meeting over to the invited guests for a roundtable discussion. Senator Vernon Asbill started by introducing an additional visitor, Hubert Quintana from the SNMEDD (Southern New Mexico Economic Development Department) in Roswell. SNMEDD serves Lea, Eddy, Chaves, Lincoln and Otero counties. Asbill credited Quintana for his enormous help in organizing and getting funds for water associations, and recommended him as an excellent resource for members of the SSWG. Lou invited him to join the other guests at the front table. Besides Senator Asbill, the guests were Doug Moore, Otero County Commission Chairman, Representative Nora Espinoza, and Andy Morley and Rebecca Melendez from the State Engineer’s office in Roswell.
Asbill is committed to efforts to ascertain how much water we have in the Sacramento mountains. The legislature has funded the hydrogeological survey to the tune of over two million dollars so far, which is good for Chaves, Lincoln and Otero counties. He also commended Governor Richardson for funding a “pretty good initiative” in the Salt Basin. Asbill thinks there is a good supply of water in the Salt Basin, and since it comes from the Sacramento mountains it should first be put to beneficial use for the people in the mountains. He also mentioned the thinning project that has been started on the Coleman Ranch.
Wilkerson thanked Doug Moore for helping to start the thinning project in the 16 Springs area that has been going on for two years. Five hundred acres have been logged and an additional 2,000 acres have been thinned. The wells in the area have maintained their water levels in spite of the drought. He wants to see the forest thinning programs expanded. Russ Wright commented on the decline in logging in our area. The 16 Springs project is good but the future looks bleak for the rest of the mountains.
Doug Moore spoke about the restrictive regulations on thinning projects that make the logging commercially unprofitable. Loggers must remove all the small material but cannot cut any trees larger than 9 inches in diameter. He is excited about a company that he met with that specializes in the removal of “small stuff” which they process to produce pellet fuel. They have equipment that cuts the material and grinds it up on site. The most recent timber sale did not get any bids, but this company is interested in bidding. Moore believes that the establishment of this business in Otero county may also lead to the re-opening of the White Sands mill and provide additional incentives for the re-establishment of a train stop in Alamogordo.
Moore’s comments stimulated a lot of discussion. Jeff Winkle asked about particle board, Arden Schug from Timberon is interested in sawdust production. He said that the price is up to $100 per ton. The USFS is planning to conduct a thinning project near Timberon in a couple of years, and there is a good location for a biomass power plant near Timberon. Moore pointed out that to get two megawatts of power, 50 tons of biomass per day is needed, and the capital investment is $30 to $50 million. In addition, a reliable supply of biomass is needed for at least 10 years for commercial feasibility.
Wilkerson asked if there is any estimate on the number of tons of biomass available in the Lincoln National Forest. Moore reported that the pellet plant company he has been talking to needs a minimum of 15,000 to 30,000 tons of biomass a year, and that after talking to the USFS they think that at least 15,000 tons will not be a problem. The pellet company does NOT want the commercial timber, so this may be a ‘good fit’ with the Mescalero Apache lumber mill. Their goal is to achieve a sustainable yield. Rough estimates are that there may be 20 million board feet (roughly 40,000 tons) of annual growth. The pellet company needs wood with sap in it, not punky wood or bark. Ellen Wedum asked how steep a grade their machine can operate on. Moore said it can operate up to a 30% grade.
(The meeting lasted until 9pm. Part Two will appear in the May issue of the Mountain Monthly. The next meeting of the SSWG will be held at the Mayhill Community Center on Thursday May 8 at 6pm.)