Friday, September 29, 2006
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Friday, September 29, 2006
Mesa Takes on Well of a Project
Journal Staff Writer
The settlers of Pajarito Mesa have lived without a convenient water source since they began arriving more than 25 years ago.
But residents' dream of a community well is closer to becoming a reality.
As part of Gov. Bill Richardson's colonias initiative, Pajarito Mesa is due to receive $500,000 for the well.
"I have pushed for this project because I am committed to helping all New Mexicans get access to good, clean drinking water," Richardson said in a statement released by his office Thursday.
"The folks up there have no drinking water source at all. It's a health and safety issue," said Rick Martinez, deputy cabinet secretary for the state's Finance and Administration Department, which is overseeing the distribution of the money.
The colonias initiative funds public projects in small border communities.
Although Pajarito Mesa is not a border community, it shares some characteristics of such an area, such as its lack of basic services.
Many of the mesa residents are low-income Mexican immigrants, but there are also some longtime New Mexicans and people looking to escape normal society who make their homes in the rural environment.
"I love it up here," said Patrick Wyscarver. He said he's lived on the mesa for about five years and prefers the rural, do-it-yourself environment to the city. He makes his living selling tools at flea markets.
Water and electricity don't come easy on the mesa. It's not on the power grid, nor do any water lines extend to it.
Most people live in mobile homes in varying states of repair, and use solar energy to power their light bulbs and appliances.
But water is the real problem.
Mesa residents have to haul thousands of gallons of water every month from private and public wells in the Valley so they can drink, cook and bathe.
Elizabeth Cervantes, who has lived on Pajarito Mesa for three years with her husband and three children, gets extra water by collecting rain from the roof gutters. The family stores it and uses it for washing clothes and dishes.
Sandra Montes has lived in a trailer on the mesa with her husband, Salvador, since 1997.
"It's very quiet and peaceful," Montes said of the mesa. "Now I'm so used to being out here, when I go down to the city I get nervous."
Montes has led a long campaign to build a community well for mesa residents. In the meantime, she said mesa residents have learned how to conserve their water.
"We've been trying to get basic services up here, and it's just been one obstacle after another," Montes said.
In 2000, Montes helped found the Pajarito Mesa Mutual Domestic Water Consumers Association. The group was created to organize the effort to get a well.
In 2003, the U.S. Department of Agriculture gave the association $500,000 for planning and construction of the well.
But this February, the USDA took back the money, saying the association took too long in getting the well started and hadn't met some conditions of the grant.
"It was emergency money, we'd been sitting on it too long and it had to be rescinded," USDA spokesman Ernie Watson said.
Montes said her group tried to get the county permits, easements, water rights and meet the other USDA requirements. But she said the group always seemed to come across problems or new requirements that cost the association valuable time.
"That money is needed by the national office for the Katrina victims and other emergencies," Watson said.
New Mexico Legal Aid, a nonprofit law office, is representing the Pajarito Mesa water association in appealing the USDA's decision. They dispute the USDA's claim that the conditions were not met.
However, in the months following the loss of the federal money, the water association has made considerable headway.
Rosendo Abeyta, a mesa resident and member of the water association, donated a 3-acre parcel on Pajarito SW to the association for the project.
"This is going to considerably help a lot of people over here," Abeyta said. "We sure need it up here."
The association also received a special use permit for the well on that property, at 8913 Pajarito SW, in late March.
And Montes said a local engineer has volunteered his services to design the well.
Martinez said the state has met with Bernalillo County officials in the past few weeks to discuss the option of working through the county on the project.
County Commissioner Teresa Córdova said the county is currently studying how it might do that.
"We're doing the best we can to find solutions," Córdova said. "The county has supported their effort to get that well up there."
Mesa Takes on Well of a Project
Journal Staff Writer
The settlers of Pajarito Mesa have lived without a convenient water source since they began arriving more than 25 years ago.
But residents' dream of a community well is closer to becoming a reality.
As part of Gov. Bill Richardson's colonias initiative, Pajarito Mesa is due to receive $500,000 for the well.
"I have pushed for this project because I am committed to helping all New Mexicans get access to good, clean drinking water," Richardson said in a statement released by his office Thursday.
"The folks up there have no drinking water source at all. It's a health and safety issue," said Rick Martinez, deputy cabinet secretary for the state's Finance and Administration Department, which is overseeing the distribution of the money.
The colonias initiative funds public projects in small border communities.
Although Pajarito Mesa is not a border community, it shares some characteristics of such an area, such as its lack of basic services.
Many of the mesa residents are low-income Mexican immigrants, but there are also some longtime New Mexicans and people looking to escape normal society who make their homes in the rural environment.
"I love it up here," said Patrick Wyscarver. He said he's lived on the mesa for about five years and prefers the rural, do-it-yourself environment to the city. He makes his living selling tools at flea markets.
Water and electricity don't come easy on the mesa. It's not on the power grid, nor do any water lines extend to it.
Most people live in mobile homes in varying states of repair, and use solar energy to power their light bulbs and appliances.
But water is the real problem.
Mesa residents have to haul thousands of gallons of water every month from private and public wells in the Valley so they can drink, cook and bathe.
Elizabeth Cervantes, who has lived on Pajarito Mesa for three years with her husband and three children, gets extra water by collecting rain from the roof gutters. The family stores it and uses it for washing clothes and dishes.
Sandra Montes has lived in a trailer on the mesa with her husband, Salvador, since 1997.
"It's very quiet and peaceful," Montes said of the mesa. "Now I'm so used to being out here, when I go down to the city I get nervous."
Montes has led a long campaign to build a community well for mesa residents. In the meantime, she said mesa residents have learned how to conserve their water.
"We've been trying to get basic services up here, and it's just been one obstacle after another," Montes said.
In 2000, Montes helped found the Pajarito Mesa Mutual Domestic Water Consumers Association. The group was created to organize the effort to get a well.
In 2003, the U.S. Department of Agriculture gave the association $500,000 for planning and construction of the well.
But this February, the USDA took back the money, saying the association took too long in getting the well started and hadn't met some conditions of the grant.
"It was emergency money, we'd been sitting on it too long and it had to be rescinded," USDA spokesman Ernie Watson said.
Montes said her group tried to get the county permits, easements, water rights and meet the other USDA requirements. But she said the group always seemed to come across problems or new requirements that cost the association valuable time.
"That money is needed by the national office for the Katrina victims and other emergencies," Watson said.
New Mexico Legal Aid, a nonprofit law office, is representing the Pajarito Mesa water association in appealing the USDA's decision. They dispute the USDA's claim that the conditions were not met.
However, in the months following the loss of the federal money, the water association has made considerable headway.
Rosendo Abeyta, a mesa resident and member of the water association, donated a 3-acre parcel on Pajarito SW to the association for the project.
"This is going to considerably help a lot of people over here," Abeyta said. "We sure need it up here."
The association also received a special use permit for the well on that property, at 8913 Pajarito SW, in late March.
And Montes said a local engineer has volunteered his services to design the well.
Martinez said the state has met with Bernalillo County officials in the past few weeks to discuss the option of working through the county on the project.
County Commissioner Teresa Córdova said the county is currently studying how it might do that.
"We're doing the best we can to find solutions," Córdova said. "The county has supported their effort to get that well up there."
