The San Agustin Plains hearing has been rescheduled for 10:30 a.m., April 5 at the Catron County Courhouse, 101 Main Street, in Reserve before Judge Roscoe A. Woods.

According to the motion of hearing notice, matters to be heard include motion for summary judgement from: Carol Pittman Protestants Group, Catron County Board of Commissioners, Community Protestants and a second motion from applicant Augustin Plains Ranch.

The San Agustin Basin, about fifty miles west of Socorro, supplies water to northwestern Socorro and northeastern Catron County. The first drilling application was submitted by Augustin Plains Ranch, LLC in 2007. It was denied and has been appealed multiple times since.

“This foreign corporation, which owns 1.4 percent of the landmass of the plains wants to mine 54,000-acre feet annually until the water is gone. They claim there is water for 30 years,” said Eileen Dodds, secretary of the San Augustin Water Report “This is a closed basin, with no rivers or streams flowing into it. According to a 2020 study by New Mexico Tech University, there has been no measurable recharge to the aquifer in the last 75 years; in fact, the aquifer has been in decline over the 25 plus years.”

She said, Frank Titus, former head of Hydrology department and New Mexico Tech gave the aquifer 10 years of water at their proposed rate of withdrawal.

Jessica Carranza Pino, Editor