Lawmakers look to protect the Pecos Watershed from new mining operations

Yahoo

15-04-2025

PECOS, N.M. (KRQE) – The Trump Administration's move to reopen northern New Mexico forest land for mining has the state's federal delegation pushing back. The state leaders worry that mining will threaten the pristine Pecos Watershed.
'We need to remember the headwaters of the Pecos provides life-giving water all the way through the Pecos, down through the village of Villanueva where my family is from, all the way to Texas. These are pristine waters,' said Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez (D-Santa Fe, Congressional Dist. 3).
The latest fight from New Mexico's congressional delegation aims to protect the Pecos as they reintroduce the Pecos Watershed Protection Act. The federal legislation looks to stop mining around the northern New Mexico river.
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'They would prevent any destructive activity and not just in the area but also the flow downstream from any damage,' said Rep. Anita Gonzales (D-San Miguel, Torrance Counties).
The legislation comes after the Trump Administration's recent decision to reverse the Bureau of Land Management's and the U.S. Forest Service's protections of the Upper Pecos Watershed from new mining operations. The reversal reopens mining opportunities on federal lands.
Opponents on Monday said rural communities want to protect the river because farmers, recreationists, and others rely on it. 'The water is important because it is both the source of their drinking water and it is the source of the water that floods their fields in the springtime,' said Rep. Leger Fernandez.
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Lawmakers have been trying to get the act passed since 2020 in each Congress, recalling the 1991 toxic waste spill from a closed mine, which caused a massive fish kill. 'We do not want that contamination again. We have lived through what mining can do to the waters of the Pecos, and we want to prevent that,' added Rep. Leger Fernandez.
The Trump Administration hasn't said yet if the feds are working on any new mining agreements near the Pecos. However, a company has shown interest in years past for an exploratory mining project in the area.
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