Water and truth are each scarce, and highly-valued, out here.
Citizens concerned about water and extreme air pollution) balked last September when our county commission rushed to approve a huge data center that would have a disproportionately bad impact on our climate and air quality.
Recently, citizens pleaded for a town hall where commissioners and developers would answer questions. After the commission finally agreed, the project pulled a bait-and-switch: citizens sought a meaningful open public discussion. The developer now plans a combination job fair and “open house,” at which folks can visit “stations,” and ask questions.
At a town hall, when Jupiter Minion #293 solemnly promises that Jupiter will cool its huge turbines with non-potable water, a hydrologist could ask a cogent follow-up question, everyone could watch #293 look for a hole in the floor. At an open house station, not so.
Living in a desert, even idiots like me understand that when a deep aquifer contains a lot of water too salty or mineral-laden to drink, if my neighbor pumps out a lot of that bad water, that could draw freshwater downward, leaving my shallow well dry. His plea, “But I only took non-potable water,” won’t keep my tomatoes alive. The issue isn't simply whether the water is drinkable. The issue is whether it is part of a limited regional water resource. Non-potable is a current description that doesn’t tell us about the future. As technically true but misleading as a politician saying, “Who cares what that kid thinks? Sixteen-year-olds can’t vote.”
These Jupiter folks say stupid things. Here are three:
, 1. It’s not a problem because this is non-potable water, promised a pro-Jupiter newspaper op-ed by Julia Robin. Living in a desert, even I know that’s pretty meaningless.
At best, it describes a quality of the water at present. A temporary quality. With a bit longer drought, we might want to spend the bucks to make that water drinkable. Or, since in our huge aquifer there’s a thin layer of fresh water above the brackish, if you pump non-potable water below the potable, the potable falls too – and likely mixes.
2. “If you like protecting the air, you like Project Jupiter” read a weekend ad in the Albuquerque Journal. Hunnh? Jupiter, before the switch to fuel cells, which would improve things a little, planned to toss up greenhouse gasses at least equivalent to what Albuquerque and Las Cruces do now. Possibly forever, because they bought exemption from the Energy Transition Act. Reasonable people can argue that the jobs to be created are important enough to warrant screwing up our air that way; but no one would call constructing those huge turbines would “protecting the air.”
3. Our surface wells will pump just 10,000 acre-feet, so no worries. Wait. The US. Supreme Court just decided that to help Texas this region has to reduce ground-water pumping by 18,000 acre feet. That’s will be tough on farms, families, and villages. Well, now it’s 28,000, assuming Jupiter’s wells are hydrologically connected.
Tuesday, many citizens criticized that “bait-and-switch,” in a tense atmosphere. Chairman Manny Sanchez directed security to empty the left half of that audience. People refused. We almost had a few private security folks struggling to remove scores of adults. Hours later – to their credit, – the commissioners decided to re-open discussion and have the factual, expert-aided conversation that should have preceded approval.
Credit commissioners’ resilience. And citizens’ passions.
– 30 –
[The above column appeared Sunday, 14 June 2026, in the Las Cruces Sun-News and on the newspaper's website and (presently) on KRWG’s website. A shortened and sharpened radio commentary version of this Sunday column will air during the week on KRWG (90.1 FM) and on KTAL-LP (101.5 FM / ]
[ Jupiter folks are flooding our newsprint and Internet with pretty ads. Even if I didn’t know something about this situation, seeing people spend that heavily to make me like them would tend to create a little distrust. ]
[ So far, it looks likely that four county commissioners' names will live in infamy in our county, as we live with this loud, ugly, air-polluting .data center they did not even seriously try to control the damage from, and as broken promises and failed promises come home to roost. But who knows? ]
No comments:
Post a Comment