3/19/2009 - 3/19/09
"Española businessman Richard Cook appears to be making a bid to drill deep-water wells on his land west of Santa Fe near Las Campanas.
A notice of intent to drill four wells — at least 2,500-feet deep — on private land off N.M. 599 near the state Department of Game and Fish offices, was filed with the state engineer this month and published in The New Mexican March 9.
Each well could pump up to 25,000 acre-feet of water — billions of gallons — annually.
The Caja del Rio Partnership, the company that filed the notice, is not registered with the Public Regulation Commission.
The address provided on the drilling notice, however, matches the address for other PRC-registered businesses and county-recorded properties belonging to Richard P. Cook. Cook owns several other registered businesses in real estate, mining, concrete and construction.
A company with a similar name — Caja Del Rio, LLC — is registered with the state commission but is listed as inactive, with no address given.
Cook did not return calls to his home or office seeking comment.
The notice is among a slew of similar ones filed with the state engineer in the last year as developers seek to secure a relatively unregulated new source of water around the state. Deep aquifers beginning 2,500 feet below the surface or deeper, and containing brackish water, can be pumped without a permit from the state engineer. Developers had ignored the water until recently because it was undrinkable. Modern technology for treating salty water to drinking water standards, coupled with the rising value of water, has companies interested in tapping the deep aquifers." More>>>>
A notice of intent to drill four wells — at least 2,500-feet deep — on private land off N.M. 599 near the state Department of Game and Fish offices, was filed with the state engineer this month and published in The New Mexican March 9.
Each well could pump up to 25,000 acre-feet of water — billions of gallons — annually.
The Caja del Rio Partnership, the company that filed the notice, is not registered with the Public Regulation Commission.
The address provided on the drilling notice, however, matches the address for other PRC-registered businesses and county-recorded properties belonging to Richard P. Cook. Cook owns several other registered businesses in real estate, mining, concrete and construction.
A company with a similar name — Caja Del Rio, LLC — is registered with the state commission but is listed as inactive, with no address given.
Cook did not return calls to his home or office seeking comment.
The notice is among a slew of similar ones filed with the state engineer in the last year as developers seek to secure a relatively unregulated new source of water around the state. Deep aquifers beginning 2,500 feet below the surface or deeper, and containing brackish water, can be pumped without a permit from the state engineer. Developers had ignored the water until recently because it was undrinkable. Modern technology for treating salty water to drinking water standards, coupled with the rising value of water, has companies interested in tapping the deep aquifers." More>>>>
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