Our Struggle Continues…
Our community’s organization and protests against Auberge Resorts Bishops Lodge’s plans to dump partially treated wastewater directly into Little Tesuque Creek succeeded in pressuring Juniper Capital, the Lodge's owners into a new plan to, instead, use a leach field on their own property. This is a huge win that we should all be very proud of.
However, the Lodge’s recently proposed alternative— to dump its partially treated waste into a leach field immediately adjacent to Little Tesuque Creek — is effectively as bad if not worse than its original proposal.
We need to turn our powerful community activism back on and take further action now.
Protect Tesuque Objectives
Protect Tesuque was formed this summer to protect our drinking water and the ecosystem that sustains it by achieving three urgent goals.
1. Stop Bishop’s Lodge and the Bishop’s Lodge Hills and Villas from dumping partially treated sewage into Little Tesuque Creek.
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2. Ensure immediate adoption of an environmentally sound solution for disposal of the sewage generated by Bishop’s Lodge and the Hills and Villas.
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3. Secure prompt adoption and enforcement by County government of suitable sewage and waste disposal regulations to protect the quality and viability of Tesuque Basin’s drinking water, acequias and ecosystem.
The Lodge’s new leach field sits atop highly permeable alluvial soils at the downstream corner of the Lodge’s property immediately adjacent to the Little Tesuque Creek. Not only is the new leach field within a FEMA flood zone, but worse still, the water table beneath the new leach field is only 8 to 12 feet below ground surface during the winter and spring snow melt.
The leach field positioning ensures that any contamination it causes will not affect the lodge itself, but only us — its downstream neighbors. Based on the reported elevation and gradient of subsurface water, as well as the surrounding topography, all contamination leaching into the Little Tesuque Creek and subsurface waters will flow to the north/northwest, away from Bishop’s Lodge and directly toward the scores of drinking wells of downstream neighbors.
​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​The next image shows some of the downstream wells that could be affected by the leach field.
Spread the word!
Please forward this to those who share our concerns and request their support.
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​Together we can keep our water safe!
