Pie Town Area Geologist Speaks Out On Water Grab At Library

By Anne Sullivan

DATIL -- Thirty-two people, some bringing their own chairs, squeezed into Datil’s Baldwin Cabin Public Library, a very small library, last Friday, November 13th to hear Dennis Inman’s talk on ‘Geology Potpourri.’ Inman worked for the U.S. Forest Service for over 30 years as an Engineering Geologist and did a lot of work in ground water issues. He’s now retired and living in the Pie Town area.
The San Agustin Plains Water Grab was responsible for attracting the majority of the audience so Dennis Inman began his talk with the Plains water issue, saying that what was needed was to find the boundary of the watershed and look at what’s falling annually and how much goes into the ground. “We need a water budget to show if we’re already overdrawing the aquifer,” he said and also stated, “Well records are incomplete and probably 80 to 85 percent accurate.” Most of the probably 900 plus wells on the Plains are fairly shallow, about 300 feet.
In response to the question ‘What can be done?’ he stated that we need to get somebody involved as “it’s not over till the fat lady sings” and water law is not straight forward.
Inman then showed his collection of rocks from Arizona, California and New Mexico, rocks of great interest, age and/or beauty. As a self-declared Ultimate Geologist, he even displayed one of his kidney stones. Many of the audience members brought rock specimens for inspection and identification.

Pie Town Area Geologist Speaks Out On Water Grab At Library