Pecos Watershed Protection Act

The Pecos Watershed Protection Act would designate the Thompson Peak Wilderness Area in New Mexico as a wilderness area and withdraw approximately 166,600 acres of federal land in the Pecos Watershed from entry under public land laws, mining laws, and mineral and geothermal leasing. The legislation would protect the river from its headwaters in the Pecos Wilderness to its reaches further downstream by withdrawing the upper watershed from activities such as mining and geothermal leasing, which would have direct adverse impacts on water quality downstream. A 1991 toxic waste spill from a closed mine killed fish in the river for more than 11 miles, and it took decades and millions of dollars to clean up. The bill would allow the continuation of livestock grazing in the wilderness area. The bill is currently under committee consideration and has not yet been voted on by the full Senate.