Ranchers admit theirs is a history of "take and take some more"

IN this AP story on new water regulations in New Mexico, ranchers fret that clean water requirements might be the last nail in their coffin:

State environment officials have spent more than two years refining a proposal to designate rivers and streams in wilderness areas across the state as so-called "outstanding national resource waters" to protect them from degradation...
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[State officals] ha[ve] tried to reassure ranchers and others that the designation won't affect existing activities if water quality is maintained.

And that's what is really worrying the ranchers- that they'll have to stop trashing public waters.

"Our history is the history of take and take some more, and what hurts is government is not accountable," [Abiquiu rancher Virgil Trujillo] said.

We completely agree- between the water withdrawals, the grazing subsidies, the depleted wildlife habitat- ranchers take and take and take. Asking the government to be accountable to all of its people- instead of just a small special interest group- would be a good thing. Richardson's Clean Water Act proposal fits the bill.