Meet YUCCA’s Newest Staff Member & RSVP to Defend Our Water

This week marks 80 years since the U.S. dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. As we honor the lives stolen by nuclear colonialism, we know that this violence didn't start or end in 1945 – it lives on in the systems of militarism, extraction, and imperialism that continue to harm our communities – from Japan to right here in New Mexico.

Today, the U.S. is ramping up plutonium pit production at Los Alamos National Laboratory, escalating a new arms race under the guise of modernization. At the same time, nuclear-armed states continue to use the threat of annihilation as leverage in global conflicts — wielding nuclear dominance as a tool of coercion and control. That's why it's so important to show up if you can this week at commemorations happening locally and worldwide. See a great list from our friends at Tewa Women United here.

As we reflect on the harm that continues today and ground ourselves in the world we're fighting to build, we're also celebrating the leadership and deep care that makes this work possible – as two of YUCCA's staff members step into new chapters of their movement journeys and we welcome a familiar face into full-time staff leadership. And through it all, we're gearing up for a critical Water Quality Control Commission hearing next week, where we need your help to defend hard-won protections for our communities and our water.

This moment calls on all of us to take action to organize for the future we know is possible. Read on for an important update on our fight to protect the newly-enacted Wastewater Reuse Rule, ways to take action, and a celebration of the leadership that continues to shape this work.

HONORING OUR LEADERS: STAFF TRANSITIONS AND THE POWER OF YOUTH LEADERSHIP

This month, we've been celebrating two of our incredible staff members – Ennedith, our Policy Campaign Manager, and Sofia, our Program Coordinator – as they wrap up their time on the YUCCA Staff Team after years of powerful work. We are grateful that both Ennedith and Sofia will continue to support the work and those coming up after them - as members of the Governing body of YUCCA - the Steering Committee.

From guiding our team through complex policy fights and mobilizing our base to take action for the bold solutions we deserve, to coordinating member development and building the trust, relationships, and care that make youth-led organizing possible, their leadership has shaped our work in ways that show up every day in how we organize and build power together.

We've spent the past week in deep gratitude for the passion, dedication, and time that Sofia and Ennedith have poured into our work at YUCCA during their time as staff – our movement is stronger because of them, and we can't wait to keep fighting alongside them in their next chapter.

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As we reflect on the power, dedication, and transformative leadership that Sofia and Ennedith have brought to our collective work during their time on staff, we're also feeling deep gratitude and excitement as we welcome a familiar face into the Program Coordinator role as a full-time staff member!

We're thrilled to welcome Vittoria Judy (she/her), a longtime YUCCA Steering Committee Member and recent Program Coordinator In-Training, into this new chapter of movement leadership as a full-time staff member!

You may already know Vittoria from her videos on YUCCA's social media, her incredible speeches and performances, or simply from the joy, passion, and deep care she brings to everything she does and every space she enters. As a member of our youth-led steering committee, she's been a guiding force in our movement for change – and now, we're honored to watch her step into a new phase of leadership as part of our staff team.

From her powerful public speaking to her deep belief in community care and interconnection, Vittoria brings her brilliance and heart to everything she does. Her organizing journey has been shaped by personal story, a love for knowledge, and a refusal to accept the systems that harm our people. As she puts it, "We have to expect better and demand better – not settling until we create the world we want to see."

We're so lucky to have her vision and leadership on the team as we continue the work ahead and fight for the future we know is possible.

READ VITTORIA'S BIO HERE

TAKE ACTION NOW: SAY NO TO INDUSTRY'S TOXIC FRACKING WASTE!

Last month, we sounded the alarm when the so-called WATR Alliance – an industry front group made up of corporations like Chevron, Occidental, ConocoPhillips, and other companies that profit from pollution – filed a petition to re-open the rule-making process for New Mexico's newly passed Wastewater Reuse Rule.

Thanks to the advocacy of more than 100 community members, over a dozen legislators, and key expert witnesses, the rule put critical protections in place to stop the oil and gas industry from offloading its toxic waste problem onto our communities — and now, those same corporations are trying to dismantle it.

But we're not backing down. Our movement allies have filed a motion demanding that the Water Quality Control Commission dismiss this petition outright, and we need your help to make sure it moves forward.

Here's how you can take action:

✍️ Click here to contact WQCC Chair Bruce Thomson and WQCC Administrator Pamela Jones to urge the commission to dismiss the WATR Alliance's industry-backed petition.

📢 Click here to RSVP to help us pack the next hearing on Tuesday, August 12th 9AM in Santa Fe and show the Commission that we're paying attention.

The WATR Alliance's petition isn't based on new science or data – it's a desperate power grab by an industry determined to protect its profits. Their arguments have already been heard, debated, and defeated. And despite their claims, there's still no credible scientific evidence that toxic fracking waste can be treated and safely reused. Even after "treatment" it still contains radioactive chemicals, PFAS, and heavy metals that threaten our land, water, and health.

But this is bigger than just industry pressure – it's about powerful interests manipulating public processes to push a dangerous agenda. After the Governor's Strategic Water Supply Plan was stripped down during the 2025 Legislative Session, her administration pivoted to pushing the same agenda through rule-making instead.

But when the Water Quality Control Commission – made up of the Governor's own appointees – listened to the people and rejected that push, the administration didn’t stop. Instead, they're backing this latest attempt to gut key protections — this time with industry leading the charge.

It’s a pattern that's all too familiar: corporate and political interests working together behind closed doors to rewrite the rules in their favor.

This is our chance to show up and defend what we've already won. We need your help to show the Water Quality Control Commission that our communities are watching – and that we won't let polluters undo the protections we fought so hard for.