Baby Eric's Bill - Irrigation Ditches

To:  New Mexico Senate

On June 18, 2005 our precious baby woke up as usual. His mom and dad gave him breakfast then got him dressed. He went outside with his mom and dad to play with his bat and ball. Mom and Dad took their eyes off of him for one moment and he somehow got from the porch area, through the yard to an irrigation ditch. He fell into the ditch and was recovered after a two hour search, a little over one mile from where he entered the ditch. It took over 50 people searching to find his little body. If there had been a fence either around the owner’s property or around the irrigation ditch, his family would not be living in a nightmare now.

Under no circumstances do we feel any more children should die in irrigation ditches in New Mexico in such an unreasonable accident. No parent, grandparent, babysitter or any other person can keep their eyes on a child 24 hours per day. Try to imagine that you blinked your eyes and all of a sudden some small person is forever gone. This is what my daughter, son-in-law, grandparents and all of his other relatives have to live each and every day.

The farmer who had irrigated just prior to Little Eric falling into the ditch will have to live with the fact that if he had not irrigated that morning, the chances of Little Eric drowning in that ditch would have been small if at all. The fact is, if no one irrigates, the ditch usually only has a few inches of water in it and the water is standing still. Due to the fact the farmer had irrigated, the water was 2 ½ - 3 feet deep, Little Eric was only 2 feet tall, the water was rushing, and when Little Eric fell in, the water took him so fast there was no hope of surviving. Immediately upon realizing that Little Eric was not in the porch area, his mom jumped into the ditch. The current was so strong it knocked her off her feet. Little Eric’s grandfather walked the ditch and was brought down into the water several times during his search. Little Eric was only 15 months old, the signs that I have been told are posted, only help people who can read. There is no way to train a child that young to stay away from water.

We are hoping to pass Baby Eric’s Bill, which would require all property owners in residential areas have fences that make it impossible for a child to go into or near the irrigation ditch. If there is no property owner at that site, then the county where the irrigation ditch is or the owner of the irrigation ditches should have to fence the area around the irrigation ditch.

While researching, I found previous deaths of small children associated with the irrigation ditches, retaining ponds, etc., in New Mexico and other states. It would seem a small price to pay to prevent a life from being taken through a preventable accident.

Please visit Little Eric’s website at: http://eric-contreras-jr.memory-of.com/about.aspx

This does not seem like much compared to a life, do you think? If you agree and are a New Mexico Resident, please sign our petition so another child will not have to die this way and another family can be spared the grief associated with this type of tragedy. In order to get this passed, we must have signatures of only New Mexico residents.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

The Baby Eric's Bill - Irrigation Ditches Petition to New Mexico Senate was created by and written by Joan Hughes (joni1954@cableone.net).  This petition is hosted here at www.PetitionOnline.com as a public service. There is no endorsement of this petition, express or implied, by Artifice, Inc. or our sponsors. For technical support please use our simple Petition Help form.

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