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Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Agency responsible for irrigation and flood control in Middle Rio Grande looks toward its next 100 years
May 24—The Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District has been preventing floods, providing drainage and releasing irrigation waters for 100 years. Facing a future with increased urbanization, lighter snowpacks and heavier monsoons, MRGCD is focused on strategies to keep agricultural traditions alive. The Rio Grande's flows have been shaped by human intervention. With drains, canals and dams, entities like MRGCD, the Bureau of Reclamation and the Army Corps of Engineers have made the river's flow more predictable, reducing flood risk and ensuring the river could run without drying through Albuquerque for most of the year. The levee system has also reduced the width of the Rio Grande's flooding, creating a continuous cottonwood forest within the Rio Grande Valley State Park. "When the district was formed, one of their primary problems was flooding," said Jason Casuga, MRGCD chief executive officer. "We find ourselves now in a period of time of extreme drought, water scarcity." Approximately 84% of New Mexico is in some state of drought, with 38% of the state in extreme drought and almost 10% in the most drastic state of exceptional drought. Mountain snows act as a natural reservoir for water, feeding rivers as snow melts in spring and summer. Since the 1950s, snowpack has been decreasing in New Mexico, as well as in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming where the headwaters for the Rio Grande, San Juan, Colorado and Navajo rivers are located, according to a report from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Snowpack and snowpack runoff are projected to decline substantially by 2070, while average temperatures in the state are expected to increase 5 to 7 degrees over the next 50 years, making the state more arid, according to a 2022 report from the New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources. In 1925, there were more than 70 acequia diversions off the Rio Grande from the area where Cochiti Dam was later built to the San Acacia Reach. MRGCD was created to replace that system, consolidating down to four diversions and focusing on equitably sharing water from north to south. It owns canals and levees across four counties, as well as land adjacent to the river, like Albuquerque's bosque. MRGCD is funded by tax dollars from people who own property within the district and benefit from it. It is run by an elected board and the next election will be in October. The board holds monthly meetings, and much like a city council or school board meeting, the public can attend and weigh in. For interagency decisions and debates on water management, which usually involve federal heavyweights like the Bureau of Reclamation or the Department of the Interior, being locally and democratically run sometimes makes MRGCD the government agency in the room with the most direct relationship to the people it serves. A new hydrological reality One of the wettest periods on record for New Mexico was the 1980s and 1990s. Water was spilling out of reservoirs like Elephant Butte, Casuga said. The Natural Resources Conservation Service recently published a revised 30-year average for snowpack conditions, and across the board the average is much lower than it was for the previous 30-year period, according to Anne Marken, MRGCD's river operations and telemetry manager. As temperatures rise, even in years when there is an average snowpack, less of that water ends up in the river. Higher temperatures also cause higher depletions within the river. The irrigation system in New Mexico is driven by snowmelt. In the spring, when snow melts in the mountains and rushes down the Rio Grande, there is typically more water in the river than Middle Rio Grande Valley farmers need. So MRGCD would hold some of that spring pulse at El Vado Dam or Abiquiu Lake. As the supply of water begins to dwindle, MRGCD would begin to release water to augment farmers' supply. "There are a lot of forecasts that show that we'll probably be getting a similar amount of precipitation in the year, but a lot of that will be shifting to monsoon events in the summer, and we have seen an uptick in some very high-intensity rain events in the summer," Marken said. "So we are also thinking proactively about, 'How can we shift our infrastructure to be prepared for that potential shift in how we receive precipitation?' Because the way we're currently set up is to capitalize on that snowmelt runoff, and in the future, the opportunities might be elsewhere." Long term, that change in weather patterns could call for new reservoirs in different locations and the ability to store water within channels, so if rain comes in after irrigation water has been released, the released water could be temporarily held in the channel, Marken said. Monsoons also deposit more sediment into the river than snowpack runoff, which is slower and less intense. So MRGCD will likely need to manage increased sediment in the Rio Grande, said Casey Ish, MRGCD's conservation program and special projects manager. Rio Grande Compact New Mexico has a water debt of 124,000 acre-feet through the Rio Grande Compact, a legal agreement that shapes water management along the river. Signed in 1938, the compact is an agreement between Colorado, New Mexico and Texas about how to share water, and it looms over MRGCD's day-to-day work. When New Mexico is 200,000 acre-feet in debt, the state has violated the agreement. Unlike some other water-sharing agreements in the West, the compact does not dictate a set amount of water has to be sent along the river each year. Instead, the states' have to deliver a percentage of the water in the river system to their downstream neighbor. The percentage is larger in wet years and smaller in dry years. "We try to characterize how much water the farmers need, and make sure we're not diverting more," Marken said. "While we're balancing what the farmers need, we're also looking at environmental species' needs, and also Rio Grande Compact compliance. So we're always balancing all these competing uses for this water." Endangered species like the silvery minnow and willow flycatcher are protected by the Endangered Species Act, at times mandating that water be used to boost their survival. This May, the decision of whether to store water or release it is an easy one, because legally at this moment, New Mexico can't store native Rio Grande water for non-Pueblo use, because New Mexico owes too much water to Texas to store any for itself. The pueblos have older water rights, giving them priority. New Mexico's current compact debt began in 2019. The following year, there was not much snowpack and not many monsoons, so the stored water New Mexico had was quickly gone, Marken said. But the state was holding a store of water for Texas — 30,000 acre-feet — to meet its compact obligations. Water managers in New Mexico asked Texas officials if that earmarked water could be used in the Middle Rio Grande Valley. Texas said yes, further growing the compact debt. In subsequent years, the debt has crept higher. This lack of storage ability creates uncertainty for irrigators about how much water will be available. Typically, the natural summer inflows are not enough to meet farmers' needs, making them reliant on monsoon events, Marken said. In the spring, farmers are trying to make planting decisions based on water availability in the summer, but when storage is unavailable, it makes predicting what to plant more challenging. To improve its operations, MRGCD is exploring a new way of operating, where it evaluates compact delivery on a month-to-month scale to ensure it's not falling behind on water delivery, Marken said, something Colorado already does. The rules around who gets what water from the Rio Grande could shift in the coming years. There is ongoing litigation around the Rio Grande Compact because of past compact violations by New Mexico. The states came to a settlement agreement, but the federal government objected, so settlement discussions are ongoing. Within the next 100 years, Casuga expects an Indian water rights settlement for the six Middle Rio Grande Pueblos, which would likely come with an adjudication of water in the Middle Rio Grande Valley, a legal determination of exactly how much water belongs to whom. "That'll change the dynamic in the middle valley, but it'll also bring surety to priority of water and what those priorities are in terms of how much there is, whose it is, and what the priority of that is, which I think is important," Casuga said. The pueblos' prior and paramount water rights were recognized by the U.S. government in the early 1900s. In 2022, the six pueblos started a legal process for the formal determination of water rights in the Middle Rio Grande. Urbanization As a new Interstate 25 interchange is being built near Tomé, and Los Lunas sees an influx of new residents and big investments from companies like Facebook, Valencia County is likely to become more urban. Bernalillo County is also likely to continue increasing density in its existing urban areas. To promote agriculture and green space within the valley, MRGCD's elected board has directed Casuga to protest if someone is trying to transfer water from within the valley to an area outside the district, said MRGCD Board Member Stephanie Russo Baca. When someone is trying to take water outside the district, it is generally related to municipal development and private residential development, said Technical Services Director Eric Zamora. If someone is adding a subdivision within a municipality, the municipality will typically require the developer to prove they have enough water rights for the subdivision. MRGCD will play a role in maintaining the agricultural character of Valencia County and be an advocate for Albuquerque's agriculture by supporting policies to protect green spaces, Casuga said. "Let's make good subdivision standard decisions on how dense we're going to make the places right along the river and in the green spaces," Casuga said. Cathy Cook covers the federal government for the Albuquerque Journal. Reach her via email at ccook@
Yahoo
05-03-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
High winds impact irrigation ditch clean up along the Rio Grande
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – A dry winter is creating a low spring run-off this year making it tough for farmers. The Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District is saying the wind this week is causing more weather woes and irrigation delays. Story continues below Traffic and Roads: Three killed in 11-car pileup west of Lordsburg Don't Miss: Navajo storyteller brings representation in front and behind the camera Crime: Six suspects arrested in connection to home invasion in Taos County 'We manage a system of irrigation canals that stretch about 147 miles of the river,' said MRGCD CEO and Chief Engineer, Jason Casuga. The MRGCD kicked off irrigation season at the end of February, flushing and clearing debris to prep for water distribution. 'We divert water in the north, and then that water travels by gravity by our canals south and then we begin to deliver that to irrigators in different counties,' said Casuga. Casuga said one week later, all that work went out the window.'I think what's really important for the public to understand is how far those weeds actually traveled to get to our canal and high winds like that, it's not like they are coming from next door,' said Casuga. Many canals across the city that MRGCD is responsible for are now filled with tumbleweeds and other debris. 'It's really hard to move water, it's almost impossible. It creates a lot of problems, it makes it unsafe at times for MRGCD to be running significant amounts of water and delivering water to farmers,' said Casuga. As strong winds persist with Thursday potentially mimicking what we saw Monday, farmers should expect delays.'Those smaller canals that run next to homes and barns and those kinds of things that we're making sure that we are turned down, so that we can hopefully avoid having any weed plugs or debris falling from branches that may plug the canal and cause it overflow,' said Casuga. Casuga said there is some good news with wind like this. 'As winds continue on for longer periods of time, the weeds actually reduce because they've all moved to specific spots by that time, it's really these first large windstorms that bring in all the weeds,' said Casuga. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
05-03-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
High winds impact irrigation ditch clean up along the Rio Grande
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – A dry winter is creating a low spring run-off this year making it tough for farmers. The Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District is saying the wind this week is causing more weather woes and irrigation delays. Story continues below Traffic and Roads: Three killed in 11-car pileup west of Lordsburg Don't Miss: Navajo storyteller brings representation in front and behind the camera Crime: Six suspects arrested in connection to home invasion in Taos County 'We manage a system of irrigation canals that stretch about 147 miles of the river,' said MRGCD CEO and Chief Engineer, Jason Casuga. The MRGCD kicked off irrigation season at the end of February, flushing and clearing debris to prep for water distribution. 'We divert water in the north, and then that water travels by gravity by our canals south and then we begin to deliver that to irrigators in different counties,' said Casuga. Casuga said one week later, all that work went out the window.'I think what's really important for the public to understand is how far those weeds actually traveled to get to our canal and high winds like that, it's not like they are coming from next door,' said Casuga. Many canals across the city that MRGCD is responsible for are now filled with tumbleweeds and other debris. 'It's really hard to move water, it's almost impossible. It creates a lot of problems, it makes it unsafe at times for MRGCD to be running significant amounts of water and delivering water to farmers,' said Casuga. As strong winds persist with Thursday potentially mimicking what we saw Monday, farmers should expect delays.'Those smaller canals that run next to homes and barns and those kinds of things that we're making sure that we are turned down, so that we can hopefully avoid having any weed plugs or debris falling from branches that may plug the canal and cause it overflow,' said Casuga. Casuga said there is some good news with wind like this. 'As winds continue on for longer periods of time, the weeds actually reduce because they've all moved to specific spots by that time, it's really these first large windstorms that bring in all the weeds,' said Casuga. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
26-02-2025
- General
- Yahoo
‘Nobody wants to see the bosque destroyed': Neighbors voice concerns over Los Lunas project
LOS LUNAS, N.M. (KRQE) – A major project is underway on miles of the Rio Grande through Los Lunas with crews digging up and taking out parts of the river habitat. While water managers said it's partly for flood control, neighbors are worried about the environmental effect. 'One of the things we're really concerned about is the effect on the wildlife here, these big cottonwoods are homes to all kinds of migratory species,' said Guy Dicharry, a resident nearby. The concern is just north of Highway 6 in Los Lunas where the Bureau of Reclamation's River Mile 163 project is aimed at widening the Rio Grande. The Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District(MRGCD) supports it and said it should help with flood control and water flow. Story continues below Crime: Thief returns stolen crystal to the store it was taken from in Albuquerque News Insiders: Are There ICE Raids Happening In New Mexico? Traffic: BernCo issues hundreds of citations on road with new speed camera 'The river is narrow, and the flood plain is narrow and so this creates constrictions on being able to move water, especially during higher spring runoffs,' said Jason Casuga. The MRGCD said efficient flow is important to meet New Mexico's water deliveries to Texas. 'New Mexico has a responsibility to deliver water to Elephant Butte for satisfying the compact,' said Casuga. Crews are widening the river by expanding levees, removing islands, and taking out cottonwood trees. Neighbors said since the project started, they feel the changes go too far. 'What they explain to us originally was not going to lead to as much tree destruction as were seeing now and that what we want them to do is stick with that and not change something else,' said Dicharry. They also listed concerns about fire dangers from debris, species native to the habitat, and trees being marked are more than expected. They want to see the project stop fearing a negative environmental impact. 'I think the project could be done in a way that is much less impactful on the bosque environment, the wildlife, the trees,' said Barry Simons, another neighbor near the project. While they hope crews might reconsider the ongoing project, the MRGCD said it's important to get the work done as this area of the Rio Grande has already led to more than a million dollars in levee repairs. 'This is what it means to manage the river and how we protect the values that we have on this river, nobody wants to see the bosque destroyed. In many instances this is how we prepare it for what the bosque will be in the future,' said Casuga. The Bureau of Reclamation did not return our calls about the project. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
