The Rio Grande is seen looking north from the South Valley on Wednesday. The Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District will hold a special meeting Aug. 20 to consider if and when it will end the irrigation season early for regional farmers. (Robert Browman/Albuquerque Journal)
Copyright © 2021 Albuquerque Journal
Monsoon rains have propped up Rio Grande flows this summer.
But the next few weeks will determine if central New Mexico farmers face another shortened irrigation season.
Rains have helped “mitigate some serious impacts to the farmers, and the ecosystem and recreation” on the river, said Jennifer Faler, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Albuquerque Area manager.
“Our predictions of drying in the Albuquerque reach have not yet come to fruition,” Faler said. “And we have our fingers crossed that they won’t.”
In late June, the federal water agency warned that the Rio Grande could go completely dry throughout New Mexico’s largest city this summer without a robust monsoon season.
Drying that severe would have created river conditions not seen since the 1980s.
Instead, heavy July storms have kept water flowing through the river, although the past week of hot weather and minimal rain is starting to take its toll.
Earlier this summer, Reclamation predicted that Elephant Butte Reservoir levels in southern New Mexico could dip to a mere 10,000 acre-feet by this fall.
“It looks like we’re going to end above 50,000 acre-feet,” Faler said. “So, that’s good news for recreation down south.”
Litigation still possible
But the threat of litigation from WildEarth Guardians looms.
On June 9, the group filed a notice of intent to sue federal, state and local water agencies to “ensure that imperiled species’ habitats are protected from damaging infrastructure, lack of connectivity and unsustainable water management.”
“There’s a lot of tension throughout the West between the farmers and the Endangered Species Act,” Faler said. “… But we all need to work together to ensure the reliability of water supply with the threats of the changing climate.”
Faler said the bureau will have confidential meetings soon with WildEarth Guardians to propose solutions that could prevent legal action.
The Rio Grande flows in Corrales on Wednesday. Recent monsoon rains have boosted river flows, but the precipitation may not be enough to prevent a shortened irrigation season for farmers in central New Mexico. (Robert Browman/Albuquerque Journal)
Anne Marken, hydrologist for the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District, said the “generous” monsoons have boosted agricultural water supplies.
The agency manages river irrigation from Cochiti Dam to Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge.
“Some of these excess flows arrived at Elephant Butte and have helped chip away at this year’s accrued debit to Texas,” Marken said.
The Rio Grande Compact mandates that New Mexico deliver a certain amount of river water each year to Elephant Butte, which serves southern New Mexico and Texas. If New Mexico fails to meet those deliveries, the state racks up a “water debt” to the Lone Star State.
Augmenting flows
The district will continue to augment natural flows and meet irrigation demand with stored water diverted from the Colorado River Basin into the Rio Grande via the San Juan-Chama Project.
MRGCD will hold a special meeting Aug. 20 to consider if and when they will end the irrigation season early for middle valley farmers.
A shortened season could mean more water flowing into Elephant Butte this year.
Farmers received irrigation water a month later than usual this spring. The district also shut off deliveries a month early in fall of 2020.
A shorter irrigation season, especially if the cutoff happens without adequate notice to farmers, would hurt small producers, said Nolan Meadows, a Valencia County alfalfa grower.
“I have some small fields that, depending on the water for the past few years, I haven’t been able to plant and I’m down to 25% production on them, because I don’t have a guarantee for what’s happening,” Meadows said.
Theresa Davis is a Report for America corps member covering water and the environment for the Albuquerque Journal.
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