Irrigation district halts water bank deliveries due to shortage
MRGCD hopes monsoon season helps replenish supply
The Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District has stopped irrigation deliveries for some farmers and has exhausted Rio Grande water in storage from last year.
“The water we’re seeing in the river today would be good for August, but it’s not good for early June,” water operations manager David Gensler said at Monday’s board meeting.
The district will struggle with water supply this summer if monsoon season isn’t sufficient, Gensler said.
In late May, MRGCD announced a curtailment of water bank irrigation deliveries because inflow of the river had dropped below a 950 cubic-feet-per-second threshold.
Farmers on the water bank, who pay a yearly irrigation fee, have three options to continue irrigating during a curtailment, said district CEO and chief engineer Mike Hamman.
One is setting up Alternate Curtailment Locations, or ACLs, in their contract. An ACL is a land parcel that farmers can choose not to irrigate during curtailment so they can keep other
lands — some of which may be water bank properties — in production.
“Some (farmers) who don’t know the background or the specifics of that person’s contract may make an assumption that others are doing something shady or cheating the system,” Hamman told the Journal. “It’s always been a controversy. People get upset when there are shortages.”
Farmers may also work with the State Engineer to transfer their pre1907 water rights onto a water bankirrigated property, sometimes via an emergency declaration. They can also lease back water rights from municipalities.
Miguel Cordova, a third-generation farmer in Valencia and Socorro counties, told the Journal last week that the workarounds only help “major players.”
“Everybody’s not playing by the same rules,” said Cordova, who grows alfalfa, corn and oats. “A bunch of us are watching our neighbors irrigate farms that have been dried up since 1987. Who’s going to throw us a bone? Because we don’t have that option.”
Some district staff met last week in Belen with Cordova and 30 other farmers.
Board member Stephanie Russo Baca said many farmers “didn’t want an equal solution, but an equitable solution.” The district should educate more about irrigation options, she said.
MRGCD has resumed some water bank deliveries in the Socorro division.
Irrigation System Operators, or “ditch riders,” are tasked with ensuring farmers follow district water bank contracts or relevant state permits.
“Policing and enforcing this is a nightmare for our field staff,” Gensler said, adding that it can take hours to track down water transfer paperwork on just one property.
If the district confirms illegal irrigation, it can issue warnings, lock or weld irrigation turnouts or even void water bank contracts.