Drought fuels talk of bosque restrictions
Five fires along Rio Grande a red flag
Firefighters have extinguished at least five bosque fires along the Rio Grande in Albuquerque and Los Lunas in the past five weeks.
The threat of another active summer fire season prompted the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District to discuss potential bosque restrictions at Monday’s board meeting.
Local fire departments and city and county governments would help dictate any countywide closures on MRGCD property and the rest of the bosque, said Mike
Hamman, the irrigation district’s CEO and chief engineer.
“There may be parts of the bosque that stay open, like the open space area,” Hamman said. “But we do believe that we’re going to probably have to go through some closures, hopefully for a short period of time, until the rains start drenching the land again.”
Bosque restrictions are not unprecedented during extreme fire danger.
In the summer of 2011, as crews battled the massive Las Conchas Fire in northern New Mexico, the City of Albuquerque completely closed the bosque to the public.
The MRGCD also closed bosque access on its properties in Sandoval, Socorro and Valencia counties.
Board member John Kelly said he supports phased-in rules that would focus on patrolling for campfires, grills and fireworks to “prevent damage to our biggest resource,” but still allow for recreation.
“We will get criticized if we go for a full bosque closure right off the bat,” Kelly said.
Minimal river flows this summer likely won’t help the bosque’s parched soil and plant life, said hydrologist Anne Marken.
“We are going to be at the mercy of the weather and the river after we get through this period of runoff,” Marken said. “We do expect to experience drying in the Albuquerque reach of the river, which has not occurred since 1983.”