‘Pulse’ to help Santa Fe River flow
City will conduct one water release
It’s time for Santa Feans to watch the river flow.
Starting today and through the weekend, Santa Fe’s water managers will be making preparations for releasing a major “pulse” of water into Santa Fe River, which often has no more than a trickle within its banks.
But because of the ongoing drought, there won’t be as much water provided for the river over the next year through Mayor David Coss’ “living river” initiative as there was during the previous 12 months.
The living river ordinance provides for releasing 1,000 acre-feet of water into the river from the city reservoirs at the end of Canyon Road each year.
But with runoff into the reservoirs from snowpack and other moisture expected to be only 32 percent of the 30-year average, only 320 acre-feet of water will be available for river restoration in the current “target flow year” that runs from April to April.
In the previous flow year, 542 acre-feet was released for the river, city river and watershed coordinator Bryan Drypolcher reported at a City Council committee meeting Wednesday.
Last year, two “pulses” or major flows were released last spring — flows of 3 cubic feet per second and 4 cubic feet per
second, respectively, compared to year-round flow levels of 0.5 to 1.5 csf.
The pulses pushed the water south to Frenchy’s Field park at Osage and Agua Fria and a bit beyond before running out in the dry riverbed.
This year’s single pulse is scheduled to start Monday and run seven to 10 days at 3.5 csf, Drypolcher said.
Besides making the Santa Fe actually look like a river for a short period, the larger flows help support new willows and cottonwoods planted along part of the river.
This year, according to Drypolcher, the water managers will have to let the river go dry through downtown for certain periods so that two work projects requiring dry conditions can be undertaken — stabilization work that will include repairs to the historic grade control structure east of Delgado Street which formerly helped direct water for an acequia that irrigated Bishop Jean-Baptist’s gardens around the downtown cathedral, and replacement of the main pipe that runs from Nichols Reservoir to the city water treatment plant on Upper Canyon Road.