U.S. seeks to lease water for endangered species

Pueblo stands to make more than $250K per year in deal

A federal agency is looking to lease water from Ohkay Owingeh to boost the drought-depleted Rio Grande so imperiled species have a better chance of surviving.

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and tribal representatives negotiated Thursday on a contract in which the agency would buy up to 2,000 acre-feet of water annually to increase river flows for species listed as endangered such as the silvery minnow.

The agency has offered to pay $129 per acre-foot of water or up to $258,000 a year. An acre-foot is roughly 326,000 gallons, about enough to cover a football field with water a foot deep.

In addition, the agency would pay a $36,000 yearly fee for an exclusive deal to keep the pueblo from leasing to anyone else. It would include a yearly increase as high as 4 percent.

The Ohkay Owingeh Tribal Council will look at the proposal and decide, among other things, how long the contract should go. The agency wants a 15-year lease, which would begin in 2022.

As the drought drags on, due to another year of weak snowpack and sparse rainfall, it’s important for the bureau to pump up the supplemental water supply it uses to comply with the federal Endangered Species Act, agency spokeswoman Mary Carlson said.

“Every drop of water that we are able to lease is essential,” Carlson said.

The agency has leased water for endangered species from other tribes, such as the Jicarilla Apache Nation and Taos Pueblo, she said. It also has signed leases with cities and towns, including Albuquerque, Bernalillo, Belen and Los Lunas.

Still, the endangered species reserve is running low, Carlson said. It’s now at about 1,300 acre-feet, partly because of the drought, and the agency wants to raise levels to at least 9,000 acre-feet this summer.

At one time, this reserve would reach 50,000 acre-feet in some years, she said. But in the past decade, as Santa Fe and Albuquerque have diverted river water for their own use and the region has

grown more arid, the water available to lease has dropped sharply, she said.

The agency hopes to lease Ohkay Owingeh’s portion of water from the federal San Juan-Chama Project, a system that diverts water from the San Juan River to the Chama River and then to the Rio Grande for use in households across the state.

During Thursday’s talks, John Beznak, an attorney representing Ohkay Owingeh, said it is important to emphasize to the tribe that the water lease is helping endangered species.

“We want to be part of the global solution,” Beznak said. “We want to be helpful.”

Beznak said it’s essential when forging a long-term contract to correctly determine what the yearly price increase should be for the tribe’s water.

“We’re looking at climate change, we’re looking at other stressors on the system,” Beznak said. “That water is going to be more and more valuable.”

Carlson said water for endangered species is stored mostly at Heron Reservoir. There’s little left over from last year because of dry conditions, she said.

This year, however, has begun a little better than expected, Carlson said.

Lower temperatures, some rainfall and the regional conservancy district delaying the release of irrigation water for a month have enhanced water levels enough for the Rio Grande to connect to Elephant Butte Reservoir, she said.

That unbroken flow to the south has not happened much in recent years, but it’s likely to be short-lived, and the agency will need to scramble to find water to lease, Carlson said.

“We expect to start seeing some drying in the Socorro area in the next couple of weeks,” she said.