ALBUQUERQUE — Federal water managers
and a major utility have reached a $2 million agreement that aims to
keep one of North America’s longest rivers from going dry in the stretch
that runs through New Mexico’s largest metropolitan area.
The
lease approved late Wednesday by board members of the Albuquerque
Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority will provide the U.S. Bureau
of Reclamation with additional water to preserve the flow of the Rio
Grande.
New Mexico’s capital city also is helping to mitigate losses to the river further north.
The
lease agreement comes as the state grapples with an ongoing severe
drought. Like the rest of the American Southwest, a dismal winter
resulted in little snowpack and historically low spring runoff and
summer rains have been spotty at best.
Irrigation
managers in the Middle Rio Grande Valley warned this week that within
days they will exhaust the last of their stored water, leaving the river
to its meager natural flows.
The
lease agreement gives federal managers up to 20,000 acre-feet to
supplement the river with the goal of keeping it wet at least through
October. An acre-foot is enough to supply a typical U.S. household for a
year.
Depending on conditions,
water not used this year can be released in 2019 if needed and the
federal government will make payments to the utility only for whatever
water ends up being released.
The agreement comes at a critical time, officials said.
“As
water supplies run low in northern reservoirs, it’s important for the
public to understand that this agreement is essentially what’s keeping
water flowing in the Albuquerque reach of the Rio Grande,” said
Albuquerque city councilor and water board chair Trudy Jones.
Federal officials said they plan to seek more funding next year for continued leasing.
The
latest map shows drought lessened its grip on New Mexico and much of
the West over the last week. Still, more than one-third of New Mexico is
dealing with the worst categories of drought, including a large swath
of the Four Corners region where the state borders Arizona, Colorado and
Utah.
One of North America’s
longest rivers, the Rio Grande was running thick Thursday in the
Albuquerque area with silt and other debris following a night of rain.
Despite
short-term relief for some areas thanks to the monsoon season,
forecasters have said it will take more than a single robust rainy
season to erase the water deficit.
About
30 miles of the Rio Grande below Isleta Pueblo and north of Bosque del
Apache National Wildlife Refuge were transformed into a sandy wash
earlier this spring, prompting the rescue of endangered silvery minnow.
Officials say the lease will help meet endangered species requirements.
John
Stomp, the water utility’s chief operating officer, said the utility
has been able to lease water to the federal government, the local
irrigation district and others because planning and conservation over
the decades has built up reserves.
The
utility is using a 100-year plan to chart potential supply and demand
trends, and Stomp said residents are on the right track as use has gone
down despite a 50 percent increase in customers. The aquifer also has
been rising thanks to conservation and the shift to surface water
resources.
While the city and
county are expecting as much as a 30 percent reduction in the water they
get from the San Juan-Chama diversion project decades into the future,
Stomp said planned reuse and recharge projects, among other things, are
expected to fill the gaps.
As
of early August, residents used 253 million gallons (958 million liters)
less than they had as of the same time last year. Officials said the
goal is to reduce use to 110 gallons (416 liters) per person per day to
further stretch supplies in the future.
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