Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Irrigators say water flow is inadequate

Julia M. Dendinger News-Bulletin Staff Writer; jdendinger@news-bulletin.com

Belen Local farmers got a chance to show up in force and tell the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District (MRGCD) board of directors exactly how they felt about water delivery this irrigation season.

The news from those in the trenches and on the ditches was not good. "There have been times when I've called the district office and they tell me the computer says there's lots of water in the ditch," said Mark Garcia, a farmer with land in Tomé and Casa Colorada. "But I'm standing on the ditch bank, and there's no water."

Since the board decided to hold one of its twice-a-month meetings in Belen instead of Albuquerque, more than 40 water users came out to express their concerns and frustrations about what they are saying is an inadequate water flow from the district.

Farmers say the amount of water just isn't what it used to be and the frequency isn't near enough to meet their needs. George Sichler, known locally for his green chile crops, said the Belen Highline Canal hasn't been more than half full past the Harwood lateral for two years now.

Mike Silva said he has been having difficulty getting water in the Tomé ditch this season as well. "It's not as full as it used to be," he said.

Conservancy district hydrologist David Ginsler said this irrigation season saw the introduction of a decision support system (DSS) in the Belen district.

"This system estimates demand and sets up a schedule," he said. "Unlike other water districts, our system doesn't have water requests from farmers."

Because the system relies on factors such as weather and recent precipitation, soil types and crop variations, Ginsler said there isn't a hard and fast rule about when the ditches run and when they don't, but the end result is a schedule of water.

"When the ditch is on, you get your watering done," he said. "Then it is off for a time."

Board president and Socorro County director Gary Perry said that the system should never underestimate water need; if anything it should overestimate. "When you are trying to work a field and you only get half the water you need, it just doesn't work," he said.

But who decides who should be watering, Jared Montaño of Bosque wanted to know. "Do the ditch riders know who should be watering and when?" he asked. "There are some people watering for 30 hours at a time. Some are watering without paying their bill."

Montaño also asked if people were allowed to irrigate even if they had sold their water rights. Valencia County board member Janet Jarrett said the issue of water rights and irrigation has been a long-standing issue between the district and the office of the state engineer (OSE).

"For quite some time, when someone sold their water rights, OSE did not notify the district," she said. "They did start sending letters informing us, but sometimes the legal property descriptions varied so much, you couldn't tell which piece of property it was.

"I think the issue with OSE is a big problem. They are not providing adequate information to us for enforcement. And the ditch riders should know who is paying their district assessments."

Jarrett went on, saying that scheduling is not new to Belen and that farmers in the division have always been on a rotation of some sort. " I have always felt that the DSS should be run at the division level, not out of the Albuquerque office," she said. "There is a difference in going out in the field and being out in the field."

As a former ditch rider, Silva said he understood rotation. "But we are going almost a month at a time without water," he said. "There hasn't been enough for three years. His idea is not working."

Silva along with others said that many times while there was water in the ditch it wasn't enough to generate enough pressure to push the water through the irrigation head gates and out into the fields at a decent rate, resulting in lengthy irrigation times.

Perry pointed out that the purpose of the DSS was to make the district's irrigation system more efficient. "I do agree though, especially when we have plenty of water, that you can't wait a month to get your water back," he said. "And if you don't have a full head, you can't water either."

Joe Baca, one of the last irrigators on the Vallejos Ditch, said he and his neighbors hardly get water. "The ditch is never full," he said. "We are watering with leftovers." Ginsler said the water was in the Tomé Ditch 20 days in the last month.

Calling this irrigation season "difficult and frustrating," Mark Garcia said he was not at the meeting to attack anyone but to protect his water rights. "Between my two properties, I deal with three different ditch riders," he said. "I call to schedule my water and a time is set, but then they call me back and say the water isn't available, so we reschedule.

"If you've put fertilizer down, a lot of that degrades under sunlight and you have to water at night. If you have to reschedule and your fertilizer is down, you're loosing money. If things keep changing, you can't schedule."

Bernalillo County director Bill Turner asked if people weren't getting water because they weren't taking it when it was there. "Are people watering during 'banker's hours' versus at three in the morning when the water is in the ditch?" he asked.

Ginsler said that was part of the problem. "One of the things that is happening is the water is not fully utilized around the clock," he said. "Some people steadfastly refuse to water after hours — whether that is after 5 p.m. or after the sun goes down — they just will not water.

"We also have people cutting in — someone just goes out and opens up their turnout when they're not supposed to. We are trying to get ahead of this, but we have to undo a lot of bad practices of the last 40 years."

The ditch riders need to have complete control to police the irrigation schedules, Perry said. "That's the way I feel," he said. "If someone is cutting in or starting and stopping, they need to be locked out. The ditch riders need to be able to tell them to water now."

Belen division supervisor Victor Hale said he had noticed the Peralta main had been running low this season. He also said he felt some ditches should run continuously throughout the season.

"The Tomé Ditch should run all the time," he said. "It is long enough, that by the time you get to the end, it's time to begin again. There are just too many people on it."

Hale said that personally, he thinks the DSS was a great tool and a good system to start with. "But we need to make sure we don't cut ourselves short on water."

And while Hale agreed with the directors that the ditch riders needed to be the ones to enforce the irrigation schedules, he pointed out that it would not be an easy task.

"They can't be out on the ditches 24 hours a day," he said. "Some of my riders have over 1,000 users in their book. They work countless hours. Eventually, they make me come out, and that's the bad thing about it."

The crowd chuckled along with Hale, acknowledging the growing work-load as more people crowd into the valley.

"We can't have people not irrigating when they should be or watering when they shouldn't be, and the starting and stopping," Perry said. "That makes this system look bad."

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