where's the water?

Pray for rain, and if it comes, be ready to use it.

That was the main message from Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District staff during a community meeting held in Tomé last week.

“Be ready to irrigate if it rains. Be willing to accept the water on short notice,” Matt Martinez, the MRGCD’s water distribution division manager told a standing-room only crowd at the Thome Dominguez Community Center last Thursday morning. “If your (irrigation systems operator) offers you the chance to irrigate, please don’t pass it up. If there’s a flash flood in Albuquerque, it might hit the Isleta dam overnight but be gone the next day. Be prepared for that opportunity.”

Martinez and additional MRGCD staff members came to Valencia County to give local farmers an update on the irrigation season on Thursday, July 17, and field questions about district operations.

At the beginning of the water update, Anne Marken, river operations and telemetry manager for the district, told the crowd the district basically started the 2025 irrigation season in debt — in water compact debt, specifically.

The state of New Mexico is currently in debt to Texas for 123,000 acre feet of water under the terms of the Rio Grande Compact, a water-sharing agreement that apportions native Rio Grande water among the states of Colorado, New Mexico and Texas. An acre foot, which is enough water to cover an acre of land in a foot of water, is 325,851 gallons.

Native river water is any water in the Rio Grande basin due to natural processes, such as precipitation, snow melt and other runoff.

“It’s important to know what that is because only native water is governed by the rules of the compact,” Marken said.

The district began the irrigation season anticipating a small runoff due to a late snow season, even though rainfall did extend beyond the originally anticipated time frame, she said. Spring runoff dropped off in June, leaving the MRGCD with only water from the San Juan-Chama project to rely on for irrigation.

San Juan-Chama water is imported to New Mexico from the San Juan River Basin in Colorado as part of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s San Juan-Chama Project. This water is not subject to the rules of the Rio Grande Compact.

The district already released the SJC water it had in storage available for this year, between June 16 and July 6, Marken said, but it was a very small amount — about 6,500 acre feet — because very little water was generated in the San Juan basin.

“Since then (July 6) we have been on the ‘run of the river’ system,” she said, meaning whatever native water is available in the Rio Grande is delivered to irrigators. “The only water available is the water the basin is producing, which is not enough water to meet the need. At the Isleta Dam, we have 280 cubic feet per second, when we usually have 750 CFS at this demand. We have no ability to release water off the natural flow.”

There is some water in the river, above the Isleta Dam, but it is reserved for the use of the six middle Rio Grande pueblos, who have what are called “prior and paramount” water rights, reserved for the oldest water users in the valley.

“Once demand dips below that, we have to curtail all irrigators above Isleta,” Marken said. “On July 9, we curtailed deliveries so our farmers are not infringing on those rights.”

There are provisions in the Rio Grande Compact that prohibit the state from storing water while in debt to Texas for water delivery, but the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs is allowed to store some water for the pueblos even with compact restrictions.

“Now that native water has dipped below what the pueblos need, they have started to release stored water for their needs. What you are seeing now is a small release for the pueblos,” she said. “We haven’t seen a release for prior and paramount storage water since 2020.”

Martinez said Isleta is being very efficient with its water use, meaning there aren’t a lot of return flows to the river to carry south.

“From the Isleta Diversion Dam south, we’re hoping for rain. That’s our only hope at this point,” he said.

Rainfall will be the only water the district will have until the end of irrigation season in October to make deliveries to farmers south of Isleta, Marken said.

“If the district sees rain it will divert and deliver as quickly as possible, but it depends on where it is. Location matters,” she said. “If it rains in Socorro, it’s going to benefit them. We can’t pump it back up (north). You need to be prepared for very limited water for the rest of the irrigation season. Continue to pray for rain.”

If the state can clear its compact debt to Texas, MRGCD CEO and Chief Engineer Jason Casuga said the district does have the ability to store water despite ongoing restoration of El Vado dam in the northern part of the state. A 2021 U.S. Bureau of Reclamation study said the current dam, built in 1935 on the Rio Chama in Rio Arriba County, poses risks to the public.

BOR has been working on repair alternatives with the hopes of identifying a final alternative by the end of the year so the project can move into the design phase. Casuga said based on his experience in working with the federal government, the El Vado facility most likely won’t be available to the district for storage until 2030.

“The Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority lets us store 100,000 acre feet or more at Abiquiu Reservoir,” Casuga said. “What’s preventing us from talking about storing there is the status of the compact debt. We do have an alternate place to store water as we make headway with the compact debt.”

In June 2024, ABCWUA signed an agreement with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers-Albuquerque District to increase storage at Abiquiu from 200,000 acre feet to 230,000 acre feet of water from the San Juan-Chama project and, for the first time, native Rio Grande water.

A note on field drains

While there isn’t water in the system and it doesn’t seem likely to be any for the rest of the irrigation season, Casuga did address some confusion and rumors in the MRGCD about the legality of field drains, which move excess water off of a field.

“In the (MRGCD) water distribution manual, there is not a section that says field drains are illegal, let’s be clear on that,” the CEO said. “Having field drains on a farm is a natural part of having a farm. Having a field drain is not illegal. What I will contend is how the drain is used.”

Casuga said in New Mexico, water users in the middle valley have use of 3 acre feet of water per acre, whether the rights are pre-1907 or district leased rights.

“The (New Mexico Office of the State Engineer) doesn’t care so long as they are put to beneficial use,” he said. “The (MRGCD) board has been noticed by OSE that they are watching to curb over-irrigation in the middle valley. No one else has been given this notice, so we are in a position of having to defend ourselves and make sure MRGCD is accountable.

“One thing I will say unequivocally is that we will investigate open drains letting water off while water is being put on a field. There might be times that is needed, but I guarantee it will be investigated.”

When there is enough water to meet irrigation demand, Casuga said the district would be looking into instances where irrigators are just running water through a field.

“It’s not prevalent but it does happen and it gets pointed out to the MRCGD. In the state’s eyes, that is a waste of water. Ways to make up water is squarely on ag,” he said. “They have not noticed any other entities in the middle valley; it’s only the district right now. Is that right? Heck no. We are trying to change that and have everyone held accountable.

“Municipalities jump on conservation and say they save a billion gallons, which is about 3,086 acre feet of water. To meet our water needs, we need 275,000 to 350,000 acre feet a year. That’s the math we’re up against.”

Casuga reiterated that field drains are legal, but how irrigators use them may be causing issues, especially during shortages.

“Any time water comes off a field into a drain, that’s an opportunity lost to a neighbor to use that water,” he said.