Ledes from the Land of Enchantment

Irrigation district is considering staggering the start of the season

Farmer Nathan Couevas waters a compost bin on the Sublime Pastures farm in Tomé. The Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District is considering postponing the start of the 2022 irrigation season to meet the need for interstate water supplies but also to avoid a delay for the entire district. (Roberto E. Rosales / )

The Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District is considering postponing the start of the 2022 irrigation season to deal with water supply shortages.

The district manages irrigation from the Cochiti Dam to the Bosque del Apache.

Mike Hamman, who will retire Jan. 1 as the district CEO and chief engineer to become the state water advisor for New Mexico, said an adjusted season could help keep more water in the river as well as local irrigation needs cover without requiring a month. long delay that farmers saw in the spring of 2021.

Because of the scarce water supply and the growing water debt, the season also ended a month at the beginning of October.

“It’s really hard to put pressure on farmers at both ends of the season,” said Hamman.

New Mexico’s water debt to downstream users under the Rio Grande Compact is estimated at nearly 36 billion gallons.

This deficit limits how much water the district can store in the El Vado Reservoir for its own use.

Snowpack and runoff in New Mexico could also suffer from a forecast La Niña winter, which is typically drier and warmer.

Farmers growing seeds and winter crops in the district’s Socorro division would receive water supplies as early as March 21 under the district’s proposed plan.

Those supplies would expand to the Belen division on March 28 and the Albuquerque and Cochiti regions in April as the river receives a boost from the runoff in the spring.

The district will begin planning watering for adult crops in early April until all fields receive initial watering, then water will be delivered on a rotation schedule.

“It’s the only way we can work fairly when we have a scarce water supply,” said Hamman.

October 15th would be the tentative shutdown date for irrigation.

Los Chavez Lucerne farmer Michael Lundmark said he feared some producers “may be undersupplied by those who are inefficient at their irrigation”.

“If I put in alfalfa seeds – which are now nearly $ 8 a pound – when I grow a alfalfa field, will I be able to do these second and third waterings to get them all year round?” Said Lundmark.

The district board of directors will vote on the 2022 irrigation season schedule at its January 10 meeting.

Theresa Davis is a member of the Report for America Corps, a water and environmental researcher for the .

Comments are closed.