Welcome to the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District
"Keeping the Valley Green"
MRGCD Facing Water Shortage
The Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District is now facing a possible water shortage for the 2012 season.
Spring runoff has been less than expected and almost 1/3 of this years flow in the Rio Grande has been lost to evaporation, earlier than normal irrigation by upstream users and a lack of spring rains.
The implications for the MRGCD and its irrigators are extremely serious as the District may be forced to start releasing stored water at El Vado Reservoir earlier than anticipated.
The MRGCD Board of Directors has instructed District personnel to work closely with irrigators and to assist irrigators with water conservation measures.
Board Chairman Derrick Lente says the District will maintain strict adherence to priority right water deliveries. Lente noted that if extreme conservation measures are needed, Water Bank issuances will stop first followed by non-pueblo irrigators and finally pueblo users.
Should the MRGCD exhaust its stored supply of water, the District will continue to divert natural flow of the Rio Grande, but these flows are likely to be minimal and may not be enough to meet the needs of irrigators, including the Pueblo lands.
The hope is that the district will be able to supply all irrigators with their yearly allotments and with proper planning and conservation, still have some water in storage for next year.
The MRGCD also must deal with requirements under the Rio Grande Compact which governs water usage and storage. This complicated legal document does not allow for additional storage of water at El Vado by the District when Elephant Butte falls below 400,000 acre feet. Elephant Butte is currently below the 200,000 acre feet level.
MRGCD Planner Wins National Honor
The “Wings Across the Americas” conservation program has honored the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District with a national research and partnership award for outstanding achievement in bird and habitat conservation.
“This is a major accomplishment and I’m very proud our research has been recognized.” says MRGCD Planner, Yasmeen Najmi.
Najmi was the MRGCD contributing member on the team that studied the effects of invasive plant and fuel removal and wildfire on birds, bats, herptiles and plant communities in the Rio Grande Bosque.
“The MRGCD and its partners knew that restoration work was necessary to address the spread of non-native species and the effects of catastrophic wildfire in the Rio Grande bosque. Because these problems have largely evolved over the last 50 years with increasing drought, we didn’t know how to do this critical work in a manner that would have the most positive or least negative impacts to the forest and wildlife. When we do fuel reduction treatments, it can look a little shocking. While the treatments have had some short-term effects, our long-term goal is habitat recovery and diversification. We’ve learned the importance of replacing some of the non-native plants removed with natives.” says Najmi.
The MRGCD played a major role in hosting and managing this project in Bernalillo, Valencia and Socorro Counties. The treatments involved some 350 acres of bosque with 10 of 12 sites on MRGCD land.
Non-native plants such as Russian Olive, Salt Cedar, Siberian Elm and Tree of Heaven species were removed as well as dead and down wood to reduce fire risk. Some sites had revegetation with native plants and some low level controlled burns of slash to test the effectiveness of treatments and compare wildlife and plant responses.
“We’ve gained valuable information about how to implement non-native species and fuels management that better protects the bosque’s native species and reduces the dangers of negative impacts of future fires. What we know about the bosque is always evolving but we’ve incorporated what we’ve learned into our management.” says Najmi.
The research was a ten-year collaborative project.
Partnering with the MRGCD in this research were the City of Albuquerque Open Space Division, Bosque Del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, the New Mexico Forestry Division, the Natural Resource Conservation Service Los Lunas Plant Materials Center and the USDA Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station, who conducted the study.
The majority of funding for the project was provided through grants from the Forest Service’s Collaborative Forest Restoration Program, New Mexico Forestry Division Wildland Urban Interface Program, the Joint Fire Science Program and the Middle Rio Grande Bosque Initiative.
Help Catch Thieves Stealing Your Tax Dollars
Thieves are stealing from the MRGCD at a record pace in 2012 and it's costing thousands of your tax dollars.
These thieves are stealing the brass nuts on top of turnouts, the steel screw rods on turnouts as well. While this is costly, it also have a direct impact on getting irrigation water to farmers when it's needed. In addition, thieves are entering the bosque and cutting out jetty jacks, leaving dangerous metal stumps. And, when the bosque is dry, this creates a dangerous fire situation that can threaten your homes and farms.
If you see anyone stealing any MRGCD property along the ditches or in the bosque, please call your local law enforcement.
Help us stop a thief and save your tax dollars too!!
Governor Signs Bill to Simplify Conservancy District Elections
The 50th session of the New Mexico Legislature voted to approve House Bill 74 removing requirements that applications for absentee and absentee-early voting ballots be notarized and Governor Susanna Martinez has signed the bill into law.
Currently, any constituent requesting an absentee or absentee-early ballot in an MRGCD election must get the application notarized, assuring that all information on the application is accurate.
That requirement will be removed when the law change takes effect, July 1, 2012, meaning that constituents will be able to simply fill out the request for a ballot and submit it to the District and a ballot will be sent.