Unique formal deal reached for middle Rio Grande irrigation district, state

The Rio Grande at Isleta Blvd. and Interstate 25 on Sept. 7, 2023. (Photo by Anna Padilla for Source New Mexico)

New Mexico and Albuquerque-based irrigation officials have signed off on a first-of-its-kind cooperative agreement for “emergency, short-term and long-term” management of the Rio Grande.

Last week, the Interstate Stream Commission voted unanimously to allow its staff to enter an agreement with the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District, which was signed Monday evening after receiving approval from the irrigation’s board.

The deal will allow these governing bodies to better manage flood prevention, improve “water conveyance,”  meet interstate legal agreements and build species habitat for endangered animals in the Middle Rio Grande, said Hannah Riseley-White, the executive director for the Interstate Stream Commission.

“It exemplifies our commitment to each other to work together in solving and tackling these problems,” she told commissioners in the March 5 meeting.

The five-year agreement will allow for communication and coordination between the state and irrigation district officials and outline responsibilities in the partnership, according to a packet given to commission members.

The Interstate Stream Commission is a division of the New Mexico Office of the State Engineer, charged with the “ broad powers ” to protect, conserve, develop and investigate New Mexico surface waters – such as rivers, streams and lakes.

The Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District, based in Albuquerque, is the governmental body which oversees irrigation for land between Cochiti Dam to the Bosque Del Apache Wildlife Refuge. Irrigated lands in the district are ballparked between 55,000 to 58,000 acres with about 11,000 active irrigators, said Conservation Program Supervisor Casey Ish.

Top officials for the irrigation district and the state agency said the agreement puts an unofficial two-decade partnership to paper.

The state and district face colliding concerns of climate change causing more fires and floods in the region; difficulty in sending water downstream for legal agreements and a need to build habitats for endangered species, Riseley-White said.

As federal funds pour in from infrastructure and climate-adaptation projects, the agreement will help address difficult reaches in the irrigation district’s area, Jason Casuga, chief engineer and CEO for the irrigation district, told commissioners last week.

In a summary given to commissioners, the partnership is necessary to meet legal obligations to Texas and Mexico users downstream, made in treaties and a nearly 80-year old agreement.

“The looming water crisis is prompting an ‘all hands-on deck’ approach by water managers in the Rio Grande basin to ensure New Mexico can maintain water deliveries within the Middle Rio Grande under the Rio Grande Compact,” the summary said.

What’s in the cooperative agreement?

The agreement summarizes five projects expected under the partnership, but does not list costs or funding sources, saying that would be addressed in further contract negotiations.

Riseley-White said the parent agreement allows the state to move federal, state and local funds into contracted projects faster.

The five anticipated mutual projects

1. Buying and renting heavy equipment for floodplain restoration and vegetation removal for “improvements in conveyance” in the Isleta Reach and other Middle Rio Grande reaches
2. Contracts for “bosque rehabilitation, channel maintenance, infrastructure,” in the Isleta Reach and other non-specified Middle Rio Grande reaches
3. Contracts for environmental monitoring, scientific studies and engineering
4. Development of an Isleta Reach River Management Plan for the active river channel and floodplain on the southern boundary of Isleta Pueblo to the San Acacia Diversion Dam, in “cooperation with other governmental agencies and stakeholders”
5. Evaluate anticipated critical threats in the Isleta Reach for immediate action

Concerns raised by Interstate Stream commissioners

Board members had questions for how the agreement might impact relationships with other irrigation districts and tribal governments of Cochiti, Santo Domingo, San Felipe, Santa Ana, Sandia and Isleta Pueblos.

At the March 5 meeting, board member Phoebe Suina (Cochiti), a hydrologist, asked if any of the six middle Rio Grande Pueblos were consulted, or going to be included formally in future project planning or agreements.

Riseley-White said the state’s intent would be engaging relevant parties, including tribes, on specific projects.

“I think those six Middle Rio Grande Pueblos are important partners for us in figuring out what this needs to look like, and it will be critical to engage with them effectively,” she said.

Casuga further responded that the projects would target “benefiting all middle Rio Grande users.”

“When we get into project specifics and the funding associated with those, that’s when I think we would engage individually with the constituents who would be affected by this,” he said.

Board member Greg Carrasco, a Las Cruces farmer and rancher, asked if this agreement impacts the state’s relationship with other irrigation districts.

Riesely-White replied that the agreement has no impact on other relationships.

State Engineer Mike Hamman addressed the commission, calling the agreement a “starting point” for the state to work with other irrigation districts, Pueblos and other water users to address “mutual interests” and leverage federal dollars.

Hamman noted upcoming settlements in adjudication for the six middle Rio Grande Pueblos’ water rights and the pending settlement agreement in the Rio Grande U.S. Supreme Court lawsuit between Texas and New Mexico, could operationally impact the Rio Grande and Rio Chama.

He said that meeting those legal agreements to ensure water in rivers flows to recipients poses a challenge to both entities, requiring a “symbiotic relationship” to turn it around.

“We’re in a compact-deficit situation drifting towards potential violation in theory,” Hamman said, referencing the Middle Rio Grande’s debit of about 25,000 acre feet owed to Elephant Butte Dam for users downstream in Texas and Mexico.

Hamman said both the irrigation district and the state were concerned about delays in construction on the El Vado Dam, and how that is impacting sending water downstream.

Pueblos again seek inclusion in Rio Grande decision-making

Before the vote, Suina urged soliciting Pueblos’ inclusion on upcoming projects, saying the land and water stewardship of the Pueblos has often been overlooked in the past century of water planning.

She noted that Pueblo governments have pushed back against assertions that the middle Rio Grande is “at the end of its life cycle,” saying that the river itself is a necessity.

“I want to encourage that engagement, encourage the collaboration, I see this [agreement] as a step towards that,” Suina said. “But even in that state, just not to forget our Pueblo communities.”

Suina voted yes, but appended her vote with a comment.

“I have confidence in director Riseley-White to have that Pueblo engagement that enables me to say yes to this,” she said.

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