NEW
MEXICO
The largest
irrigation district on the Rio Grande has received some
bone-shaking news: The Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District,
formerly thought to be an arm of the state, is a federal
agency.
In 1951, the Bureau of Reclamation bailed
out the nearly bankrupt district, spending millions to renovate
dams and irrigation ditches. At the same time, the district signed
its facilities over to the Bureau, and now, “the District operates
the “transferred works’ as the United States’ agent,” according to
a July 6 letter from the bureau to district chief Subhas
Shah.
Federal agencies are bound by the
Endangered Species Act, so the new status may force the district to
leave more water in the Rio Grande to protect the endangered
silvery minnow (HCN, 10/11/99: A tiny fish cracks New Mexico’s
water establishment). The Bureau says unless farmers leave more
water in the river, the minnow’s habitat could dry out as soon as
July 24.
The prospect infuriates Shah. “Your
letter has done immeasurable damage to the middle Rio Grande
Valley,” Shah replied to the Bureau’s Michael Gabaldon. The
district predicts that if it complies with the new rule, its
irrigation ditches will run dry sometime in
August.
Sen. Pete Domenici attached a rider to a
spending bill that would prevent federal agencies from taking
emergency measures to protect the fish. But the district isn’t
getting any sympathy from John Horning of the Forest Guardians. His
group and several others published a report this spring blasting
the district for wasting water. In 1998, according to the report,
the district diverted almost three times more water than necessary
from the river.
Says Horning, “If the Rio Grande
goes dry again, this could be lights out for the silvery minnow.”
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Water district has identity crisis.
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
