The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and the Army Corps of Engineers say that Elephant Butte Reservoir likely reached its peak elevation for the year in February.
The two agencies released their annual operating plans for the Rio Grande and Pecos River in April.
“Reclamation expects that runoff will be about average this year,” the Bureau’s Albuquerque Area Office Manager Jennifer Faler said in a press release. “With limited upstream storage, conditions will likely be challenging in late summer and into the fall. We are committed to working closely with our partners on both the Rio Grande and the Pecos River to get the most from the available water supply.”
The snowpack in the mountains feeding the rivers was near to above average, however models from the Natural Resources Conservation Service shows flows slightly below average in most of the states. The exception is the Jemez River, where flows are about 134 percent of average.
The Pecos River was anticipated to see near average flows into the Santa Rosa Reservoir in April.
Because construction at El Vado Dam continues, storage of Rio Grande water will once again be limited this year. Reclamation plans to work with the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority and the city of Santa Fe to release at least 500 cubic feet per second from El Vado at the end of the runoff season and through late August. If the flows from El Vado aren’t sufficient to meet that planned release rate, the weekday flows might be reduced to support a 500 cubic feet per second weekend release.
Meanwhile, New Mexico’s congressional delegation along with other federal lawmakers sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vislack expressing concerns about the ongoing drought and calling for further investments to address the challenges related to the aridification.
“Drought remains a severe risk for American farmers and ranchers and threatens farmland and local economies that rely on dwindling water resources, especially in states West of the 100th meridian,” the letter states.
