Uncategorized « Arch Hurley Conservancy District

Available Water

By pbox, on August 10th, 2009

What do you think about posting the “Available Water (in acft) without Pumping” chart to the website?

State Water Plan and Water Measurement

By ArchHurley, on May 2nd, 2009

There are two items of interest coming up in May.

The Office of the State Engineer will have two public meetings, one in Portales on May 5th and another in Tucumcari on May 6th, dealing with the state water plan updates. The flyer with times and places can be downloaded here.

Arch Hurley Conservancy District will be holding a Water Measurement Workshop May 12 starting at 1pm at the District Office.

All interested parties are encouraged to attend these sessions.

Carlsbad Irrigation District

By Mike, on March 27th, 2009

Farmers in the Carlsbad Irrigation District are being charged a “demand charge” by their electrical utility that they claim has not been approved by the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission. The farmers were unaware of the situation until they got their electric bills and were, no pun intended, “shocked” by the amount. The extra charge is levied every time the farmers turn on their supplemental wells to water their fields and according to Eddy County Extension Agricultural Agent Woods Houghton the charge is based on the horsepower of the motor to pump water at the well, and kicks in whenever the pump is used. He says this could put some small farmers out of business. The spokes-person from the PRC says that the charges have not been approved and that the PRC is investigating.

Questions I would ask the State Engineer

By Pete Tatschl, on March 14th, 2009

Some question I would ask the OSE reps:
· What is the relationship of the Entrada Aquifer to Arch Hurley Conservancy District? How much water can AHCD claim in this aquifer?

· What is the water law concerning the sale of water (not water rights) from one watershed to another? A statement of the statute would be helpful.
o Does the OSE give approval without publication?

· When an application is made to the OSE to appropriate ground water from the Canadian River Basin and a protest is filed, why does the OSE require the protester to prove that the application will infringe on the Canadian River flow? The OSE’s administrative rules for this basin requires the applicant to prove that there will be no infringement on the Canadian River flow. Requiring the protester to prove that there is an infringement is very expensive.

· Why is the OSE rep Tim Farmer concentrating on the acequia users of the tributaries to the Canadian River? Are these users bigger than the Antelope Valley irrigation district or the Vermejo irrigation district?

o My point that the bigger farmers and ranch impoundments are the ones that are probably capable of affecting the flow in the Canadian River, more than the acequia irrigators.

· Will the OSE protest the proposed re-establishment of the Essential Habitat designation below Ute Lake Dam for the Arkansas River Shiner?
o Any demand by other groups for more water could seriously impact our water rights in the Tucumcari Project.

· Would the OSE support a legislative adjudication for the Tucumcari Project of 3 ac. ft./irrigated acre delivered to the farm gate? Similar adjudication was done for the Carlsbad irrigation district.
o If yes, how to proceed?
o If no, why not?

Elephant Butte District

By Mike, on March 4th, 2009

The Elephant Butte District has a series of lectures on transboundary water issues on their web site. Here is the web address:

http://mediasite-server.nmsu.edu/ictmsite/Catalog/Front.aspx?cid=46368eb4-1c83-4ac8-bcc6-9fb659add3f9

Quay County Extension Website

By tdomingu, on March 4th, 2009

Would like to see you add our website to your local state links. I am now just putting info in the Ag./Natural Resources tab. Still work to be done.

http://quayextension.nmsu.edu/

Thanks,
T.D.

Water crisis in Nevada

By Pete Tatschl, on March 4th, 2009

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=a_b86mnWn9.w&refer=home

This link should take you to a somewhat long article about the mistakes made and being made in Nevada, a state that forgot that water is limited. But the state continues to build and thousands of people come into the state every day. The consequences of this action will be federal intervention into the allocation of water (in my opinion). If this happens then we (AHCD) will also be affected. Just think Amarillo, Clovis and other cities where there is not enough water available.

California will stop water to farmers

By Pete Tatschl, on February 23rd, 2009

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) – Federal water managers said Friday that they plan to cut off water, at least temporarily, to thousands of California farms as a result of the deepening drought gripping the state.

U.S. Bureau of Reclamation officials said parched reservoirs and patchy rainfall this year were forcing them to completely stop surface water deliveries for at least a two-week period beginning March 1. Authorities said they haven’t had to take such a drastic move for more than 15 years.
Now we will see how much the cities are willing to pay for that water.