As we enter 2010, my eyes are turned on the possible, or rather probable, effects of the
Lower Rio Grande (LRG) adjudication (
link to map author)and water monitoring/metering issues on the Rio Mimbres in southern New Mexico. While the LRG adjudication drags on, the interesting facet or monkey-wrench if you will is the pending case of the Elephant Butte Irrigation District. Nathan Boyd's great-grandson, Scott Boyd, has been in court over the last 15-20 years challenging the illegal foundations for federal reserve water rights in the EB dam, and what he says is the illegal taking of his great-grandfather's water rights and infrastructure. You can read more about some of these claims, with documentation,
here.
Why should this matter to parciantes on the middle or upper Rio Grande? Well, if the U.S. federal government never legally acquired (or had available, a different distinction) water rights, then
all the storage in EB and Caballo is in question. When I spoke to Boyd on the phone, his plan should he be successful in court on this matter, was to establish a "giant water bank" for local irrigators and farmers, to either use directly (beneficial use) or to lease for income (for a small fortune, no doubt). Local farmers have already joined-in on Boyd's question, as
Staci Matlock reported back in August. Judge Valentine, who presides over the LRG and the Boyd proceedings, has given the state and the feds until April 8, 2010 to come to some agreement. Stay tuned on developments - you can read the latest monthly inter se update from OSE
here (.pdf)- I'll do my best to report them as I learn more about this situation, but you can read a further update courtesy of La Jicarita,
here. And you can track the on-going filing of legal documents straight from OSE
here.
On the Mimbres, I'm hoping to learn and hear directly from irrigators on the issue of so-called
Active Water Resource Management, and the state's plans to implement a "model" plan that could be used elsewhere in New Mexico. I've already
posted and shared local concerns from the Rio Gallinas on AWRM, and how metering and water "mastering" has led to some difficulties and misunderstandings, but since the Gallinas is not fully adjudicated the state's ability to manage water is slightly more challenging. It was during the
Congreso de las Acequias that I met the Reeds, and where I first heard of some of the questionnable tactics used by OSE personnel to get people to sign metering agreements. It will be great to visit the basin, set on the northern fringes of the Chihuahuan Desert, and to see first-hand what is happening. Hopefully I'll also have a chance to meet some of the regional OSE personnel, to see what their management plans are for 2010. Plans for this week, on the 8th, include a quick presentation to the
New Mexico Acequia Commission on some of my preliminary research. I'll report back, for sure, if anything is of interest. It should be a good way to organize my own thoughts, take corrections, and listen to what their concerns are about how this is presented or portrayed by a third party.
On the Mimbres, I'm hoping to learn and hear directly from irrigators on the issue of so-called Active Water Resource Management, and the state's plans to implement a "model" plan that could be used elsewhere in New Mexico. I've already posted and shared local concerns from the Rio Gallinas on AWRM, and how metering and water "mastering" has led to some difficulties and misunderstandings, but since the Gallinas is not fully adjudicated the state's ability to manage water is slightly more challenging. It was during the Congreso de las Acequias that I met the Reeds, and where I first heard of some of the questionnable tactics used by OSE personnel to get people to sign metering agreements. It will be great to visit the basin, set on the northern fringes of the Chihuahuan Desert, and to see first-hand what is happening. Hopefully I'll also have a chance to meet some of the regional OSE personnel, to see what their management plans are for 2010. Plans for this week, on the 8th, include a quick presentation to the New Mexico Acequia Commission on some of my preliminary research. I'll report back, for sure, if anything is of interest. It should be a good way to organize my own thoughts, take corrections, and listen to what their concerns are about how this is presented or portrayed by a third party. 
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