I attended yet another special hearing organized by an acequia commission last night, this time up in the Taos area. For those who saw the last post, this is the Pacheco Community ditch we're talking about, near
Ranchos de Taos (south side of town). For residents in and near Taos, it's a familiar story; someone wants to move water away from the ditch for a domestic & sanitation district (essentially a domestic mutual, but bigger, and better funded). In this case, it's the El Valle Water and Sanitation District. Apparently, they have to acquire surface water rights on the order of some 160+af to off-set their groundwater pumping in the area, since the pumps affect all of the tributary drainages in the area.
In this particular hearing, a Mr. S------ from Questa, NM was asking for a water rights transfer to take place, so that El Valle could essentially 'retire' the surface right as they offset their pumping. They had not entered into a contract yet, but had at least spoken about it. No one from the Water district showed up, however, and part of this was the small potatoes, relatively speaking, of the water right: 0.625 acre feet. This does not sound like a lot of water on a ditch, and it's not really, but the problem is the calculated number. This was the number given to Mr. S from the OSE personnel in Santa Fe. Is that the whole, actual suface water right or only the consumptive use acreage? This latter aspect was fuzzy even to the applicant who had pursued the transfer.
The other fascinating aspect is that the right was not purchased; it was a payment-in-kind for a money loan to a local resident, Mr. T------- from nearby Ranchos de Taos. Mr. T could not pay back Mr. S, so he signed over the deed to the water rights. Several concerns were voiced at the meeting by commissioners and parciantes alike: a) What would the effect be of "retiring" this water from the ditch if OSE starts metering the Pacheco ditch? b) What effect would the El Valle pumps have on
springs and seeps* that feed the ditch in question? c) Is the surface-to-groundater conversion rate (roughly 2 to 1) for water rights an accurate number to be using in such transfers? d) Is there no one else on the ditch who would be interested in acquiring the water right, so that water could stay on the Pacheco ditch?
That last question or option was thrown open as an attractive and viable alternative. So, will this be yet another case of a single drawn water straw in Taos' "death by a thousand straws?" The commissioners are due to render a decision by next Tuesday, February 23rd. But given the
recent denial by another acequia commission for a much larger transfer to the El Valle folks a few weeks back, for which the acequia was sued, I'd say the applicant should start thinking about plan B: find a buyer on the existing ditch.
Post
updated 2.20.10 (link to Taos News story)
*
second photo is a seep in Chimayo, NM - illustrative example only
I attended yet another special hearing organized by an acequia commission last night, this time up in the Taos area. For those who saw the last post, this is the Pacheco Community ditch we're talking about, near Ranchos de Taos (south side of town). For residents in and near Taos, it's a familiar story; someone wants to move water away from the ditch for a domestic & sanitation district (essentially a domestic mutual, but bigger, and better funded). In this case, it's the El Valle Water and Sanitation District. Apparently, they have to acquire surface water rights on the order of some 160+af to off-set their groundwater pumping in the area, since the pumps affect all of the tributary drainages in the area. 
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