The Bureau of Reclamation is anticipating another difficult year for the Rio Grande with below-average water runoff.
The Rio Grande will see a below-average spring runoff, says the Bureau of Reclamation in an April 20 news release. This means the Bureau and its partners will need to be strategic about how it is used.
"Reclamation will continue to work closely with the irrigation districts, states, municipalities, Pueblos and all other stakeholders to support water uses whenever possible as this megadrought continues," said Jennifer Faler, Albuquerque office manager in the release. "Reclamation is committed to support a healthy river ecosystem and use every tool in our toolbox to effectively transport the limited water supply."
According to the Bureau of Reclamation, the Rio Grande drains a total of approximately 182,200 square miles in the U.S. and Mexico. It also encompasses 1,896 miles and allows individuals and wildlife to flourish.
In February, the U.S. Geological Survey revealed that, in the coming years, the Rio Grande might see peak flows arrive earlier than anticipated and earlier than they have in the past because of climate change.
"Understanding how climate change is affecting streamflow and snowmelt in an intensely managed area is challenging but crucial to determining future water availability," said Dave Moeser, a USGS hydrologist and lead author of the study. "For example, if earlier peak flows no longer line up with the growing season, then managers may need to store water longer in reservoirs where it's more prone to loss through seepage to groundwater and evaporation."
The annual operating plan for the Rio Grande basin said the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District began staggered irrigation operations in April, with natural flow of the Rio Grande, the release reported. Irrigation diversions in Colorado began April 1.
Due to the expected low runoff, lack of water in storage, as well as a minimal supply of water for Reclamation to lease to supplement river flows, there's a possibility some parts of the Rio Grande could experience drying this summer. Reclamation is coordinating with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to rescue fish from drying portions of the river and coordinating with partners to use the limited supply of water most effectively, the release reported.
The Rio Grande Project's usable storage is currently about 258,000 acre-feet and is expected to peak at about 350,000 acre-feet before declining as irrigation releases start, according to the release. The irrigation season is scheduled to begin with releases from Elephant Butte Reservoir the first week of May and Caballo Reservoir the first week of June. The dry riverbed between Elephant Butte and Caballo and below Caballo will take on water quickly. As such, it may be unpredictable and dangerous.
The release reported the water levels will fluctuate through the rest of the short irrigation season. On the Pecos River, basin-wide snow water equivalent was 90 percent of median March 31, and the Natural Resources Conservation Service predicted 20,000 acre-feet of inflow to Santa Rosa Reservoir from March to July. The Carlsbad Irrigation District has allocated 1.4 acre-feet per acre.
