Muddy Monitoring Tribal leaders say a pipeline is diverting too much water from the Santa Fe River while lack of observation systems complicates regulation BY WILLIAM MELHADO w i l l i a m @ s f r e p o r t e r. c o m
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NEWS
WILLIAM MELHADO
S FR E P O RTE R .CO M / N E WS
in the form of rains, and it’s like a full circle,” the governor says. Alonzo Gallegos, chairman of the La Bajada Community Ditch and Mutual Domestic Water Association, disputes the claim that residents of La Bajada are diverting too much water. Given the acreage of irrigable farmland, he says La Bajada is entitled to roughly 200 acre-feet of water per year from the Santa Fe River. “And we don’t use it all because that water doesn’t exist,” Gallegos tells SFR. He says the pipeline only diverts water between March and November, and whatever water isn’t used to irrigate the field or stored in the 1.3 acre-foot holding pond flows back into the Santa Fe River on Cochiti property. Gallegos notes the pipeline was built around 2014 with a grant from the Interstate Stream Commission. The Pueblo of Cochiti estimates significantly more water is flowing into the diversion, based on data from a United States Geological Survey meter located below the diversion. Gallegos disagrees, noting the gauge doesn’t measure the diversion’s flow, but rather the volume of water in the Santa Fe
WILLIAM MELHADO
Gov. Phillip Quintana of the Pueblo of Cochiti looks across the standing water at the site of the n a recent May afternoon, water gurUnited States Geological Survey meter along the Santa Fe River. A spring just above the USGS meter gles through a ditch down the middle supplies the trickle of water shown here. of the La Bajada community, irrigating fields of vegetables and grain that resiRiver. He adds that La Bajada residents aren’t the issue of the San Juan-Chama Return dents use to feed livestock. irrigating about half of their acreage because Flow Project: a pipeline that would divert efBefore reaching La Bajada, the water there isn’t sufficient water flowing into the fluent from the wastewater treatment facility flows west from the Santa Fe River through a river from the City of Santa Fe’s wastewater back to the Rio Grande and enable the City of pipeline traversing the Pueblo of Cochiti, the treatment facility. Santa Fe to extract more water from the river. Pueblo of Santa Domingo and US National State Engineer Mike Hamman tells SFR Both groups oppose the pipeline. They Forest Service land. Below the diversion, the that La Bajada residents have historial rec- say it would dry up the already parched Santa natural stream bed is mostly dry. ognition of the community’s ditch. “They do Fe River, contending the city isn’t acting as a Cochiti leaders say the amount of water have the right to divert water from the river,” good upstream neighbor. flowing into the pipeline exceeds the amount Hamman says. But the two communities’ opinions diallocated to La Bajada’s 52 acres of farmland Just how much water can legally be divert- verge on the topic of the La Bajada pipeline. as a result of modifications made to the divered, compared to the actual quantity diverted, Quintana says rerouting nearly 100% of sion structure. is another question. Hamman says without the water into the La Bajada ditch essentially In short, the pueblo accuses the acequia a meter above the diversion, it’s difficult to means the diversion is functioning just as the community of taking too much water parse out the totals. city’s return flow pipeline would. Quintana from the river. Hamman notes a small ace- asks how his neighbors can rally against the La Bajada denies the claim, arguing quia below the diversion, the city’s behavior when, from his perspective, that even in years when there is enough Gammanche Ditch, must receive they’re doing the same thing. water in the Santa Fe River, they don’t some water from the Santa Fe River, “I understand the frustration but it’s our reach their full, legal allotment. but there is no “formal bypass re- frustration too, because it’s not enough waA lack of reliable monitoring sysquirement for ‘the river.’” ter,” says Gallegos. tems has made it difficult for the Office The issue of limited monitoring Reuben Montes, tribal liaison program of the State Engineer to verify the capabilities, given the sheer number manager with the Santa Fe National Forest, pueblo’s assertion. The situation offers of waterways in the state, is larger in has visited the diversion site twice, per the a window into one of New Mexico’s some basins than others, Hamman request of Cochiti Pueblo, once in 2017 and most pressing problems: Less water says. Some basins have more regu- again in 2018. The purpose of the visits, is flowing through the state as climate lated metering, while others rely on Montes says, was “so that we had a visual unchange and persistent drought tighten self-reporting, which can lead to dis- derstanding of…how it was constructed and their grip. putes when shortages occur. what materials were used.” Standing above the underground That’s something Hamman Montes says he’s not aware of a formal pipeline that used to be a “cheenah,” hopes to change during his tenure as complaint about the pipeline. more widely known now as an acequia, state engineer, a position he took on He says the US Forest Service is aware of Gov. Phillip Quintana of the Pueblo of in February. “Especially as climate the debate but no actions have been taken Cochiti tells SFR, “It’s our duty as carechange and everything kind of tight- since those site visits, which he attributes to takers of this area” to ensure that the ens up the water supply, we certainly staff turnover and the pandemic. water continues to flow and sustains are going to go, more and more, to Montes says the concerns over water the ecosystems surrounding the Santa measurement and recording,” he shortages typically crop up this time of year, Fe River. says. but often subside when the midsummer Quintana says the siphoning of waThe diversion reflects the messy monsoons come and rivers begin swelling. ter is starving the Santa Fe River. complexities of water laws in the Yet as the reliability of the monsoon season “We hope it gets to the ocean, bestate. lessens, Montes says the forest service would Alonzo Gallegos says the water from the La Bajada ditch can cause we know once it gets to the ocean La Bajada and the Pueblo of be interested in reaching a resolution with only irrigate half of the community’s 52 acres of farmland. it turns into clouds, it comes back to us Cochiti remain closely aligned on the involved parties.
SFREPORTER.COM SFREPORTER.COM •• JUNE JUNE 1-7, 1-7, 2022 2022
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