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TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES – A dispute over whether New Mexico’s river water is being improperly funneled to Texas and whether enough groundwater is being preserved for farmers along the Rio Grande was front and center at a hearing before state lawmakers this week.
About 30 lawmakers from around the state met Monday to listen to opposing sides of a major legal dispute over the Lower Rio Grande Basin.
The debate centers on a 2008 settlement between Doña Ana County and irrigators in Texas’ El Paso County. New Mexico Attorney General Gary King challenged the settlement in a federal lawsuit last year, claiming the agreement undermines New Mexico’s water future along the Rio Grande.
Assistant Attorney General Steve Farris told the lawmakers the Rio Grande is flowing “bank-to-bank” south of Elephant Butte Reservoir and while the water belongs to New Mexico, it’s being allowed to flow to Texas.
“One-hundred percent of that water is New Mexico’s credit water that’s being taken from New Mexico without New Mexico’s permission,” he said.
Farris said the irrigation allotment given by an El Paso irrigation district to its members is about three times what the Elephant Butte Irrigation District gave to its members. He said the disparity is one of the reasons the Attorney General’s Office is suing the federal government and the two irrigation districts over the 2008 agreement.
Farris added that New Mexico farmers have been increasing their use of groundwater for irrigation to make up for less river water, and that’s having an impact on groundwater levels in the basin.
Elephant Butte Irrigation District’s irrigation season lasted only weeks this year. In past wetter years, farmers have been able to call for water deliveries for months.
Rep. Joseph Cervantes, D-Las Cruces, said Doña Ana County irrigators, including his family farm, didn’t get the full allotment of river water they were promised in 2012.
District water engineer Phil King said that was the case for farmers who placed their water orders at the last minute, and the district ran out of supply.
District officials argue that the 2008 agreement heads off a legal battle between New Mexico and Texas that could ultimately harm Doña Ana County farmers by cutting off their right to use groundwater.”
— This article appeared on page C2 of the Albuquerque Journal
