Election: MRGCD board that oversees irrigation, flood control in Middle Rio Grande gets new member

A board that oversees irrigation releases and flood prevention for the Middle Rio Grande will have one new member after a Tuesday election.

Three incumbent board members were reelected, and one new member, J. Chris Lopez, will fill the Socorro seat being left vacant by Glen Duggins. All four were running unopposed, making the outcome predictable.

People who own property within the conservancy district’s benefited area are eligible to vote in MRGCD elections. According to unofficial election results, the candidates each received fewer than 80 votes.

Board members serve four-year terms, so they will be in office until 2029.

The Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District offers irrigation, flood control and water conservation services to farmers and irrigators in the Middle Rio Grande Valley. An elected board of seven directors oversees the entity.

In the coming year, the board will take on issues like upgrading aging infrastructure and trying to reduce New Mexico’s water debt to Texas so river water can be stored, which can help farmers during times of drought.

The election results are scheduled to be certified Friday, and board members will be sworn in for their new terms on Oct. 14.

On Tuesday afternoon, Lopez was working on his 700-acre family farm south of Socorro, gathering chile from the fields. Lopez’s grandfather started farming in the area in the 1950s, and his father, brother, one daughter and young grandsons still farm.

Lopez already serves on the Socorro Soil and Water Conservation District but wanted to run for the MRGCD board to be a voice for farmers.

“I’m worried about our water. I’m worried about our farmers. Farming and ranching are slowly dying off,” Lopez said.

Meanwhile, Karen Dunning won reelection to one of the Bernalillo County positions after serving on the board for 16 years. One of the big issues she expects the board to grapple with in the coming year is insurance.

Many people in the North Valley area particularly like to walk on irrigation ditches, but since MRGCD is not insured for recreation, that’s not an activity it can encourage.

“That’s a really big deal, because right now, our private insurers have all dropped us, and so we have to use the state,” she said. MRGCD does not have the resources to be self-insured.

MRGCD is turning 100 this year, and much of the infrastructure it manages needs to be upgraded.

The board is looking at rebuilding the Corrales siphon, part of irrigation infrastructure in the Corrales area, which at the high end could cost $15 million, Dunning said.

“We’ve been really good about writing grants and getting grants, or low-interest loans. But a lot of those have come from the federal government, and I think that spigot is going to dry up,” Dunning said.

Occupational therapist and the board’s present vice chair, Colin Baugh was reelected to Position 4, also representing Bernalillo County. Baugh helped reestablish an acequia association in the North Valley in 2008 and was mayordomo for the Pierce Lateral Acequia Association in 2019.

The Sandoval County seat will continue to be filled by the former governor of the San Felipe Pueblo, Michael Sandoval. Sandoval has worked as a water resources specialist for the pueblo and as a civil engineering technician for the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

The other board members are John Kelly, who also represents Bernalillo County; at-large Director Stephanie Russo Baca; and Valencia County Director Brian Jiron. Their terms run through 2027.