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New Mexico gets millions more from the federal government to address drought
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New Mexico is getting $14.7 million in federal money for five water projects to address drought, part of $522 million in drought funding for 57 projects across the Western United States that Acting Deputy Secretary of the Interior Laura Daniel-Davis announced Thursday near the Rio Grande.
Daniel-Davis also announced later in the day that New Mexico will receive $25 million to plug 117 orphaned oil and gas wells, remediate four sites, and complete surface restoration of 33 locations. That funding is coming from $660 million in federal grant money.
The water infrastructure money is coming from a $50 billion pot of funding created by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act for climate resilience and adaptation.
The 57 water projects across the Western states will focus on improving water conveyance and storage, increasing safety, improving hydropower generation and providing water treatment.
“The vast majority of the Western United States is experiencing drought, or abnormally dry conditions, and when conditions like that strike, we know it doesn’t just impact one community. It impacts all of us,” Daniel-Davis said.
Last week, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland announced $60 million in federal funding to address drought in the Lower Rio Grande Basin. The No. 1 goal is to prepare the state for persistent drought and the prediction of higher aridity in the future, State Engineer Mike Hamman said.
“Anytime you look at the drought monitor that we have for the Western United States, New Mexico is in the bull’s-eye. We are the driest state, and we need to do all that we can to prepare ourselves for that future,” Hamman said.
When New Mexico was in a serious drought in the 1950s, the federal government invested heavily to improve the condition of the Rio Grande channel, Hamman said.
“Because of that effort, New Mexico was able to chip away and get itself out of a serious (water) debit that we were in ... and now we need to replicate that effort, but with a different viewpoint with a balance between endangered species and biological needs of the river as well as the water needs of the humans in the Middle and Lower Rio Grande,” Hamman said.
How do you realign a river?
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A realignment project on the Rio Grande channel will get $10.7 million of the funding announced Thursday, the bulk of New Mexico’s funding. The project will shift the Rio Grande channel to the spot where the river can run deepest to improve water conveyance, critical habitat and sedimentation control south of Albuquerque near the Bosque del Apache Wildlife Refuge in the San Acacia Reach Conveyance.
A pilot channel realignment project circumnavigated a sediment plug around river mile 80 near San Antonio, New Mexico, said Ashlee Rudolph, a project manager in the Bureau of Reclamation Albuquerque area office.
The Rio Grande is a sediment-laden river, Rudolph said, and human management has confined the river to a narrow corridor through a levee system, which caused the sediment to build up over time.
“The realignments allow us to seek a lower point in the valley where water naturally wants to flow, so we then just encourage the realignment of the river to that lower point,” Rudolph said.
The realignment could reduce drying patterns and benefit the habitat living in and around the river.
Other NM water projects:
• $2.5 million to rehabilitate the state park road accessing El Vado Lake State Park. The road is in poor condition and is makes it hazardous for visitors towing trailers. It is the only road to access the boat ramp, 70 campsites, four day-use areas, restrooms and a significant trailhead.
• $600,000 to create access roads for the San Acacia Reach Conveyance.
• $650,000 for rehab of the Elephant Butte Historic District Dam Site lift station and fish hatchery septic system.
• $275,000 to design a smart-irrigation system in the Elephant Butte Historic District. The money will also be used for new, more energy-efficient windows in historic buildings.
Officials announce millions for aging water infrastructure
