Projects to protect New Mexico's watersheds get $5 million boost

The federal government is sending $5 million to New Mexico for two projects intended to protect the state’s water resources, including watersheds that provide a majority of Albuquerque’s drinking water.

“Adequate, resilient and safe water supplies are fundamental to the health, economy and security of every community in our nation,” Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said last week in announcing $51 million from the Bureau of Reclamation for 30 new water resource projects.

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law committed $8.3 billion for the Bureau of Reclamation to put toward water infrastructure projects over five years.

The latest announcement includes $3 million to increase the resiliency of the San Juan-Chama Project and Rio Chama headwaters. According to a news release, the nonprofit Chama Peak Land Alliance will thin 2,150 acres of forest to protect source watersheds from wildfires for the San Juan-Chama Project, the Rio Chama headwaters and the Rio Brazos headwaters.

“Those source watersheds are in our region and those are in the San Juan Basin, but they get diverted through a series of tunnels, and they go into the Rio Chama and connect to the Rio Grande,” said Caleb Stotts, executive director for the Chama Peak Land Alliance.

Most of the forest area that will be thinned is on private lands, but those watersheds provide approximately 75% of Albuquerque’s drinking water and 50% of Santa Fe’s drinking water, Stotts said. Several Pueblos and rural communities in the state also get drinking water from those watersheds. There are more than 20 beneficiaries of the San Juan-Chama Project.

“These source watersheds are at risk of severe wildfires,” Stotts said. “Due to over 150 years of fire suppression, the forests in the region are denser than they naturally would be, and they’re prone to severe wildfire. There’s high wildfire risk. And if they do burn, then it threatens the reliability of the San Juan-Chama Project to function.”

Recent wildfires in New Mexico have caused post-fire debris flow and erosion, Stotts said, which affects how people can use surface water.

The Rio Chama headwaters originate in Colorado and supply surface water to the Village of Chama, but that water is also used as carrier water to help deliver San Juan-Chama Project water downstream.

“After watching the effects of the Hermits Peak and Calf Canyon fire and what that has done to the city of Las Vegas, New Mexico, we are concerned about those same issues — that a severe wildfire could threaten the reliability of the surface water that supplies the water for the Village of Chama, but also local acequia users and agricultural users that depend on these streams to supply water for agriculture,” Stotts said.

The work to thin forests can be challenging because often the terrain is steep and large areas have to be worked on, Stotts said. There also used to be more value in the timber products produced by thinning, he said.

The $3 million will fund a three-year thinning project, but those funds are only a portion of what is needed to protect the watershed areas from wildfire. Research suggests that treating 30% of the watershed area would substantially reduce the wildfire risk, Stotts said.

Also as part of the funding announcement, the Pueblo of Isleta will get $2.5 million to build resilience in the lower Rio Puerco watershed. The Pueblo will use nature-based watershed restoration techniques on a 30,000-acre parcel of the Comanche Ranch and neighboring lands, according to a news release. The Rio Puerco lower watershed is the primary source of sediment for the middle Rio Grande and the Elephant Butte Reservoir. The Pueblo will try to address erosion and soil loss caused by a loss of vegetation and high-energy monsoons.