From the Las Cruces Sun-News (Diana Alba Soula):
Snowpack is building in the mountains of southern Colorado and northern New Mexico — a positive sign so far this winter for Doña Ana County water users.
Snow levels — which turn into spring runoff that feeds the Rio Grande — are thus far tracking above average for this point in the season, boosted by a bumper El Niño weather pattern that tends to bring more precipitation to the Southwest.
A Jan. 1 federal report showed that snowpack in northern New Mexico that impacts the Rio Grande sat at 134 percent of a median average, 63 percent higher than a year ago. And snow levels in southern Colorado were at 126 percent of average, a 56 percent increase over the same time last year, according to the report from the Natural Resources Conservation Service…
Farmers, in particular, rely heavily upon the runoff, which makes its way into Elephant Butte Lake and Caballo Reservoir north of Doña Ana County. In recent years, that runoff has been scarce, resulting in slim river-water irrigation allotments by the Elephant Butte Irrigation District. At least part of the problem, irrigation officials have said, is that a given level of snowpack in recent years hasn’t been yielding as much runoff each spring as it would have in the past.
That trend has Phil King, EBID’s consultant water engineer, with mixed views about what this snowpack will mean for southern New Mexico.
“It’s the best year we’ve had in a while, but our standards have gotten really low the last few years,” he said. “There is optimism, but I’m guarded. The fact we’re doing better than 3.5 (acre)-inches, doesn’t mean we’re doing well.”
King referred to the irrigation district’s water allotment for 2013, considered the worst in nearly a century of local irrigation history. In 2015, Doña Ana County growers received an allotment of 11 acre-inches per acre — the highest since 2010, when farmers got 2 acre-feet per acre.
The district considers a full allotment to be 3 acre feet — 36 inches — per acre. An acre-foot contains about 326,000 gallons, enough to cover an acre of land to a depth of 1 foot or 12 inches.
Carryover water from last year that’s already in Elephant Butte Lake forms the basis for the irrigation season. And King said the amount of water being held for EBID would yield about an irrigation allocation, even without any new runoff that will be added this spring.
On Friday, Elephant Butte Lake contained 331,990 acre-feet of water, about 17 percent full. That is 26 percent more than a year ago, according to numbers from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation…
Separately, the Rio Grande Citizens Forum of the U.S. Section of the International Boundary and Water Commission will hold a public meeting Jan. 21 at the USIBWC Headquarters First Floor Conference Room, 4171 N. Mesa, Bldg. C-100, El Paso, according to a meeting announcement from the agency. An item on the agenda is the impact of El Niño on the Rio Grande. A river levee certification process and floodgate repair are other topics. For information, call 915-832-4794 or e-mail mario.montes@ibwc.gov.