ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – After more than a month of dry riverbed conditions through Albuquerque, water is once again flowing in the Rio Grande — offering some much-needed relief to local irrigators. “So currently we are what’s called run of the river system, and the only water that’s available is what’s naturally coming in, and that makes us really dependent on these rain inflows that we see from monsoon events,” said Anne Markin, the River Operations Manager at the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District (MRGCD).
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According to Markin, a lack of water in the upstream reservoir has made this year’s dry spell especially difficult. Typically, the MRGCD relies on water stored in the spring to support Middle Valley farmers and their crops during the summer—but that reserve simply isn’t there this year. “One of the big contributors to how much drying that we’ve seen this year, particularly in the Albuquerque reach, is the fact that the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District can’t store any native Rio Grande water in our reservoir on the Rio Chama,” said Markin. “And that’s due to Rio Grande compact restrictions.”
In 2022, Albuquerque’s stretch of the Rio Grande was dry for a total of five days. This year has been far worse. “Albuquerque has had drying in it for 45 total days so far this year, which is a lot,” Markin said. “This year is the second event in 40 years of river channel drying in Albuquerque. But to be clear, the river does dry routinely downstream of the Albuquerque area.”…