July 10, 2007
Good morning, water fans:
Today begins a three-day hearing over Rancho Viejo’s request to transfer some groundwater rights from Belen and use them as offsets for water pumped out of the Buckman well field to serve the company’s southern Santa Fe development. If you want to go hang out and hear smart water attorneys battle it out, head over to the Round House, Rm. 326.
The state engineer denied the transfer, but Rancho Viejo Inc. appealed and a district court judge sent it back for reconsideration.
Rancho Viejo understandably wants to fight for the 42 acre feet of water. They spent a cool quarter of a million dollars just to buy the rights, which date to a 1950 well. They spent more trying to get approval from the city, county and state engineer for the transfer.
They disagree with the state engineer’s policy to disallow the transfer of groundwater rights newer than 1939 for use as offsets in the Rio Grande basin.
But here’s one reason why developers might want to support the policy in the future and be sure they only spend their money on the oldest water rights they can buy: Any groundwater rights newer than 1939 (when the interstate Rio Grande Compact was signed) or surface water rights newer than 1907, are “junior” water rights.
That means if the region hits a severe multi-year drought, as it did in the 1950s and more recently, and if – a big IF – the state engineer finally gets harsh enough to actually implement state law and protect senior water rights – the juniors could find their taps shut off. Other Western states are doing just that – judges are finding in favor of senior water rights holders (usually farmers) and shutting down the flows to junior water rights owners (usually towns, and some new farmers).
The sheer size of Rancho Viejo – which is doing some pretty cool things with water conservation and grey water reinjection into wells – and other developments south of Albuquerque are dizzying in scope for such a dry state.
16,000 homes proposed in Rancho Viejo over the next two decades.
More than twice that many proposed down in Los Lunas, Belen and surrounding areas.
Looking through the iWATERS database on the State Engineer’s Web site, a treasure trove of info on water rights, it is quite apparent that water managers are right – for the time being they aren’t having much trouble finding senior water rights holders who want to sell.
And acequia groups and agriculture advocates may simply be fighting a lost cause. But as a wise Mr. Smith said while visiting Washington, “Lost causes are the only ones worth fighting for.”
And just as I was about to post this, here comes yet another light-hearted report on our water future, this one from the Natural Resources Conservation Service. According to the news release, “The drought and dry conditions currently gripping half the country are a taste of things to come, according to a new report by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) assessing the effects of global warming on water supplies in the West. The researchers say that as the hotter, drier weather already afflicting the region becomes the norm, officials responsible for keeping the taps flowing will need bold measures to improve conservation and efficiency. But drastic steps can be avoided if managers begin preparing now,” the report says.
The full report, “In Hot Water: Water Management Strategies to Weather the Effects of Global Warming” is available online at www.nrdc.org.
Hasta manana,
