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Monday, January 5, 2015
Rio Grande Lawsuit Refocused
Commitment Sought from Water Users to Support Living River
Contact: Jen Pelz 303-884-2702
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— WildEarth Guardians last week agreed to narrow the scope of its lawsuit brought to protect and restore flows in the Rio Grande in order to focus its efforts on reforming the inefficient and unchecked diversions by the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District that threaten the health of the river. The group reached a legal agreement with the Albuquerque-Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority that eliminates any claims implicating San Juan-Chama Project water, imported to the basin from the Colorado River.
“San Juan-Chama water has served as an important short-term stop-gap measure for providing flows in the Rio Grande and we hope that San Juan-Chama Contractors will continue to share that imported water with the river long into the future,” said Jen Pelz, Wild River Program Director at WildEarth Guardians. “The future of a living Rio Grande, however, depends on eliminating the wasteful irrigation practices of the District and creating a resilient system that takes into account the river’s needs when allocating water within the basin.”
The accord provides a new commitment by the Water Authority to set aside 10% of any newly acquired native Rio Grande water for environmental purposes. The agreement contemplates that such water would either become part of the state’s Strategic Water Reserve or be stored in Abiquiu Reservoir in storage space secured by environmental groups last year. Such water would be used to augment peak flows in the spring or to keep the river flowing during hot, dry summers.
“The Water Authority today made an additional voluntary commitment to share water it acquires in the future to support a flowing Rio Grande and healthy bosque,” said Pelz. “We call on all water users in the Basin to match or make a similar commitment to the heritage of New Mexico by supporting the Rio Grande’s right to its own water.”
The bulk of the group’s lawsuit, initiated this past summer, will continue to hold federal water managers accountable for their failed management efforts and to ensure flows in the Rio Grande sufficient to support the survival of a handful of endangered species. Guardians says that the purpose of the litigation has not changed, but that San Juan-Chama water has served as a distraction from the fundamental issue that needs to be addressed—the inequity in how native water is allocated within the Basin.
“The heart of the conflict has always been the lack of responsibility claimed by the District for the drying of the river and its unwillingness to move forward with voluntary solutions,” added Pelz. “Even as other water users show willingness to move toward a new water management paradigm, the District continues to profit on the back of a dying river.”
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