WildEarth Guardians

Wednesday, January 6, 2016
Interior Policy Threatens Living Rio Grande

Group Calls for Interior to Stop Bailout of New Mexico
Contact: Jen Pelz 303-884-2702

SANTA FE, N.M.— WildEarth Guardians today called on the U.S. Department of the Interior to stop bailing out the State of New Mexico by releasing water stored on behalf of the six middle Rio Grande Pueblos at the end of each year. The letter questions the equity of the releases—which Interior does to assist New Mexico in meeting its delivery obligation to Texas under the Rio Grande Compact—and highlights the missed opportunity to bolster river flows in the spring and late summer to support endangered fish and birds that depend on those flows for reproduction and survival. The request came in the form of a letter to Secretary of the Interior Jewell.

“Interior’s winter releases of this water is turning the Rio Grande’s natural flow pattern on its head,” said Jen Pelz, Wild Rivers Program Director at WildEarth Guardians. “Fish and wildlife cannot survive if water is being drained from the river in the spring only to be released in the winter—at a time when the water provides little to no ecological value.”

The group’s letter urges Interior to reconsider its policy of releasing the Pueblos’ prior and paramount water in November and December of each year as a matter of course. It also recommends that Interior coordinate with the six Pueblos to carry over this water and to develop a long-term strategy to release this water in a more environmentally sound manner, such as for creating a spring peak flow or mitigating the impacts of late summer drying of the river on fish and wildlife.

The letter also emphasizes that compliance with the Rio Grande Compact is the responsibility of the State and that Interior’s unilateral releases of the Pueblos’ prior and paramount water for this purpose only further perpetuates the lack of accountability by the State of water use in the Basin. Guardians stresses that it is not the duty of Interior to accommodate New Mexico’s irresponsible water management. The State could be doing much more to ensure its Compact obligations are met, such as administering water by priority (e.g. shutting off junior water users) or facilitating releases from junior storage during critical periods of low flow.

“The State is robbing the river and senior users in the Basin any chance it gets under the guise of Compact compliance,” added Pelz. “The State must start reining in the out of control water use and starting developing a long-term plan for living within its means going forward. Interior plays a key role in providing the incentive to make this to happen.”

A copy of the letter can be seen here.