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Historical Water Management in the Lower Rio Grande
Lower Rio Grande Water Users Organization
August 19, 2005J. Phillip King, P.E., Ph.D.
The Rio Grande Compact of 1938
• Researched and negotiated among Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas between 1925 and 1938
• Explicitly divided the surface water of the Rio Grande among the states, and providing for delivery to Mexico
• Sliding scale dependent on supply• Capped depletion in upstream states• Accounting rules and obligations allow flexibility
within each state
The Rio Grande Project• Water rights appropriated January 23, 1906• 90,640 water-righted acres in Elephant Butte
Irrigation District (EBID) in New Mexico• 69,010 water-righted acres in El Paso County
Water Improvement District No. 1 (EPCWID) in Texas
• 60,000 acre-feet of water for the Republic of Mexico by the Treaty of 1906
• Operated as a single irrigation system by Bureau of Reclamation
Project History in a Nutshell
0
200
400
600
800
1,000
1,200
1,400
1,600
1,800
2,000
1915 1925 1935 1945 1955 1965 1975 1985 1995 2005
Th
ou
sa
nd
s
Re
lea
se
fro
m E
lep
ha
nt
Bu
tte
, A
F
1915-1937Start-up
1938-1950The
Roaring'40s
1951-1978Drought I
1979-2002The Wet
Years
20
03
-20
05
Dro
ug
ht
II
Compact Districts
Project Terminology
• Release – Flow of water from Caballo Dam• Diversion – Removal of water at Project
structures – Percha, Leasburg, Mesilla, American, International Dams
• Delivery – Flow from District canal to farm or non-agricultural use
• Return Flow – Drains, operational spills, storm flows, WWTP discharge
• River Efficiency – Diversion/Release
Current Project Allocation Procedure
• Usable water in storage determined
• Total diversion determined based on actual river efficiency
• Mexico allocation by formula
• Remaining diversion split between EBID (57 %) and EPCWID (43 %)
D2 – River Efficiency Relationship
0
200
400
600
800
1,000
1,200
0 200 400 600 800 1,000 1,200 1,400
Th
ou
sa
nd
s
ThousandsRelease from Caballo, AF
Pro
jec
t D
ive
rsio
n,
AF
38-5051-7879-0203-0405D2
District HydrologyCaballo
ConveyanceSystem
IrrigatedLand
Groundwater
DrainFlows
Atm
osph
ere
SeepageExfiltration
Pum
ping
Return
Diversion
Bypass (spill)Delivery
Deep Percolation
StormFlow
Bypass (spill)
Seepage
Release
Rio G
rande
M&IUsers
PumpingDeep Perc.
Discharges
Imported WaterExported Water
Non-irrigatedLand
Rio Grande at El Paso
Pum
ping
Dee
p P
erco
lati
on
ETPrecip
ETPrecip
Drainage
ET Precip
StormFlow
Storm
Storm
The LRG Regional Water Plan
• Prepared by the LRGWUO• Recognizes the hydrologic connection between
Mesilla and Rincon aquifer systems and the Rio Grande
• Recognizes the need to “keep the river whole”• Recognizes need to clarify obligation to Texas• Ongoing negotiations among EBID, EPCWID,
and Bureau of Reclamation to clarify obligation to Texas
Active Water Resource Management• State administering groundwater in the absence
of a completed adjudication• State’s standard issue tool is priority
administration• Local users have the ability to develop
alternative administration rules• Advantages:
– Future new uses will rely on surface water– Current junior uses can use surface water rights to
move up in priority– Intelligent conjunctive management of surface water
and groundwater is possible• Requires cooperation among LRGWUO
members and State
Old School
• Adversarial
• Egos, conflicting agendas, cloak-and-dagger games clog the process
• Time and money consuming
• Destructive
• Bad for all concerned
A New Paradigm
• Principled negotiation
• Common ground kept in mind
• Cool heads prevail
• Accurate, objective data analysis
• Recognize obligations
From the Rio Grande Joint Investigation:
“… The cordial willingness with which the official representatives of Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas entered into the undertaking exemplified constructive statesmanship… Each of these States is vitally concerned with its own welfare, yet in the Rio Grande Joint Investigation each recognized its obligation to its sister States; each accepted the principle that an equitable adjustment of conflicting interests in the waters of the river is imperative.”
Frank Adams, Harlan H. Barrows
Chairman, Consulting Board, February 1938
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