Melting snowpack won't greatly boost lake levels

Don’t expect the levels of Conchas Lake to rise much because of melting snowpack in the mountains of northern New Mexico and Colorado.

Unlike wide swaths of California and Arizona that have seen record snowfall, the Canadian River basin that feeds the lake has experienced snowpack only 8% higher than normal through April 1, according to data compiled by manager Franklin McCasland during the Arch Hurley Conservancy District’s meeting on April 11.

Snowpack this winter is better than the previous year, which was 25% below normal.

But McCasland said the melting snow alone won’t be enough to raise lake levels to divert water into the district’s canals.

The board voted last week to not allocate water, and it is facing the prospect of a third consecutive growing season without water in its canals due to persistent drought.

Conchas Lake’s water elevation the morning of the meeting was 4,161.9 feet, a half-foot below the previous month. The lake received 638 acre-feet of inflow with 1,934 acre-feet of evaporation and other losses, during March.

The district typically needs the lake to reach 4,174 feet before it can release water into its canals.

Though dry conditions have eased in the western two-thirds of New Mexico, the eastern third remains in moderate, severe or extreme drought conditions, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor map of April 13.

In other business during the meeting:

— The board approved a resolution that sends the district fiscal-year 2024 budget to the New Mexico Property Tax Department to establish mill levels.

McCasland said though the district anticipates it will spend $120,000 more in the next fiscal year, assessments to land owners will not rise and have remained the same in the last four years. Employee pay increases account for $90,000 of those additional costs.

McCasland said Class A property owner assessments were sent last month, and more than $70,000 has been collected.

— The board approved raising the fee to place or remove liens on past-due accounts from $25 to $50.

McCasland said the total past-due accounts, including those who haven’t paid for six years or more, is about $120,000. Years ago, the past-due total was in excess of $200,000.

— McCasland said Arch Hurley and other conservancy districts around the state cannot conform to 2018’s Local Election Act, and it appears they will conduct their elections the previous way they did them until 2025. He said the New Mexico Legislature probably will fix the election problem during its 2024 session.

— The board approved its annual $250 membership fee with the Eastern Plains Council of Governments.