Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
After two other motions failed, the Arch Hurley Conservancy District board of directors approved an allocation of 1 inch of water per acre and will re-evaluate the possibility of future allocations during its August meeting.
With about a dozen farmers observing the proceedings at the July 9 meeting, board member Debra Mitchell first moved to not allocate any water at this time. The motion died from the lack of a second.
Board member Larry Perkins then moved to allocate 2 inches of water per acre, matching the district’s allocation in April. That also died from the lack of a second.
Board member John Griffiths then moved to allocate 1 inch of water and to have the board re-evaluate the possibility of more during its August meeting.
That motion earned a second from board member Jason Box, and members passed it by a 4-1 margin. Mitchell cast the only dissenting vote.
District manager Franklin McCasland said he was concerned about the lack of water orders so far this season.
He said orders were about half of historical norms, and he would shut off water from Conchas Lake to the district’s irrigation canals if orders didn’t rise soon.
“If we didn’t have any water runoff” from recent rains, “the canal would be turned off right now,” board President Robert Lopez said.
In his water delivery report, McCasland sated the district has delivered 1,215 acre-feet of water to farmers in June. The amount of water released from Conchas Lake in June was 7,710 acre-feet since the irrigation gates opened on June 3.
He stated inflow into the lake since April 9 has been almost 22,000 acre-feet.
“Without this inflow, the elevation at Conchas Lake would be 4,167 (feet),” he wrote. “This would have left only 5 feet available in Conchas Lake for delivery for farmers for the rest of the year.”
The morning of the board’s meeting, the lake’s level stood at 4,173 feet, about a half-foot higher than the previous month. Conchas received 8,045 acre-feet of water in June, with 3,260 acre-feet of evaporation and other losses, plus 7,710 acre-feet of diversion by the district.
Despite recent rainfall, the region remained in moderate to severe drought conditions.
According to the U.S. Drought Monitor Map of July 11, much of New Mexico remained dry, specially the southern part of the state. Only a west-central section and near the Colorado border were drought-free.
In other business, the board chose Scott Northam CPA of Ruidoso to be the district’s auditor for one year, with a two-year extension option. He bid $13,000, plus gross receipts tax. Municipalities are required to find a new auditor after a set period.
Dan Austin CPA of Ruidoso, the district’s current auditor, recently completed the fiscal year 2023 audit and will review it at the board’s August meeting.