WSP09398

• File Number: 8507
• Description: Rio Grande Project
• State: CO
• Basin: Rio Grande
• Date: 7/1/1997
• Title: Water Management Study: Upper Rio Grande Basin part 3
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Report/Study

Water Management Study: Upper Rio Grande Basin

attempt by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to implement the Secretary of
Interior's July 1994 policy direction to involve stakeholders in the
development of recovery plans; preparation of a draft report for public review
by mid summer 1997; and continued cooperation between stakeholders and
management agencies.

6. Jemez River Watershed

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During the drought of 1996, the Jemez and Zia Pueblos worked with one
another and with their neighbors, the New Mexico State Engineer Office,
and the Bureau of Indian Affairs, to find a way to share the dwindling supply
of water. As federal attorneys were preparing legal action to ensure that
upstream users did not deprive the downstream Pueblos of water, all the
local stakeholders worked together to negotiate an agreement that
acknowledges the Pueblos senior rights but establishes a rotational
water-delivery schedule to allow all irrigators to share available supplies.
The agreement also includes groundwater in the rotation schedule and
provides a dispute-resolution process. The agreement, which was approved
by the federal court, "marks the first time (in New Mexico history and
perhaps in the nation's) that affected water users in a stream system have
delineated a priority call process for themselves" (New Mexico Water
Dialogue 1996). Stakeholders hope to build on their success and use the
agreement as a model for settling adjudication in the Jemez Valley.

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7. Enhanced Streamflows in Colorado

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A short-run cooperative effort to enhance streamflows in Colorado was
promoted by the drought of 1996. When flows within the Wild and Scenic
portion ofthe river at the Colorado-New Mexico border dropped to 17 cfs in
July, Colorado, the Rio Grande Water Conservation District, and the BuRec
worked together and with environmental interests to augment flows.
Specifically, the groups agreed to pump groundwater from the San Luis
Valley Closed Basin Project into the river to benefit the environment within
Colorado, but carefully avoided setting a precedent that would substantiate a
claim for water to be used to maintain environmental benefits or streamflows
in New Mexico.

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These examples of cooperative efforts in the Basin represent a broader array
of efforts to address the increasing competition for water and related

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