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NEW MEXICO
<br />In the 1930s, shareholders worked on the ditch and were paid in
<br />script notes that were discounted to pay their ditch assessments.
<br />While agricultural development was progressing, another use
<br />of water in the San Juan Basin evolved - electric power. The Aztec
<br />Light and Power Company was incorporated in 1909 and used water to
<br />generate a 35-kilowatt, 250-volt direct-current generator. At
<br />approximately the same time frame, 1901-1908, down the Las Animas
<br />River, Farmington had been busy establishing Farmington Electric Light
<br />and Power Company (Basin Power and Light), currently the primary
<br />producer of electric power for the San Juan Basin thanks to its
<br />hydroelectric generation capability at Navajo Dam.
<br />Over the years, water has been an important element in the
<br />growth of the San Juan Basin, serving as the cohesive factor that holds
<br />the region's pristine environment and cultures together.
<br />Looking at the San Juan Basin today, with its diversity of water
<br />usage, one can tell that the Dine (Navajo for the people) are using water
<br />and will continue to develop water resources to their greatest potential,
<br />as evidenced by the construction of efficient irrigation projects such as
<br />the Navajo Indian Irrigation Project (NIIP), Navajo Dam and Hydro
<br />Electric project, Hammond Project, City of Aztec, Bloomfield and
<br />Farmington water systems.
<br />Due to the development of water by the San Juan Basin
<br />communities, residents enjoy golf courses, riverine and park projects
<br />throughout San Juan County, outstanding fly fishing, flora and fauna,
<br />sports complexes, soccer fields, aquatic centers in Farmington, schools in
<br />Bloomfield and Kirtland, as well as numerous baseball fields.
<br />This development of the San Juan Basin could not have been
<br />achieved without the cohesiveness started by Coronado and the other
<br />Spanish peoples and continued today by all the citizens of the state
<br />through our state government. New Mexico's water is covered by state
<br />statutes, which reaffirm that the waters of the state belong to the public
<br />and are subject to appropriation for beneficial use. The state also has
<br />taken other leadership actions by appointing a state engineer as head
<br />steward of the waters of the state, and named an Interstate Stream
<br />Commission to investigate water supply, and develop, conserve and protect
<br />the waters and stream systems of the state. One charge of the Interstate
<br />Stream Commission is to negotiate compacts with other states and settle
<br />controversies of waters in interstate stream systems.
<br />Regarding New Mexico's relation to the Colorado River, there are
<br />four compacts that deal with use of water. One is the Animas-La Plata
<br />Project Compact, which calls for the implementation and operation of the
<br />Animas-La Plata federal reclamation project. Another is the Colorado
<br />River Compact, which deals with all seven basin states.
<br />4. t.
<br />LINING DITCHES WITH CONCRETE HELPS CONSERVE THE VALUABLE WATER.
<br />The major purposes of this compact are to (1) provide for the equitable
<br />division and apportionment of the use of the waters of the Colorado River
<br />system; (2) establish the relative importance of different beneficial uses of
<br />water; (3) promote interstate community; (4) remove causes of present and
<br />future controversies; and (5) secure the expeditious agricultural and
<br />industrial development of the Colorado River Basin, the storage of its
<br />waters, and the protection of life and property from floods.
<br />Through this agreement, the basin is divided into two units, the
<br />upper and lower basins. The division point for the two basins is Lee Ferry
<br />in Arizona (12 miles south of Page on the Colorado River). This compact
<br />provides the upper and lower basins, respectively, the exclusive beneficial
<br />consumptive use of 7,500,000 acre-feet of water per annum.
<br />The third compact is the La Plata River Compact between the
<br />states of New Mexico and Colorado, which calls for the equitable
<br />distribution of waters of the La Plata River through the installation of two
<br />gauging stations. The fourth compact deals with the Upper Colorado
<br />River Basin and involves New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and, to
<br />a lesser degree, Arizona. This agreement apportions by percent the
<br />amount of water each state will receive of the upper basin's 7.5 million
<br />acre-feet. New Mexico's share is 11.25 percent, not to exceed 50,000 acre-
<br />feet per annum total.
<br />The above-referenced compacts have other provisions, but those
<br />mentioned are of the greatest impact on the San Juan Basin and its people.
<br />No doubt, the San Juan Basin, lying among lonely buttes, solitary
<br />mesas and rocky escarpments, is a glittering gem of the Southwest. It has
<br />become an integral part of the Colorado River system, thanks to the area's
<br />diverse cultures and progressive citizens who are becoming ever-better
<br />stewards of the waters due to their participation in government, by their
<br />enacting state statutes and by working with other states through compacts
<br />and agreements.
<br />Today, as in the past, the Dine are looking forward to becoming a
<br />more vital part of a growing resource in the centuries to come.
<br />Compiled and written by Paul F. Martin, RE, city of Farmington,
<br />New Mexico.
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<br />INGENIOUS SLUICEWAY IN A TURNOUT DITCH HELPED CONTROL WATER FLOWS.
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