WSPC06939 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

- .' OC ""2 ......) E::GWF' "0: Tho Socrt'tn:'j' of thL' Arny e::trer.lit)' of Rio .5:1..., JO.1i"! ~n t.he Rio Pucrco OO:lin. Tho tr:Jtutary vallo)"S are all r.cnerally =~All ~n area. Str~a:.; slopen are precipitous in the hcad.~n ter H'nchc['. nnd ir. tl:fJ cnn:,,'C'n ::lActions hut docroBn8 to ,,1 thin a range of 4 to 10 f('ot :~t~r mill" t.hrouGh the t'Itljor vnllo7D 1n new ).'ex1co. Channel capacitie:; era a.d~qt:.atc for all flows within the CAnyon 80ctions but within 1..1'0 volley ::;cclicn:J tLe channels are ohHtlng nnd unatD.blo and their capo.c- i ties arc dctcrnlnerl t-j" the adC'qnncj' of existing levees where provided. 3. Popuh.t.fon of the Rio Grande bo.:l1n above E1 Paso was about 272,500 in 19l.0~ of ~'hich l.e,600 lived in Colorado. The 223,700 Inhablt.antl!l of the !Ie.. l'exico portion of tt~o basin canst! tute nearly half of the popu- lation of that state. Al~querque, the largest city of the state, and Santa Fe, the state capitol, had estimated populationa, in 1946, of 41,000 and 31,000, respectively. The major occupations are large-scale ranching and irrigation farming. Industries include meat packing and vegetable processine plants; lumber ~1l1s; mining and refining of fluorspar, pumice and other minerals; manufacture of leather goods, Indian rugs, pottery and curio::;; and ger:.ernl supply houses. Due to the bealtbf'ul olimate, s~vero.l sani tarin are located in Albuquerque. Uachine shops or the Santa Fe Railway are also located there. Ranches and forest land.s occupy most of the drainage area, constituting 82 per cent and 16 per cent, respectively, of the New Vexico portion of the basin. Irrigation is practicallT essential to crop production as annual precipl ta tion averages between 7 and 15 inohe8 only, except in the high mountains. The major irrigated crops are alfa1.fa, native haJ, cotton, corn, swl grains, vegetables, and f'ruits. Areaa a\18- ceptible of successful irrigation are lioited to the San Luis Valley in Colorado; the EspanOla., r.~iddle and LO'Ifer Valleys along the main stream in r.:e'l1 t~eT.ico; and to the Pluewater and otr.er relatively stlail valley areas along the triootaries. Irrigation in the San Luis Valley 1s being extended by tho Eurenu of Reclamation under an authorized proje~t providing tor the construction of Wagon 1heel Gap, Platoro and Mogote Reservoirs and addition- al project works. Lands in the Espanola ~alley are irrigated from private and community ditches. Lands in the ~iddle Valley are mainly irrigated from facilities of the Uiddle Rio Grande Conservancy District which is organized. as a political subdivision of the State of New ~ex1co. Its objective was to provide lrrication, drainage and flood control for about 128,000 aores along the t:iddle Valley between IDtite Rock Ca.nyon and San J.1n.rclal. Its present irrlgah!e ar~a is about 118,000 acres, of which 79,675 acres are actively irrigated. The irrjgated lands in the Lower Valley amounting. to about 88,000 acres, are included 1n the Elephant Butte Irrigation Distriot which comprises the flew t~exico portion of the Rio Grande Projeot of the Bureau of ReclSJ:\8.tion. B1ue17ster Valley comprises about 5,500 acrell ot irrigable lands under the Bluewater-Tolteo Irrigation District. Irrigation 'l7ater supply in the Rio Grande basin 1s divided between the States of Colo- rado, New !.lexico, and. Texas in accordance with the terms of the Rio Grande Compact which bcca~e effective in 1939 after ratification b7 the legisla- tures of the three states and approval by' Congress. Under the Compact dofinite schedules are establiAhed for delivery of annual volumes of water at key points in the basin in accordance with the watershed yield. Limited departures fron the schedule and subsequent balancing of water acoounts are permitted under carefully drawn regulationB administered by a Commission - 2 - ~ I I I I I I I