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<br />C r.1117 .< [gl ":! ~ "1:1.' <,
<br />) ~l ", _,' , "~,~" ~~':, ~" Wi 20
<br />WATER MANAGERS"~MD,;I\'"'~':,
<br />~ ,. ,.1Iil .~
<br />'. ~""''i ,fJ ~
<br />~DECISION-MAK&RS '.".';'
<br />
<br />THE INTERNATIONAL BOUNDARY
<br />AND WATER COMMISSION: The
<br />IBWC was established by the United
<br />State~ and Mexico to contrpl and distrib~
<br />ute Rio Grande waters at i~8ue,between
<br />the,trlO governments. I(operates key
<br />reservoirs for-the lower Rio Grande and
<br />attempts h?resolve, both ~ou~dary and
<br />pollution issues along the border, Its
<br />inajor,rolein the upper Rio Grande is to
<br />ensure'd'elivery of water to Mexico under
<br />international treaties,
<br />~ ,':j
<br />THE BUREAU OF RECLAMATION:
<br />Congress;' ill passing tJ1e'Redam~ti6rt..;.,ct
<br />of 1902, rriade'a cmnmitment to support-
<br />ing major waterdevelo~?"ent projects hi
<br />thewestern U~ited States initially fot irri~
<br />gatkm_an91aterfor muni}:ipal use also.
<br />The Bt~~JiI of Reclamatibn is t~eagency,
<br />withjnth'e U.S. Department of Int~rior,
<br />that administE!'rsthissignificant pr~gram.
<br />
<br />II! f!o
<br />Th,e' ~,~reau h~s played an imp()rtant rol~
<br />inwatexdey,elopment in the upper,Rio
<br />Grande-paso{: Bcginning.with the 1905
<br />cOmmitment to bl.1ildirig Elephant Butte
<br />Dam1the Bureau(anci its pred~cesSor
<br />agen~y, the Rec1amiltiol1:per-vice) has
<br />l(ee.n'a,ctively involved in the major water
<br />supply ne,~work.s of the basin. The South~
<br />west Regional Office in Amarillo oversees
<br />Bureau activities in the Rio Grande,
<br />althoug~the project offkes in EI Paso and
<br />Albuquer9ue provide directioriover local
<br />programs~ Major~Horts include import~
<br />ing.Colq,rado Rlver"wa.ler through the San
<br />. ,I,"." _,' '... .
<br />Juan"Chama Project to supply Albuquer~
<br />que and other basin waterusersi de1iver~
<br />ing irrigation}'Vater and protecting the
<br />lands ,along the Rio Grande in central
<br />New Mexico through the Middle Rio
<br />G~ande Project; constructing the Closed-
<br />Basin Project in the San Luis Valley to sal.
<br />vag~up to 100,000 af of water annuallYi.<
<br />operating the RiqGrande Project to pro~
<br />vide reliable supplies to southern New
<br />Mexico and Texas irrigatorsiand o-versee-
<br />ing operation of Platoro ReservCiir in
<br />southern Colorado.
<br />
<br />ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS, The
<br />Corps of Engineers was directed by Con.
<br />Bress in.l824 to b~ginwor~ on improving
<br />navigation in thenation's waterways. In
<br />the 20th century, the Corps' focus iJas
<br />expanded to indud_e flood control,"
<br />hydroe,lecaicpowe'r'generatioll, recrea~
<br />tion ,:~nhancenw:pt, ~pd wetlands protec~
<br />tion.''Majordarll, leve.l'le, and channeJiza~
<br />
<br />,f,o~
<br />~, ~
<br />.,~ ~
<br />tion pr~jects of th,~ C6rps.,.c~f,~~:'~o~r::t, .~~
<br />from coast.to~coast,represetl~lItg ~nIIOI}~". ;
<br />of dolla~s appropriated by Co~gre-~s~;'fh~1%
<br />Corps is'Slso responsible for contrciUin~ ,.
<br />any dredging,orfilppg \<Irithinnavigi'\ble',
<br />waterways andassaci,~ted-~tlands under
<br />the "404 permit;'. proiram~"- '. ~>i
<br />",.:'" ._,.,'" _, ',...... ....-._\~1 :~"
<br />Beginning w,ithtneFI9~dc:~:m~rol Aft\of.. '"
<br />1948,,the .Corps has be~n,~~ivein,tli~ Rio i
<br />Grande b~'sin.lnad~itiqfi:toasSiSting, ~ .
<br />with leveean't~hanneH~~~o~y~j~~t~~:~
<br />the Corps has 'constructed AblqUl:u,.1 .~--
<br />
<br />~~~~~~d<;~~:~O~~~Jj~lfri~:i::h~1:~~~~:
<br />
<br />; Grande sy-ste?i':{A',,~:u'tfiln~~ry:oftr(e~i:'Ptb.;
<br />
<br />~ jetts,'as wel1:a(Qf.O.,'therbWi6rd~.~.s:W" ttr;:
<br />
<br />uppt;rbaSinds.f(),~~~ in,f~gu:~~ 2;$~~:~
<br />~~'~ :t..' ~x' t>!1" ". __ .... :flj~'
<br />~,I . .l.. ..' ~'" ~':, .... ':~"'"
<br />RIO GRAl'!PESOM!'A~S;9MM1S-tii.-:c
<br />. SION: TffeRi? Grande C.dml''\ct go,;..p.
<br />i;,missiot'\' was :~stablished to'~otets~e,effe.c~~'
<br />",' 1'.>.' .',i_ '., .'<he' c. . .. ".... ..~f,'".-i,.:...,..c,., :(,-+' ......: ..--'
<br />tive oper,afi()~ of th~provisions'()f ,th~.'S
<br />compact.It is co,mp6sed of.aJederaI~chair~~,
<br />. . l'~ ,,'-.','. ","C-'- ",v "",";' '.' .......'.. ':;'_.'.... ,...."
<br />perso~, appointed, by--the U'-:l.i>ted~t.~tes,_,_.~
<br />,,-'re~id~nt,'a~?)hr~~.'vot~ntf\1e#Jl1er~~a'~"
<br />repres~~,t~tive'deisigt:l,ate,dpltl1e.:.J~s"1
<br />gov~rnOl" aI1d th),~tat~ ~n~i~eex~ ~~':~~'^'~.-~,.
<br />Mexlc() an~ Color~da~q,CoJ!Lrru~:swn ~
<br />:!n~ets..."nnu~II~.,~~~~I~~:~!11EIj~~,~~:~~#
<br />WIth the c9mpact~yer,Jhe.'pxece~!Jlg year,j
<br />toheafreportsJ~T~e"dera} w~te~_'" ......~ ~~
<br />.management age~~!e~(~~dtoconside~;
<br />water mall.~gement. ~~dsions, !hat ha~e
<br />interst~teJp1pl~~:tio~~~ i~~t .~.< 2~
<br />
<br />~-The- Bureal!. o{Reclamatip~. <l!l~,:tq~:,P?rp~~
<br />'of Engineers are,poun4~led~raI statute.-
<br />to ensu_re~~,~tthe~ action}' in_~1_ti9ifig
<br />reservoir operatio'n, a're consiSten.t with-,
<br />"', '......"... "liI . "'" ,,~;
<br />the provisions ofth~:RioGrand~:.s:2m~<
<br />pact of 1938. The~31rea~ ,agB_ C~1"PS~,! 'iJ,,::, '~1?'
<br />therefore,yvor~,~losely withtJ:\eRio,. ,:..,12::
<br />Grande C?mpact Conunissionin,makin~ "
<br />management d,edsions th~t affe~tthe '-'t",;;
<br />river. ., "'~ ~
<br />
<br />:~x '!'~, r..~"
<br />
<br />;-.~
<br />
<br />~~ ~~
<br />.' '..'-";> ..~ .~~
<br />OTHER FEDERAL AGENCIES
<br />
<br />While the above tl1Tee,federalag~flc;ies,~ . ,..;
<br />play the most critical ro!ls i[1 RidGra,[ld~:'~"
<br />decisions,. nUTerous. otfierage~~i~s,~~,e _"
<br />involved in va'riousa~pects ofres6.u;_c~ ..w~
<br />management.; 4'1,., """ . ~,~
<br />, W'w, '\~ ~'
<br />{{! '. ". :1Jl;_~ '"f!-
<br />Department of,tre Intedo** ~
<br />..;;~, j:.. .~_,'-l:, _ ~
<br />THE BURIJAUOF INDIt\N'AFFAIRSJ;'
<br />(BIA). also is: involved in water resourct:'.:' .~
<br />managemen:t i~'the~h~,GJal1~1~'ba~il1':'~ ~
<br />TheBI{\:, W~ic~wisan,~g~';<:X~i11'fu th~~';(i
<br />U.S. [)~pal'tmentofIite'ri(j,~/wasesta~9..iI ~"
<br />fJP. r:i
<br />
<br />~
<br />
<br />needed by these users, In addition, a
<br />watermaster from the State
<br />Engineer's Office regulates headgates
<br />of Rio Chama users to ensure that
<br />they do not divert SJC releases, The
<br />state, through its role on the Rio
<br />Grande Compact Commission,
<br />approves criteria used to calculate the
<br />transit losses (i.e., evaporation and
<br />seepage) between Heron Reservoir
<br />and the point of delivery, and sub-
<br />tracts these losses from the lawful
<br />amounts to which the SIC users are
<br />entitled.
<br />
<br />5, NAMBE FALLS DAM: The Nambe
<br />Falls Dam is operated by the Bureau
<br />as a unit of the San Juan-Chama Pro~
<br />ject to supply irrigation water to 2,770
<br />acres, 34% of which are on Pueblo
<br />Indian reservations. Reservoir operat-
<br />ing criteria include bypassing inflow
<br />when the reservoir is full, making
<br />irrigation releases upon request, and
<br />discharging a minimum of 0.5 ds at
<br />all times as agreed upon with the
<br />Nambe Pueblo Indians to sustain the
<br />flow over sacred falls.
<br />
<br />6. EL VADO OPERATIONS: The Bureau
<br />of Reclamation took over operations
<br />of El Vado Reservoir in 1956 from the
<br />Middle Rio Grande Conservancy Dis-
<br />trict, From that date up until 1985,
<br />storage of Rio Chama water for down~
<br />stream irrigation was frequently
<br />limited by the Rio Grande Compact,
<br />Under Article VI of the Compact, the
<br />use of natural Rio Chama water
<br />stored in El Vado (as a post. 1929
<br />reservoir) is constrained when New
<br />Mexico has a significant accrued debit
<br />(i.e., the cumulative amount that
<br />New Mexico underdelivered its Com-
<br />pact obligations to Elephant Butte).
<br />Since the accrued debit during much
<br />of this period exceeded the capacity
<br />of El Vado, little use of stored Rio
<br />Chama waters was made by MRGCD
<br />users.
<br />
<br />Because of this limitation, recent
<br />operation of El Vado has focused on
<br />storing SJC imported water which is
<br />not constrained by the Compact. The
<br />MRGCD has been storing a portion of
<br />its SIC allocation in EI Vado, as well as
<br />leasing space in the reservoir to Albu-
<br />querque and other entities with
<br />excess SIC water.
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