A small water agency in southern New Mexico has moved to force state agencies that control water distribution to deprive some users of their supplies. The local agency, the Carlsbad Irrigation District, or C.I.D., acted to
ensure that its alfalfa farmers receive the supplemental deliveries to
which they say they are entitled. The irrigation district voted unanimously last week to make what is known as a “priority call” on the Pecos River,
a move that could force New Mexico’s Office of the State Engineer to
reallocate supplies, relying on a longstanding priority list and
assigning water to all the users of the river based on their seniority.
On Tuesday, the district was pressing its case at meetings with state
officials. This year, Carlsbad farmers have been told that they will receive only
10 percent of their normal water allotment, in part because of the lack
of supplemental water from state-run wells. The priority call, in the midst of the worst drought on record in the
Pecos River Basin, which runs almost the full length of the state from
north to south, could mean a loss of water for newer but more
economically robust industries, including oil and gas extraction and
cheese production. The oldest claims on water across the West tend to
belong to the heirs of the farmers who first seeded the land in the late
19th and early 20th centuries. Last month, Estevan R. López, the director of the New Mexico Interstate Stream Commission, warned the Carlsbad agency against taking the action. “I understand the frustration of the C.I.D.’s farmers given the lack of
water and the disappointing future climate forecasts,” he wrote in a
letter to the district. “However, a priority call may not result in
improvement...more
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