New Mexico farmers prep for irrigation season

Still, irrigation officials in the Middle Rio Grande Valley and elsewhere in New Mexico say the watering season is looking more promising thanks to record rainfall that helped to replenish reservoirs last fall. And if the spring runoff pans out, Lente said the Middle Rio Grande district could have about 60,000 acre-feet of water to distribute this year. An acre-foot is about 326,000 gallons — enough to supply at least two average households with water a year. Farmers in the Carlsbad area are expecting at least 2 acre-feet once the irrigation season starts to ramp up later this month. That’s four times last year’s initial predictions. In southern New Mexico, the Elephant Butte Irrigation District says farmers this year could see more than half an acre-foot, double last year’s allotment. Gary Esslinger, manager of the Elephant Butte district, spent part of last week meeting with farmers throughout the lower Rio Grande Valley, where some of the state’s signature crops — chile, onions and pecans — are grown. He said they may have to wait until June for the district to deliver water. “We’re telling farmers that there’s just not enough water right now to open up,” he said. “We’re just not seeing the runoff, but that’s not to say we don’t get some storms in March and April that could help us.” Forecasters with the National Weather Service say the state should expect a spring season in which precipitation levels are below, if not well below, average...more