ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The Bureau of Reclamation’s Albuquerque Area Office and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers released their Annual Operating Plan for the Rio Grande and Pecos River recently. The snowpack in the region’s northern mountains is near to above average.
The Natural Resources Conservation Service’s April streamflow forecast shows flows to be slightly below average in most of New Mexico. Flows on the Rio Grande at Otowi is forecasted to be 71% of average and inflow to El Vado Reservoir is at 81%. The exception is the Jemez River, which could see flows at 134% of average. Using the Natural Resources Conservation Service forecast, the Annual Operating Plan anticipates Cochiti Dam outflow of 2,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) or higher for about a month from late April to late May.
Reclamation noted that storage in and released from El Vado Dam and Reservoir will be restricted in 2024 due to ongoing construction activity. In close collaboration with their partners at the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority and the city of Santa Fe, they will work together to support a minimum 500 cfs release at El Vado from the end of runoff until late August. If the flow of the Rio Chama augmented with the utilities’ water supply is not sufficient to meet this planned release rate, weekday flows may be reduced to support a 500 cfs weekend release.
“Reclamation expects that runoff will be about average this year,” said Reclamation’s Albuquerque Area Office Manager Jennifer Faler. “With limited upstream storage, conditions will likely be challenging in late summer and into the fall. We are committed to working closely with our partners on both the Rio Grande and the Pecos River to get the most from the available water supply.”
Elephant Butte Reservoir likely reached its peak storage for the year in February and may end irrigation season around 100,000 acre-feet. Releases for El Paso County Water Improvement District No. 1 and Mexico began in early March and water deliveries for the Elephant Butte Irrigation District are expected to begin June 1. Along the Pecos River, the April forecast is for near average inflow to Santa Rosa Reservoir.
The new Albuquerque Area Office’s Rio Grande Annual Operating Plan (AOP) dashboard is available at https://www.usbr.gov/uc/albuq/water/index.html under Data --> Tools and Dashboards Tab and Rio Grande AOP Projections.
