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Future Of New Mexico's Gila River In Question
Mónica Ortiz Uribe
The Gila River downstream from the town of Cliff, N.M. The state has until the end of the year to decide whether to divert this water into reservoirs.
New Mexico has until December to decide the fate of what nature lovers call the state's last wild river.
The state is eligible for millions of federal dollars if it comes up with a viable plan to divert the Gila River into reservoirs. But opponents argue diversion would hurt the area's ecosystem.
The climb up Turkey Creek Road is a windy rocky path over a hillside in southwestern New Mexico. At the wheel of a dusty red pickup is Mary Burton Riseley, a retired school teacher who farms near the town of Cliff.
At the top of the hillside is an open landscape outlined by distant mountains.
"I brought you up here so you could look out over the whole valley," Burton Riseley said.
Below, golden grassland speckled with juniper and piñon is interrupted by a ribbon of green. That's where the Gila River flows. Farmers and nearby mining operations are the main consumers of its water.
In New Mexico, this river is free of major infrastructure and large reservoirs. But there are plans to change that.
"See this ridge here? Right behind it is what's called Brushy Canyon," said Burton Riseley. "Just below that there's quite a rocky face which is best place to put the beginning of a tunnel."
This tunnel would divert river water underground into a series of canyons where it would be stored. This is a plan currently under consideration by the state.
Burton Riseley is not a supporter the plan, she fears it will harm area wildlife including the endangered Southwestern Willow Flycatcher.
New Mexico has until the end of the year to claim 14,000 acre-feet of river water granted in a 2004 water settlement with the state of Arizona. To claim the water, New Mexico must build the infrastructure to capture it.
"The Gila originates in New Mexico and then runs into Arizona," said Craig Roepke, a hydrologist with the Interstate Stream Commission. The agency oversees water projects in New Mexico. "As part of this Arizona settlement, New Mexico negotiated the additional water."
Mónica Ortiz Uribe
Mary Burton Riseley farms near the town of Cliff, N.M. She opposes building major infrastructure on the Gila River fearing it would harm wildlife.
The additional 14,000 acre-feet is more water than the city of Santa Fe uses in a year. Technically that water is going downstream to Arizona right now. The thought is unsettling for Rick McInturff, administrator for the city of Deming.
"Currently Deming experiences a water deficit," McInturff said. "Our water table is declining at about a foot a year."
Deming, a city of nearly 15,000 people, is about 80 miles southeast of the Gila River. The city has submitted a proposal to pipe Gila River water across the continental divide and into its municipal supply.
"It's a major expense," McInturff said. "But at some point when you don't have water, price isn't an object."
Under the Arizona water settlement, New Mexico is eligible for up to $128 million in federal funding — not enough to cover the cost of a major diversion project. Estimates exceed $400 million. The state has not determined where the extra money would come from.
Some residents in the Gila valley say the economic benefits are worth the investment. Rancher Dave Ogilvie is one of them.
"At one time there were three gas stations in the valley. There's now one. There used to be three local grocery stores, there's none," he said.
Ogilvie believes a more reliable water source could allow farmers to plant high-value crops and revive the local economy.
"This is something that could provide possibly jobs and opportunities that aren't currently there," he said.
But the diversion also faces sharp criticism. A former director of the Interstate Stream Commission, Norman Gaume, has denounced the project as "fatally flawed." He testified before the state legislature in January citing concerns about sediment plugging the pipes and significant water loss due to seepage and evaporation.
Others, like biologist Dennis Miller, question the environmental impact.
"There is no way that you can remove any water, excess flow or whatever from the Gila River and not negatively affect…the two endangered species," Miller said.
Mónica Ortiz Uribe
The Gila River valley above the town of Cliff, N.M.
Miller is a fish expert who has lived in the Gila valley all his life. The two endangered species that thrive in the Gila are the spikedace and loach minnow. Miller said these fish have mostly died out in the Verde River of Arizona, where flood water is diverted by two dams.
"It's hard for the public to see, why save this little fish? Why save this balanced ecosystem?" he said.
The absence of one species can have a negative impact on other species, he said, eventually harming the surrounding environment.
"The river basically becomes dead," Miller said. "Who wants to go out to a river that there's nothing alive at all? There's no plants on the side, there's not any fish or crawdads, no frogs."
This year the nonprofit organization American Rivers named the Gila among the nation's 10 most endangered rivers.
Diversion is not New Mexico’s only option. The state can take up to $66 million in federal dollars for water conservation projects and leave the river as it is.
A nine-member committee of the Interstate Stream Commission will make the final decision. That proposal will then go to the U.S. Department of the Interior for review.