Farmers in the Farmers Irrigation District and other districts in San Juan County likely will face water restrictions, according to Farmers Irrigation District Board President John Lofgren.
An official decision is expected in April, he said Wednesday.
He emphasized that early implementation would help farmers manage their operations more effectively.
The New Mexico Office of the State Engineer, District 5 in Aztec, shares a similar outlook and suggests restrictions could follow a two-days-on, two-days-off schedule, affecting agricultural planning across the area.
The San Juan Water Commission canceled its March 5 meeting and has not announced the meeting date in April. Quarterly meetings are held for members to ask questions at the Lions Club, Aztec Public Library or Flora Vista Mutual Domestic Water Association office, depending on availability.
Water is expected to be flowing in the Farmers Ditch, which serves more than 2,000 users, by April 1.
Lofgren said water can be released from Lake Nighthorse to supplement water in the Animas River. The city of Farmington pays for water storage in that reservoir, he said.
The Farmers Ditch was constructed in 1892, drawing water from the Animas River north of Aztec, and was extended into the Flora Vista area in 1907, ending west of the Barton Arroyo,” it states on farmersirrigationdistrict.com.
Additionally, the 1907 Jones Extension of the ditch apparently began near the start of the present-day concrete-lined section and continued to the Flora Vista Arroyo. The San Juan County Commission passed a resolution in 1954, making the Farmer’s Ditch a Special Irrigation District.
In 1963, the city extended the ditch across the Flora Vista Arroyo to the water storage reservoir at Lake Farmington.
The San Juan County Commission passed a resolution in 1954, making the Farmers Ditch a special irrigation district.
“This administrative change allows the district to ad valorem taxes upon all lands in the district, including urban property not irrigated or cultivated,” they state. “Revenue may be raised by the imposition of tolls and charges.”
Lofgren said a restructuring of the bylaws, calling for six board members with a nonvoting president in order to achieve a quorum. Board members have been rotating as president.
Farmers Ditch begins north of Aztec off Ruins Road and meanders about 18 miles to Lake Farmington. The city of Farmington is the largest customer of the Farmers Irrigation District. Lofgren said their financial arrangement with the city is contractual, based on their water rights. Farmington pays the district per acre-foot to transport the water in the ditch to Lake Farmington.
The rates with the city are being renegotiated, as it only pays $16.50 per acre-foot. The irrigation district is asking for $27.50 per acre-foot, Lofgren said.
“We think we’re being a good partner because we want to work with the city of Farmington,” he said.
A farmer pays $68 per acre-foot and $26.50 for the second and consecutive acres. The fees are paid to San Juan County in their property taxes.
Lofgren said water rights can be put in the bank for someone else to use, to prevent them from being lost. The bookkeeper for the district keeps those records, which are provided to the New Mexico State Office of the State Engineer.
Lofgren said recently they noticed their revenue from Farmington had decreased drastically, falling from a peak of nearly $300,000 six or seven years ago.
A problem with new pumps was discovered and resolved, as the screens were too fine and clogged, causing the pumps to overheat. Farmington can pump water from the Animas River to Lake Farmington at Penny Lane, but the electricity to pump that long distance is very costly.
“They were unaware of this problem, we were unaware of this problem. We just noticed it after COVID,” Lofgren said.
Shawn Williams, New Mexico Office of the State Engineer District 5 manager, explained that their office manages all the water, diversions, and appropriations in the San Juan River Basin. Real-time measuring stations on all main irrigation diversions measure water flow in cubic feet per second.
This year is looking rough, with record lows on the Mancos gauge, indicating a regional trend.
“We have real-time measuring stations on all the main irrigation diversions to all the ditches,” he said. Stations measure the water flow in cubic feet per second. The data is transferred to the Aztec office and stored on a server.
“This year is looking a little rough,” Williams said, comparing it to the “last bad year” of 2018, when rotations were done on the Animas River and low-priority ditches were shut off.
The Animas River gauge at Cedar Hill will serve as the guide for making water restriction decisions.
“Once that gauge hits about 200 cfs, we start thinking about it,” Williams said, adding they’ve seen record lows on the Mancos gauge, which shows a regional trend. “Yeah, it’s not looking good.”
As of March 10, the snowpack in Colorado's San Juan Mountains was below average, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture at usda.gov.
Snowpack levels in San Miguel, Dolores, Animas and San Juan River Basins – encompassing much of the San Juan Mountains – are at 68% of the season median for snow water equivalent.
Snowpack data for the San Juan and La Plata mountains are available at wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/ftpref/nwcc/basin-rpt/.
