El Paso Inc.: Despite Drought, No Water Shortage In El Paso
By David Crowder / El Paso Inc. Published May 21, 2011
El Paso may be just one day away from breaking a 109-day record for the longest spell without a drop of rain, but the head of the city?s water utility would like to say, ?Don?t worry, be happy,? according to an El Paso Inc. report.
You might ask what will we put in the swimming pool? What will we drink if this keeps up? What does it mean?
It means conserve, but don?t fret about it this year or next, even if the Rio Grande doesn?t deliver water for farmers in Dona Ana and El Paso counties or for the city. Even if it doesn?t rain.
The city gets very little of its drinking water from rain that falls on or anywhere near El Paso.
El Paso does use water from the Rio Grande, nearly all of which is runoff from melting snows in the mountains of Southern Colorado and Northern New Mexico, the river?s principle watershed.
That?s water the city has bargained for in irrigation water rights and buys from El Paso County Water Improvement District No. 1. In a good year, the river waters received during the March to October irrigation season amounts to nearly half of the city?s annual needs.
This past winter, there wasn?t much snow in the Rio Grande watershed, and very little water made its way down the Rio Grande to the Elephant Butte and Caballo reservoirs.
The El Paso irrigation district is providing water it saved in Elephant Butte to El Paso County farmers and to the city. The Elephant Butte Irrigation District had little water saved and hasn?t been able to make deliveries to its farmers this spring.
Without heavy snows and a good runoff down the Rio Grande, there will be little for farmers in Dona Ana or El Paso counties or for the city.
?I think next year?s going to be a tough year for the farming industry in this region,? said Ed Archuleta, president and CEO of the El Paso Public Service Board, which oversees El Paso Water Utilities.
?But because we have prepared over a long period of time through conservation and the use of reclaimed water and because we have managed the Hueco Bolson, we believe we can sustain this type of drought that looks like it?s continuing.?
The Hueco Bolson is a slushy aquifer of sand, gravel and water in the ancient bed of the Rio Grande along the east side of the Franklin Mountains. The bolson reaches depths of 7,000 feet and extends to Tularosa, N.M.
The PSB has been nursing the Hueco for two decades now while pushing hard on conservation to reduce personal water use and increase the use of river water during the March to October irrigation season.
Read the full El Paso Inc. article here.
Related Links:Link:Much Of U.S. Central, South Plains Having Drought Conditions; View MapLink:Some Drought Relief In El Paso, Surrounding Areas Expected This Summer
