Corrales siphon put on hold as community prepares for dry year

CORRALES — Corrales is in a difficult time when it comes to water, and concerns came to a head this month during a city council meeting.

Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District Chief Engineer and CEO Jason Casuga brought the issue to the council March 4.

“The topics I’m going to cover are going to be our overall water situation as a Conservancy District, what we’re looking at for the summer, and then I will obviously tackle an update on the Corrales siphon,” he said.

He started by talking about the siphon situation, adding that he didn’t come bearing good news.

“The project is designed. We have the money from the water trust board, and we even went out to bid in November, and we were prevented from issuing the notice to proceed on that because I can’t issue a notice to proceed to a contractor if they can’t access the property and do the construction,” he said.

For the siphon to move forward, the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District needs confirmation of right-of-way. Because the siphon would stretch onto Sandia Pueblo land, they need permission from the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

“We were noticed by letter from the federal government that the Bureau of Indian Affairs has determined that MRGCD does not have what they call a valid right-of-way,” he said.

He added that there are methods in which they can formally disagree but that none of those methods get the siphon constructed any faster.

“Within that letter, the Bureau of Indian Affairs recommended to MRGCD that we begin to negotiate on our own without the federal government,” he said.

Casuga recommended Mayor James Fahey speak with Gov. Felix Chavez on the subject. Fahey indicated he was open to that idea and would like to speak with Sandia when MRGCD does.

“I want to remind folks that the Sandia Pueblo is a sovereign tribal nation. It is not like some of the rules that are available to us as all governmental entities for things like imminent domain, accessing property, doing those kinds of things. A lot of our authority, when it comes to public lands and gaining access for the public benefit, do not apply on tribal land. The fastest method, at least it is determined right now, is to continue these negotiations,” he added.

Casuga said one issue, however, is there is a clock on the money for the project.

“I am trying to figure out a path to ensure the money can get spent prior to requesting an extension. I believe an extension will be given, but I also believe the water trust board wants to know that there is a path for the money to be expended on the project as designed,” Casuga stated.

He took a pause between updates to get questions from village council members. Most questions centered around the request for proposal and any alternatives available.

Others asked if communications from residents and council would help the process at all. Casuga said he encourages people to be vocal but doesn’t want to overwhelm the pueblo with testimony.

Another question was centered around costs of the project. Casuga indicated it was unlikely construction costs would decrease.

“It’s not the history of construction to see construction prices drastically decrease. My hope is that they will stay the same. The bid actually came in a little bit higher than the amount of money that MRGCD had the ability, from the water trust board. MRGCD had the ability to cover that. It’s a priority project for MRGCD and the board,” he said.

He said tariffs are impacting cost of materials as well as other aspects of water in the U.S.

“Those tariffs are affecting irrigation gates that we have fabricated in Canada to be delivered to us even as we speak, Mr. Mayor,” he said.

At the moment, Casuga clarified, any water being pumped is from the land owned by MRGCD. He said they also looked at an alternative report that considered options that didn’t involve the siphon but other options were too expensive at the time. The project, if it were to move forward, would take approximately a year to complete.

“I think a little bit of MRGCD’s frustration in this instance, we tried to be proactive. We tried to settle an issue before the issue was even raised. I think we’ve been negotiating in good faith. We continue to be,” he said.

Village council brought up previous interest from the Sandia Pueblo Governor to help out the farming community in Corrales. Casuga said he remembers the governor left it up to MRGCD to get the Village water.

“We understand that we’re doing it right now by pumps, but it is not only MRGCD’s decision about providing water through the siphon. It does require Sandia Pueblo to allow that facility to be constructed. So, if MRGCD is forced to go a different way, we will go a different way to provide Corrales its water,” he said.

Council also asked about what Plan B is to get water to Corrales.

“Plan B would require an extension of the time of money to get it done. I believe it would be likely, if, when we get to construction, probably a faster construction method, but it would require us to touch the river. That, we didn’t have to by drilling completely underneath it, so there would be a different environmental compliance component that we would have to go through and again, all bets are off,” Casuga added.

The conversation has taken on greater importance as New Mexico faces a dry year. Casuga says Corrales is prioritized for receiving water. Environmental and weather factors are not helping either.

“I know that because of the winds, we had to turn down the pumps. Right now, three broken channels in three different parts of the valley due to heavy weed plugs because of the wind,” he added.

He said it can take them a few days to clean out channels of those plugs. But he said it doesn’t stop MRGCD from caring about the community.

“There is a third pump staged in Albuquerque as a backup if one wants to go down. We can deploy that pump, pull one out, put that one back in. That was an expense that the board approved,” Casuga stated.

He said the board recognized that Corrales is at a disadvantage compared to the rest of the valley when it comes to receiving water, adding that the village will be the first to lose it because of the declining river channel. Surface diversions have more flexibility related to that, according to him. The good news, he said, is because Corrales will be the first to lose it, it will also be the first to receive a response and get water back.

Casuga finished his presentation with a message of hope: “It’s going to rain.”