1999-2000 Annual Report
Status of Hydrographic Surveys
Hydrographic surveys play an important role in the adjudication of water rights in New Mexico. State law directs the State Engineer to make surveys of each stream system, beginning with those used primarily for irrigation, to obtain data required for the development of water supplies and for the adjudication of water rights (N.M. Stat. Ann. 72-4-13 [1985 Repl. Pamp.]).
Hydrographic survey functions are broken down into three major phases: surveying, data compilation and adjudication. Surveying includes aerial photography, field studies, ownership determination and map compilation. Once the survey is finished, the findings, along with ownership, water right abstracts, and historical data on water use, are compiled into a report. Technical assistance is then provided to attorneys who prepare evidence for the court adjudication of water rights. In some situations, two or more phases may go on simultaneously.
In April 1999, the Hydrographic Survey Bureau (HSB), previously a bureau in the Technical Division, was merged into the Legal Services Division, so that the technical and legal functions would be integrated more tightly. Engineers and attorneys now work closely together, with more timely and accurate results on both sides. Adjudication work groups were formed to identify and solve problems as they arise rather than at the end of the process.
Before the merger of the two groups, the Legal Services Division had already pioneered the use of sophisticated Geographic Information (GIS) and Global Positioning Systems (GPS) with a contracted hydrographic survey in the Lower Rio Grande adjudication. The hydrographic survey product incorporates GIS and GPS elements, digital analysis of remotely-sensed data, and information system (IS) commonly referred to as relational database management. The end result is that surveys that once took years to complete can now be completed in one or two years. The resulting adjudications will be based on much more current information.
Building on what the HSB had learned from contractors in the Lower Rio Grande Basin, the HSB has now fully transitioned from the traditional non-electronic methods of data collection and survey generation to data management and survey generation using digital database and computer technologies. The HSB is now fully functional in these technologies and has completed hydrographic surveys of four subbasins within the Rio Chama drainage basin using the new technologies. All surveys currently underway are using GIS, GPS and remote sensing technology.
Hydrographic surveys produced before 1997 are being translated for GIS and IS systems similar to those used in the Lower Rio Grande, Nutt-Hockett, Gallina, Nutrias, Canjilon and Cebolla surveys. Adjudication staff and the general public will be able to access survey data through PC platforms.
Hydrographic surveys in progress are described below.
Rio Grande Basin
RIO SAN JOSE
In 1984, the Cibola County district court ordered the State Engineer to conduct a hydrographic survey of the surface and ground water uses in the Rio San Jose drainage basin, which encompasses approximately 3,700 square miles. The RFP to complete this survey was issued on July 7, 2000. It is expected that this work will be completed during fiscal years 2003 thru 2005.
UPPER RIO CHAMA
In 1948, a group of landowners sued another group of landowners in the Rio Puerco de Chama subbasin of the Rio Chama. In September 1951, the court entered an order directing the State Engineer to make or furnish a hydrographic survey of the stream system and community ditches named in that complaint. The OSE completed the mapping and report for the Rio Puerco de Chama during the 1952-53 period. In August 1957, State Engineer S.E. Reynolds directed his staff to make a hydrographic survey of the entire Rio Chama Stream System below El Vado Reservoir. The Chama drainage basin was divided into eight subbasins for survey and adjudication purposes.
In 1995 Judge Campos of the United States District Court for New Mexico ordered that the State Engineer complete the hydrographic survey of the remainder of the Rio Chama drainage basin within the next six years. During this fiscal year 1999-2000, the HSB has completed, published and filed with the Federal District Court all reports in two of the last three sections of the survey. The last remaining section near the villages of Chama and Tierra Amarilla will be completed in seven stages over the remaining 15 months. In addition to irrigated agriculture, water uses in these areas include livestock production, community water systems, and commercial operations. The Rio Gallina Hydrographic Survey was amended and filed with the United States District Court during January 2000. The HSB is currently participating in the adjudication process by supporting the adjudication attorneys as the process proceeds.
Section three of the Rio Chama Hydrographic Survey consists of three subbasins, the Rio Cebolla, the Rio Nutrias and Canjilon Creek. Each of these surveys was completed during this fiscal year and each is currently filed with the United States District Court. Field offices and adjudication support activities are scheduled to begin during the winter of 2000-2001 and will proceed through the summer of 2001.
Irrigation on the Rio Chama and it's tributaries above El Vado Reservoir was documented by aerial photography in 1995. Field checks were initiated in 1996 and have continued into this fiscal year. This section has been divided into seven subbasins and the Hydrographic Survey will be published in seven separate volumes beginning December of 2000. It is expected that the last of the seven surveys will be completed during December 2001.
MIDDLE RIO GRANDE
This section of the river extends from Otowi Gage in the north to the northern edge of the Lower Rio Grande Basin, approximately located at the outlet works of the Elephant Butte Reservoir. This survey will be the largest single survey and adjudication in the history of the OSE. A Request For Proposals (RFP) to acquire the data necessary to determine the extent and cost of the hydrographic survey was issued on July 7, 2000. These proposals are due September 20, 2000. After evaluating these proposals, the HSB and LSD will proceed to plan and schedule the course of this adjudication.
LOWER RIO GRANDE
This survey has been substantially completed by the contractor. Additional survey work will be necessary to determine the extent of the water rights of approximately 6,000-7,500 small domestic and agricultural users of water within the Elephant Butte Irrigation District and to support the adjudication as it proceeds. An RFP for this work was issued on July 7 with the responses due on September 20, 2000. It is expected that this work will be performed during fiscal years 2001 and 2002.
Pecos River Basin
FORT SUMNER UNDERGROUND WATER BASIN
This hydrographic survey will consist of two distinct surveys, the Fort Sumner Irrigation District and the remaining water uses within the boundaries of the declared underground water basin. An RFP to perform these surveys was issued on July 7, 2000 and responses are due September 20, 2000. It is expected that this work will be performed during fiscal years 2003 and 2004.
RIO PENASCO HYDROGRAPHIC SURVEY
The survey involves approximately 5,500 acres of land irrigated by surface water, ground water and surface water supplemented by ground water. The Rio Penasco drainage area encompasses about 1,080 square miles and extends from the Pecos River on the east to Cloudcroft on the west, a distance of approximately 95 miles. An RFP to perform these surveys was issued on July 7, 2000 and responses are due September 20, 2000. It is expected that this work will be performed during fiscal years 2003 and 2004.
CARLSBAD IRRIGATION DISTRICT
This survey involves approximately 600 owners of tracts irrigated by surface water, ground water and surface water supplemented by ground water. The survey has been divided into four separate geographic areas by township, with those tracts within CID and Township 24S comprising Section One, Township 23S comprising Section Two, Township 22S comprising Section Three and Township 21S surveyed as Section Four. Sections One and Two have been completed and filed with the courts and are proceeding through adjudication. Section Three is scheduled to be completed during 2001 and the Section Four survey is part of an RFP issued on July 7, 2000 with a required survey completion date of December 31, 2002.
CARLSBAD UNDERGROUND BASIN
This survey will report all the remaining water uses outside the boundaries of the Carlsbad Irrigation District within the Carlsbad Underground Basin. An RFP for this work was issued on July 7, 2000 with the responses due on September 20, 2000. It is expected that this work will be performed during fiscal years 2001 and 2002.
Black River. The Black River is a west-side tributary of the Pecos River in southern Eddy County. Irrigated cropland in the Black River drainage includes approximately 2400 acres reported in the Carlsbad Irrigation District section and 2500 acres outside the district. An RFP for this work was issued on July 7, 2000 with responses due on September 20, 2000. It is expected that this work will be performed during fiscal years 2001 and 2002.
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