1. The Pecos River in New Mexico
New Mexico Interstate Stream Commission
Presented to the Pecos River Water Quality Coalition
October 21, 2011
Brief summary about NMISC activities on the basin and representatives from PVACD and CID can add other tasks/projects they are aware of.

2. The 1948 Pecos Compact
Signed by TX and NM after years of contentious negotiations
Principal tenet of Compact is that NM “shall not deplete by man’s activities the flow of the Pecos River at the NM-TX state line” below the “1947 condition”

3. The Compact & Decree Require
Deliveries to Texas calculated on a calendar-year basis
Use of the Supreme Court River Master’s Manual & decisions
Rapid “repayment” of any net shortfalls

4. Pecos Compact Compliance
NM unable to meet Compact delivery requirements
Large factor is declining base flow gains to river
Caused by increased groundwater pumping in Roswell Basin
NM under-delivers to TX roughly 10,000 AF/yr mid-1950s to mid-1980s

5. Base Inflow to the Pecos River Acme to Artesia
optional

7. Pecos Compact Compliance
TX sues NM in Supreme Court in 1974
NM loses, pays $14 million fine and
Must now abide by Court’s 1988 Amended Decree
Federal River Master oversees all deliveries to TX
No net delivery shortfall allowed
Rapid repayment required if shortfall occurs
Non-compliance likely result: loss of state control over its water resources

8. Pecos Compact Compliance Post-Decree
NM purchases and leases over $30 million in water rights during 1990s to meet Compact/Decree terms
NM stays in compliance, but barely
Drought of early 2000s looked to push NM into shortfall
Dire conditions brought water interests together to start developing what would become the Pecos Settlement

9. Settlement Chronology
July 2001 – Anticipating a net delivery shortfall to Texas, ISC sets up an ad-hoc committee to develop:
a short-term plan to avoid a net shortfall in 2001
a long-term plan to avoid future priority calls

10. Settlement Chronology – Cont’d
March 25, 2003: Pecos Settlement Signed by all Parties
State Engineer
Interstate Stream Commission
The United States (DOI –BOR)
Carlsbad Irrigation District
Pecos Valley Artesian Conservancy District 10

11. Settlement Objectives
Permanent compliance with the Pecos River Compact and Decree
Increased and stable water supply for Carlsbad Irrigation District
Reduced likelihood of a priority call on the Pecos River
Bring basin back into hydrologic balance

12. Key Hydrologic Elements
Retire up to 6,000 acres of irrigation rights within CID and up to 11,000 acres within PVACD
Augmentation pumping up to 35,000 AFY, but not more than 100,000 AF during each 5-year accounting period
Use CID water allocated to ISC lands for reallocation to CID farmers and for state line delivery
4498 acres x 3.697

13. ISC Pecos Settlement Land/Water Acquisitions: December 2009
Target = 12,000

14. Augmentation Pumping Capacity

15. Pecos Settlement Implemented
On June 11, 2009 Pecos Settlement Parties Jointly Declared “that the Conditions Precedent required for implementation of the Settlement Agreement have been sufficiently satisfied such that the Settlement Parties agree that the settlement terms should now be implemented”

16. Augmentation Well Fields16

17. Lake Arthur Well Field 5 wells Original capacity 7,900 gpm
Design capacity 10,000 gpm 17

18. 11.5 miles of pipeline, 2 outfall structures, 10 ISC wells, 3 SRI wells
Total pumping capacity 20K gpm from ISC wells and additional 3K gpm from SR wells
Total cost of pipeline ~$12 million 18

19. Transmissivity (ft2/day) Total Dissolved Solids (mg/L)
7-Rivers Well Summary
Well Name
Well Depth (ft bgl)
Depth to Water (ft bgl) HP
Transmissivity (ft2/day)
Design Capacity (gpm)
Total Dissolved Solids (mg/L) B
808
56.1
300
6,520
2,500
1,772 C
763
23.4
250
6,800
2,418 E
1,004
25.1
150
1,200
1,000
2,203 G
637
32.8
16,100 to 16,500
3,000
2,300 H
803
59.1
200
20,500
1,948 I
692
65.7
19,000
1,898 J
743
87.3
28,000
1,500
1,900 K
118.1
22,600
1,300
1,287 L
693
76.9
16,100
2,200
2,000 Q
992
8.3
590
2,960

20. Settlement Benefits to the ISC
On average, an additional 9,400 AFY is delivered to the state line
A mechanism is in place to deliver additional water to the state line within a short period of time if there is ever a net shortfall
Potential to build a delivery credit of 115,000 AF 20

21. Practical Aspects of Settlement Implementation
Augmentation pumping is required according to Settlement schedule
Seven Rivers pumping cost ≈ $60/acre-foot
Estimated “average” annual augmentation pumping about 12,000 acre-feet/year
“Average” annual ISC pumping cost roughly $700,000/year
Electricity + O&M

22. Where Are We This Year? Current Augmentation Pumping Rates:
Seven Rivers – 17,400 gpm or 39 cfs
ISC has pumped over 11,500 acre-feet of water since March 1st to augment CID’s supply
Due to large net credit no pumping for Texas this year

23. Where Are We This Year?
2011 is the driest year on record in the Pecos Basin
Augmentation pumping cannot replace lack of natural river flow
Likely to end year with annual Pecos Compact deficit
NM will maintain net credit – current net credit is 99,600 acre-feet

24. Endangered Species Act Issues

25. Endangered Species Act Issues
Many ESA and other environmental issues on Pecos River
Primary water management threat is the Federally threatened Pecos bluntnose shiner
Principal challenge is meeting mandated minimum flows, especially in consecutive drought years

26. Pecos Bluntnose Shiner Management Challenges
Avoiding river intermittency in critical habitat reaches
Ensure the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Biological Opinion flow requirements are met (35 cfs Below Taiban gage, wet at Acme gage)
Violating BO could have significant negative ramifications

27. ISC’s Role in PBNS Management
Vaughan Conservation Pipeline near Fort Sumner
Supply the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation roughly 1,500 AF/Y as needed (up to ≈ 13 cfs)
Provides water to river at top of critical habitat reach
Important tool for compliance

28. PBNS Status in 2011 Due to extraordinary drought
River intermittency has occurred over portion of critical habitat
Despite enormous effort by Reclamation to acquire additional water
options extremely limited
Agencies working collaboratively to protect as much habitat as possible
prepare for second consecutive dry year
19 miles of drying of the 50 miles in the critical habitat. As of 10/11 it was continuous. Consequences-successful until this year so fish numbers were up, will lose fish this year but starting from a larger pop initially. Agencies working cooperatively.
Major factor on how river is operated—another constraint on NM
Basically a Contractor for BOR—BO compliance is not a state responsibility but b/c states water users are affected, we have an interest

29. Vaughan Pipeline Outfall

30. Vaughan Pipeline Discharge

31. Pecos Salinity Efforts
New Mexico has long supported efforts to reduce Pecos salinity:
Malaga Bend well pumping in River Master Manual (currently Southwest Salt)
Ongoing support for WRDA
annual letters to delegation asking for support
Memorials passed by State Legislature
Ongoing water quality monitoring from augmentation well fields
WRDA support on Rio Grande
Provided initial seed money ($250K) to initiate the § 729 activities by the ACOE

32. The end

33. Triggers for Well Field Operation (in terms of Project supply available to CID)
March ,000 AF (Determined Nov 1)
May ,000 AF (Determined Mar 1)
June ,000 AF (Determined May 1)
July ,000 AF (Determined Jun 1)
September ,000 AF (Determined Jul 15) 33

34. Where Are We This Year?