Dell Valley Water District Will Cut Irrigation Allotment, But in 2016
With data indicating that the aquifer that underlies Dell Valley continues to decline, local water district members voted Tuesday (Feb. 10) to cut the water allotment for irrigating farmers – though not until 2016. And board members agreed that the cut could be reversed if water levels rebound in the coming year.
Hudspeth County Underground Water Conservation District #1 sets the allotment for irrigating farmers every two years. According to its rules, the district must reduce the allotment from 4 acre-feet per acre of land to 3 acre-feet when the aquifer’s average elevation for the preceding two years falls below 3,560 feet. Water levels crossed that threshold, but district board members opted to delay the cut until Jan. 1, 2016.
At Tuesday’s meeting, Al Blair, the district’s hydrologist, presented his analysis of the average water elevation. Under the current rules, Blair said, the district uses data from a single well to determine the average elevation of the aquifer – other wells equipped with recording devices are measured once annually.
Blair said that data from the single well indicated that the average elevation has been steadily declining since 2002, at a rate of about half a foot feet per year. The other wells measured in the district have shown an even steeper decline – averaging just under 1 foot per year – for the same period. Blair said that data from the district’s primary test well is therefore indicative of an ongoing decline in the aquifer.
As of Jan. 1, the official reading for the two-year rolling average of the water elevation was 3,559.6 feet, Blair said.
Blair said that if the average water elevation rises above 3,560 feet in 2015, the district board could choose to reverse the reduction and re- turn the irrigation allotment to 4 acre-feet per acre. He said that would be a “judgment call” the board could make in the coming year.
Blair also said that if the cut does go into effect, irrigators could exceed the 3 acre-feet allotment in 2016. Water use in excess of that figure would then be subtracted off of an irrigator’s 2017 allocation. Furthermore, he said, an irrigator who used less than 3 acre-feet per acre in 2016 could roll over their unused allotment to 2017.
Questions remain about how the district will monitor and enforce new pumping limits. Blair said that 168 wells in the district are currently metered – and that there are accuracy issues with 5 to 10 percent of those meters, with some devices working only intermittently. He said “vibration meters” could be installed between the pumps and the engines, to detect the numbers of hours a well is running, in an effort to identify bad meters by correlating run-time with meter readings. Water district General Manager Randy Barker asked all the permit users present at Tuesday’s meeting to do their best in reporting meter readings and replacing any meters that are not working accurately and consistently.
Blair said that the board could also act to change district rules – and base its allotment decisions on up to a five-year water elevation average rather than a two-year average. With such a change, the district might not be compelled to cut allotments. The district would need to hold two public hearing before changing its rules.
In their management of the Bone Springs-Victorio Peak Aquifer, which underlies Dell Valley, water district board members have voted to pursue a policy of sustainability – meaning that they seek to preserve the aquifer at its current levels. But pumping in the Val- ley has increased steadily in recent years, as additional acreage has been brought into cultivation and as farmers irrigate almost year round. Also, alfalfa, the Valley’s main crop, is a water-intensive one. The water district faces a challenge in reconciling its goal of sustainability, and preserving water resources for all users and for future use, with supporting the Valley’s current farming activity.
In other business at Tuesday’s meeting, the board ap- proved an order setting the election for three district board member seats as follows. Dell Valley and Salt Flat voters will go to the polls May 9 to select representatives for precincts 1, 3 and 5 – seats currently held by Robert Carpenter, Phyllis Gentry and Lindsay Snodgrass. Filing for those positions began Tuesday and continues through Feb. 27, at 5 p.m. Individuals interested in filing as candidates can obtain information at the district’s office, at 107 Dodson St. in Dell City.
Polling on May 9 will be held at the district office from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Early voting will be held weekdays from April 27 to May 5, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m, at the district office.