Water shortage causes SE NM to dig deep

ROSWELL, N.M. (KRQE) - Drastic measures are being taken in southeastern New Mexico to get water to farmers.

2011 was the second driest year on record, and farmers knew then things could get worse .  Now they are having to dig deep for water.

The water shortage caused by the drought has prompted this part of the state to switch to Plan B, pumping water from the aquifer, and taxpayers are paying for it.

On average, southeast New Mexico gets about 12 inches of rain a year. Last year only 4.5 inches fell.

"When you start getting that low on rainfall, and you get the wind and the heat, well, it's very severe," explained Dick Smith, superintendent of Chaves County Flood Commission.

Since 2003, farmers in southeast New Mexico have agreed on minimum goals for water supply to assure everyone has enough water.

As part of the settlement agreement, 50,000 acre feet of water should be stored in reservoirs on the Pecos River by March 1.

"And we're right around 40,500, so you can see we're not going to make it," Smith said.

The 50,000 acre feet of water is for Carlsbad.

(An acre-foot, the amount needed to cover an acre with a foot of water, is a standard agriculture measurement and is about 326,000 gallons.)

Aside from praying for rain, they're pumping water from wells in Seven Rivers and Lake Arthur underground from the Artesian aquifer. Since November 2011, roughly 20,000 acre feet of water have been pumped.

It's the first time farmers have had to resort to that, and taxpayers are paying for it.

"The more the water table goes down, the more pumping lift that you have, and the more energy it takes to lift that water to the top of the ground and put it into your irrigation system," Smith explained. "And your electric bill is going to go up."

Smith said the worst case scenario would be getting a priority call, which is the same as getting sued for water owed. That, he said, would really hurt Chaves County.

"Well, they'd have to stop farming," said Smith, of the hypothetical priority call. "And there wouldn't be any cash flow, I mean the grocery store, the fertilizer dealer, the implement dealer, everybody would suffer."

It's a threat he said, that's not imminent, but making sure everyone has enough water for now is the task at hand.

"So far we've been able to do that, now if it continues to get dry, you know, we don't know what's going to happen," said Smith. "We just have to pray for rain, I guess."

Half of the water from Fort Sumner Lake to the Texas state line goes to Texas every year. The bottom line is, water will be in short supply until southeast New Mexico gets more rain.

New Mexico currently has a water credit of more than 90,000 acre feet with Texas and is required to give Texas 10,000 acre feet of water every year. So, if New Mexico can't give Texas its allotted water this year, water will be docked from that credit.