Environment & Energy
Related: About this forumRio Grande Drying In Northern NM - Down 90% YOY; Small-Scale Farmers On The Brink
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In Velarde, Danny Farrar has about 10 acres with a small orchard that produces cherries, peaches and apples, and some vegetables. The water he needs to sustain his crops arrives via an acequia from the Rio Grande. The river should be in runoff, but its really, really low, Farrar said. Old-timers say they have never seen the Rio Grande completely dry up, but it might.
On May 16, the Rio Grande flow at Embudo was measured at 340 cubic feet per second compared with 3,390 cfs on the same date last year, according to U.S. Geological Survey data. The worst year on record measured on the same date and location was 184 cfs in 2002.
Abnormal dryness or drought is affecting the entire population of New Mexico, according to the federal National Integrated Drought Information System. More than 63 percent of the state is listed as being in extreme drought with over 20 percent in exceptional category, including big swaths of north. No area of the state has been unaffected by drought.
Romero, who gets his water through the Embudo Valleys Acequia del Llano, said the bleak situation has forced farmers to take unusual steps. We were rationing water already in the springtime, Romero said.
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http://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/drought-challenges-northern-new-mexico-farmers/article_1c15e4f0-01f4-580c-bf1d-ae8c1c880fad.html
ProudMNDemocrat
(16,477 posts)Another trip to New Mexico this Past February did show that the Rio Grande is drying up. Last year at the Rio Grande Gorge, the river looked low. All of New Mexico looked low and drier. Even when it showed in Taos, 6 inches in a matter of hours, was the MOST snow that had fallen in years.
Climate change is real and poses a threat not just to National Security, but to the economy of this country and world in ways unimaginable.
OnlinePoker
(5,702 posts)19 Trackers according to Ghostery, 122 ads blocked by ublock origin, and 210 by Adblock Plus.
Judi Lynn
(160,211 posts)If only we could hope to see a reprieve somewhere ahead.
Thanks for the information, hatrack.