Reclamation and ISC have answers to your questions

Roles and Responsibilities

The 2004 Arizona Water Settlements Act (AWSA) provides specific requirements for the Secretary of the Interior (Secretary) regarding the possible construction, operation, and maintenance of a New Mexico Unit in the Gila Basin in New Mexico. The NM Unit, if built, would be a component of the Central Arizona Project, which is a federal project.

The Secretary is responsible for, among other things:

• Ensuring compliance with terms of the laws and agreements related to the additional water provided to New Mexico under the AWSA, including diverting water for the benefit of the New Mexico Central Arizona Project Entity (NM CAP Entity) in accordance with terms of the New Mexico Consumptive Use and Forbearance Agreement (CUFA) signed by downstream water users.

• Disbursing $66 million (adjusted for inflation) from the Lower Colorado River Basin Development Fund to the New Mexico ISC in ten annual payments. This tier of funding is being deposited in the New Mexico Unit Fund (NM Unit Fund). This funding does not retain its federal character once disbursed to New Mexico.

• Providing up to an additional $62 million (adjusted for inflation) for construction of the NM Unit if certain conditions were met. One of the conditions of this funding was the issuance of a record of decision (ROD) by December 31, 2019. Since this deadline could not be met, the NM CAP Entity requested that the Secretary grant an extension, which was denied. Therefore, this additional $62 million will not be available. However, pursuant to the AWSA, the Secretary is still authorized to provide up to $500,000 to pay costs for installation of gages on the Gila River and its tributaries for purposes of the CUFA.

• Completing environmental compliance for a NM Unit under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) and other applicable laws, and issuing a ROD.

• Designing, building, and operating and maintaining the NM Unit. Upon request, the Secretary shall transfer all or any combination of these responsibilities to the NM CAP Entity. Transfer of design responsibility of the NM Unit was requested and formally transferred in May 2016.

The U.S. Congress tasked the State of New Mexico, through the ISC, with certain roles and decisions related to the NM Unit. The ISC is responsible for, among other things:

• Acting as the Joint Lead Agency with Reclamation for preparation of the EIS, a NEPA compliance document.

• Making determinations on funding allocations for the purposes of, among other things, planning, environmental compliance, and costs of a NM Unit project, to be paid out of the NM Unit Fund, pursuant to the AWSA and various contractual agreements.

• Administering the NM Unit Fund, in accordance with the AWSA and the NM Unit Fund statute, New Mexico Statutes Annotated 1978, Section 72-14-45.

• Approving any contracts associated with the NM Unit.

The U.S. Congress authorized a local body in Southwest New Mexico to, among other things:

• Own and hold title to the NM Unit facilities once built.

• Assume project responsibilities upon request to the Secretary.

The NM CAP Entity, formed under a Joint Powers Agreement, currently holds the design responsibility, and is the project proponent in the NEPA Process.

Proposed Project

The Proposed Action (Alternative B) consists of infrastructure in the Cliff-Gila, Virden, and San Francisco areas in three counties in Southwest New Mexico, as listed below. There is no project component proposed in Luna County:

Cliff-Gila Area (Grant County)

• One fixed crest weir diversion with 60-foot-long riffle rundown replacing three existing Push-Up Diversions for the Upper Gila, Fort West, and Gila Farms Ditches

• Various conveyance improvements and extensions

• Four new gravity-fed, clay-lined storage ponds (combined surface storage capacity of 1,890 AF)

• Five production wells, 120 feet deep

Virden Area (Hidalgo County)

• Existing Sunset and New Model Diversion Structures with no modifications

• Existing canals with no modifications

• Two new clay-lined, gravity-fed storage ponds  (combined surface storage capacity of 551 AF)

San Francisco Area (Catron County)

• One fixed crest weir diversion with 20-foot-long engineered fill boulder riffle rundown, replacing two existing Push-Up Diversions for the Spurgeon #2 and Thomason Flat Ditches

• Various conveyance improvements and extensions.

In July 2019, the NM CAP Entity submitted the current Proposed Action to the Joint Leads. On October 21, 2019, the NM CAP Entity sent a letter to the Joint Leads requesting “…that the Joint Leads designate Alternative D, the Virden only alternative as the Preferred Alternative in the final EIS. The NM CAP Entity is not requesting a change to its [July 2019] Proposed Action.”

The purpose of the project is to develop a NM Unit of the CAP to allow for consumptive use of water from the Gila River, its tributaries, or underground water sources in southwestern New Mexico, diverted in accordance with the CUFA and pursuant to the terms of the AWSA.  The need for the project is to (a) develop water for delivery at the times, locations, and in quantities that will improve agricultural use, and (b) provide capability for future expansion for authorized beneficial purposes.

This project is allowed by federal law. The Colorado River Basin Project Act of 1968 and the AWSA authorize New Mexico’s use of Gila River water, contingent upon satisfying a variety of laws and agreements. One major requirement is that, for any water diverted by a NM Unit in New Mexico, an equivalent amount of CAP water to be delivered as a replacement to two downstream users in Arizona.

The Proposed Action is entirely below the existing boundary of the designated Gila Wilderness area, as are all the action alternatives. The Gila Wilderness boundary is approximately 3 miles upstream from the proposed Upper Gila diversion site.

There are currently no designated, eligible, or suitable Wild and Scenic River segments within the project area, so there would be no direct impacts on Wild and Scenic River segments from construction of the NM Unit. There are various river segments downstream of the Cliff-Gila project location and upstream of the Virden project location that have been classified as eligible for a Wild and Scenic designation. Most notably, all 23 miles of the Gila River within the boundaries of the Gila Box Riparian National Conservation Area (RNCA) (referred to as the Gila box segment) were found eligible in the 1991 Safford District Resource Management Plan and found suitable for inclusion in the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System in 1996, with 15.2 miles recommended for “scenic” classification and two segments (one on each end of the scenic segment, totaling 7.8 miles) recommended for “recreational” classification. The Safford District Resource Management Plan identified scenic, fish and wildlife habitat, recreation, geologic, historical and cultural resources, and hydrological features as outstandingly remarkable values (ORVs) for the Gila box segment. These river segments were formally recommended to Congress as potential components of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System. To date, Congress has not acted on this recommendation.

The Proposed Action is not anticipated to affect the “scenic” or “recreational” classification of the Gila box segment or its ORVs. Under all action alternatives, the Gila River would experience flow reductions downstream of the project locations ranging from 1 to 2 percent in wet conditions and 2 to 14 percent in dry conditions, which could impact some river-based recreation in the Gila Lower Box RNCA (see Section 3.3 of the NM Unit Draft EIS for further information on potential flow reductions under all alternatives, specifically at the U.S. Geological Survey stream gauges on the Gila River near Clifton and Safford, Arizona). Also, see Section 3.1.2 of the Draft EIS, Issues and Related Resource Topics Dismissed from Further Analysis in this EIS.

U.S. Senators Tom Udall (D-N.M.) and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) have drafted legislation to designate portions of the Gila River as Wild and Scenic. According to a Frequently Asked Questions posted on Senator Udall’s site, “The senators’ legislation was crafted so as not to impede the New Mexico CAP Entity’s current proposed action. The areas involved in the NM CAP Entity’s proposed actions have been excluded from the proposal” (Available here).

Diversion structures are permanent or semi-permanent in-stream structures that are used to transfer water into ditches.  The NM Unit Draft EIS analyzes possible use of three types of diversion structures:  (1) a fixed crest weir, (2) a rock vane weir, and (3) a pneumatically adjustable Obermeyer weir.

A river diversion structure is a smaller structure than a storage dam. It is just tall enough to direct water into the adjacent ditches. It does not impound water in a reservoir or hold a large volume of water behind it. Further, it is not a mainstem storage dam.

A portion of the full annual average of 14,000 acre-feet (AF) allowed by the AWSA would be diverted under this project. Diversion amounts vary by alternative and range from 480 AF (Alternative D) to 3,185 AF (Alternative C). All diversions must occur in accordance with the CUFA.

Under the CUFA, the project will not be able to divert water when the river flows are below a certain threshold. The CUFA conditions include minimum bypass flows to ensure downstream users receive their water. Sections of the Gila River currently experience drying in some years after snowmelt has receded and before the start of the monsoon rains.

Construction costs vary by alternative and range from $7 million (Alternative D) to approximately $165 million (Alternative E). Operations and Maintenance costs (including CAP exchange costs) range from approximately $119,000 (Alternative D) to $1.6 million (Alternative C) annually.

The Draft EIS has addressed all these issues in Chapter 3. See Sections 3.4, 3.5, and 3.9. The joint leads will consider comments on the DEIS analyses from the public, while preparing the Final EIS.  In addition, Reclamation will be complying with other substantive statutes, such as National Historic Preservation Act and the Endangered Species Act, as appropriate prior to a decision in the ROD.

The Gila Basin Irrigation Commission (GBIC) is investigating construction of permanent diversion structures at the three existing diversion points in lieu of the current push-up diversions in the Cliff-Gila Valley, whereas the NM CAP Entity is proposing one consolidated diversion to replace all three push-up diversions. The GBIC operates independently from the NM CAP Entity and on its own time frame. There is no federal nexus for the GBIC project as it does not contemplate diverting water available pursuant to the AWSA.

NEPA Process

The Joint Leads will not hold any in-person public meetings on the Draft EIS as a direct result of the following: (1) The National Emergency declared by the President on March 13, 2020 in response to the coronavirus (COVID–19) pandemic in the United States; (2) the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s recommendations for social distancing and avoiding large public gatherings; and (3) Executive Orders related to COVID-19 issued by the states of New Mexico and Arizona.

In lieu of the in-person public meetings, the Joint Leads have set up an interactive virtual public meeting website to share information, solicit comments on the Draft EIS, and provide a forum to answer relevant questions. The virtual public meeting can be accessed anytime through the NM Unit project website.

The Joint Leads have not identified a preferred alternative in the Draft EIS. However, identification of a preferred alternative is required for the Final EIS. The Joint Leads will consider public comment before identifying a preferred alternative in the Final EIS in accordance with the Council on Environmental Quality’s regulations.

The next steps include public and federal, state, and local agency and Tribal review of the Draft EIS. Comments from the public, tribes and cooperating agencies will be evaluated and incorporated where appropriate. A Final EIS is expected in October 2020 with a ROD in December 2020.

For more information on the draft EIS, visit the project website or or email NMUnitEIS@empsi.com.

You can also contact Sean Heath at Reclamation (623-773-6250) or Ali Effati at ISC (505-827-5801).

To be added or removed from the mailing list, email NMUnitEIS@empsi.com.