Battle over irrigation ditches comes to a head

An irrigation ditch in Duranes. (Photo by Rockcreek)

ALBUQUERQUE — This spring, property owners within the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District are voting in a board of directors election that could determine the future of a long-running battle over Albuquerque-area irrigations ditches.

For years, residents in Albuquerque’s North Valley have been pushing for a formalized system of recreation trails along the irrigation ditches, or acequias, an idea the current board has unanimously rejected. Supporters of the trail plan are hoping that electing new board members will pave the way to change.

Four seats are up for grabs in this year’s election, two in Bernalillo County, one in Socorro County and one in Sandoval County.

The conservancy district (often referred to by its acronym, MRGCD) is the organization that controls irrigation ditches from Cochiti Reservoir to the Bosque del Apache near Socorro.  It was founded in the 1800s to drain marshy land near the river and control flooding in the valley. Today, it maintains the system of diversion dams, levees, drains and ditches using money collected from property taxes as well as fees paid by those who use ditch water to irrigate their land.

But the middle Rio Grande Valley isn’t the quiet farming area it was when the district was formed. Bernalillo County today is a huge urban area where the number of people who live along the county’s 300 miles of ditches far outnumber the folks who actually use them for farming. The majority of the district’s funding — 68 percent, or $7.2 million — comes from densely populated Bernalillo County, where for two decades, residents have been asking for a trail system along the ditches.

A survey commissioned by the district in 2007, showed 83 percent supported using some of their tax money collected by MRGCD for a trail system.

State Senator Dede Feldman (D-Albuquerque), who represents most of the North Valley, has long been behind the trails plan. She supported the now-defunct Ditches with Trails program, a collaborative project involving North Valley residents, Bernalillo County, the City of Albuquerque, the National Parks Service and the conservancy district. Together, program participants worked on studies and a put together a pilot project.

As NMI reported last year, board members feared that the Ditches with Trails plan would weaken the district’s control over its own ditches.

Tempers flared after the project resulted in a bridge, built with the help and approval of district employees, and over $100,000 of state money, but without the approval of the board. The end result was inflamed tempers and increased antagonism between the board and trail supporters.

Last summer, the board unanimously rejected the trails idea and severed its relationship with Ditches with Trails. Board members explained the decision in an op-ed in the Valencia County News-Bulletin: 

We received hundreds of communications in distinct opposition to the Ditches with Trails project. Over a hundred people packed our small boardroom that Monday night. Most owned property along or near the ditch that was being considered for a trails pilot project, and most said loudly and clearly that they preferred the ditches to remain as they are: accessible and unspoiled.

… [The plan] ignored significant citizen concerns and failed to adequately address liability issues while opining that a regional, multijurisdictional, unelected “commission” could be created to manage the trails, all while MRGCD retains the increased maintenance costs and obligations.

Undaunted, Sen. Feldman took the battle to the Legislature, where in January, she introduced a bill that would have reallocated $854,000 in collections from Bernalillo County (totaling about $7 million) to a trail program.

The bill died in the Senate Finance Committee, despite an encouraging fiscal impact report prepared by the Legislative Finance Committee (LFC). As the report noted: 

There is an inverse relationship between the prevalence of irrigated agriculture and the amount of revenue that MRGCD raises. Ironically, as Valley farmland becomes urbanized, it becomes a bonanza of revenue for the District, since property taxes are much higher on developed land. [The Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department] indicates that in spite of this fact and despite the fact that MRGCD has also enjoyed cash balances of over $20 million in recent years, MRGCD has been unwilling to commit a proportional amount of its revenue to enhancing trails and recreation benefits for urban valley dwellers — many of whom are required to pay taxes to MRGCD but do not irrigate with MRGCD surface water.

But the LFC analysis doesn’t capture the larger-than-life personalities that dominate much of the district’s dealings.

Board member Bill Turner, a water broker, defends the board’s decision to halt the trail program and end its relationship with Ditches with Trail, saying it was a power grab by Feldman.

“She wants to take over the district and build a recreational area,” Turner said, in the frank style that is his trademark.

The fact that Feldman has endorsed several candidates challenging incumbent board members leads Turner to charge that “Dede’s sole agenda is to control the board.”

But Feldman dismissed Turner, saying, “This election is not about me. That’s just a distraction. Bill Turner ran against me [for state senate] in 1996 and I beat him by 70 percent of the vote, so he’s always trying to turn everything into something that I did.”

Turner also argued that increasing access to the ditches would be an invasion of the privacy of the landowners who live along them.

“When the city and county put in paths in the far South Valley, the theft of farm equipment, hay and wire went through the roof,” he said.

Whether the district decides to implement a trail system or not, the board will face many other important issues.

“This is all about water conservation, water use, stewardship of the bosque and stewardship of this diminishing resource, the water that is diverted through the river, runs though our neighborhoods and waters our fields,” Feldman said.

Early voting for the 2009 MRGCD Board of Directors election began on April 24 and continues through Saturday, May 30 at the MRGCD District Office, 1931 Second St., SW.

Election day is Tuesday, June 2, 2009, when voters can cast ballots at dozens of polling sites. Anyone who owns property within the district’s boundaries is eligible to vote. Voters must bring a government-issued ID or two of these three: a tax bill, utility bill or voter registration card.

Absentee ballots are available by calling 865-8683.

Next week, NMI will profile the candidates for the election.