Irrigation in the Land of Enchantment

VOLUME 10 ISSUE 8 September 2019

Irrigation in the Land of Enchantment

By Kris Polly

DALE BALLARD: MAINTAINING HISTORIC CARLSBAD IRRIGATION DISTRICT

New Mexico has some of the nation’s oldest Reclamation infrastructure. Today, it has some of the nation’s most sophisticated groundwater monitoring activity. Its arid landscape is also an ideal location to grow pecans, cotton, and alfalfa. This month’s Irrigation Leader looks at the state’s irrigated agriculture from a number of perspectives.

In our cover story, Dale Ballard tells us about historic Carlsbad Irrigation District (CID), of which he is manager. CID was founded in the first years of the 20th century by early New Mexico pioneers. Today, much of its infrastructure is over a century old. CID is fighting to maintain its infrastructure, supply its farmers, and meet interstate water delivery requirements.

We also speak with two hydrology experts from Elephant Butte Irrigation District (EBID). Patrick Lopez, EBID’s SCADA Systems director, describes the remote telemetry units and gravity meter that the district is using to precisely monitor and measure its surface and groundwater. And Dr. Erek Fuchs tells us about the sophisticated analysis the data provided by this monitoring allow him to do.

Phil Ball of Situational Awareness Institute has a new online training course that allows irrigation districts and other agencies to prepare their staff for security threats and conflictual situations.

In our Irrigated Crop section, we feature Greg Daviet, whose New Mexico family farm produces a sought-after crop well suited to New Mexico’s climate: pecans.

Finally, it is with sadness that we publish an obituary of Warren R. Morgan of Quincy, Washington. Warren will be missed by all who knew him.

This month’s issue of Irrigation Leader demonstrates that exciting things are happening in the great state of New Mexico. New Mexico irrigation has a proud history, a technologically sophisticated present, and a bright future. I hope you enjoy learning more about it.

Kris Polly is editor-in-chief of Irrigation Leader magazine and president of Water Strategies LLC, a government relations firm he began in February 2009 for the purpose of representing and guiding water, power, and agricultural entities in their dealings with Congress, the Bureau of Reclamation, and other federal government agencies. He may be contacted at kris.polly@waterstrategies.com.