Officials say work to fix Rio Chama flooding underway
Jul. 26—State and federal agencies are still working to direct the Rio Chama back to its natural course more than a month after the Northern New Mexico river jumped its banks and flooded several residential properties and farm fields in Medanales.
Amid sustained heavy rainfall throughout the region in June, sand and silt from surrounding arroyos washed into the Rio Chama and plugged it, causing the river to jump its banks and flow into properties in Medanales, flooding farmland, pastures, driveways and even homes.
The State Engineer's Office and the Interstate Stream Commission have provided about $300,000 so far to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to excavate the river with the federal agency's "specialized equipment and operators," Maggie Fitzgerald, a spokeswoman for the state engineer, wrote in an email.
The Bureau of Reclamation began moving its equipment into place June 25, and the excavation of a channel through the sediment plug started July 3, she wrote. More than 150,000 cubic yards of material initially was excavated, a mile-long channel 40 feet wide and 5 feet deep.
Workers have excavated another 100,000 cubic yards "to shore up or excavate problem areas," Fitzgerald wrote.
While state and federal agencies are collaborating to fix the river, some residents say they've been on their own to deal with the damage to their homes and farms.
The river has been flowing in its normal course for a few weeks, Medanales resident and rancher Eric Martinez said this week, but properties in the community remain flooded.
Martinez said his ranch still has about 12 acres covered in 18 inches of mud and standing water that won't drain because the excavation work has raised the height of the riverbank.
Five excavators were working in the river Wednesday evening to scoop out more sand and silt, Martinez said, adding the workers deposit the material on the sides of the river, so flooded properties aren't able to drain into it.
Martinez is keeping his cattle in the Carson National Forest while his pasture is flooded, he said.
While several government agencies have worked to fix the river, there doesn't seem to be help available to address damage to private properties in from what essentially was a natural disaster.
"I'm a little disappointed that there's no immediate help for ranchers who need the help," Martinez said. "We'll just wait it out for it to dry up, I guess."
He noted workers from Rio Arriba County and other agencies distributed necessities like blankets and food to some residents in the area in the aftermath of the flooding.
Fitzgerald did not give an estimate for when the excavation work on the Rio Chama would be complete.
The Army Corps of Engineers — which manages a dam on the south side of Abiquiú Lake — has been coordinating releases of water from the reservoir "based on day-to-day observed channel capacity as the sediment plug clears itself with higher velocity flows," Fitzgerald wrote.
"Reclamation will stay on site, ready to address flooding problems, until channel capacity has been restored and normal operations of Abiquiu Reservoir resume," she added.
