Publication
2021 RiverEyes Monitoring Report
URL: https://webapps.usgs.gov/mrgescp/documents/McKenna_2022_2021-RiverEyes-Monitoring-Report.pdf
Date: 2022/01/28
Author(s): McKenna C.
Publication: Prepared for U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. Prepared by GeoSystems Analysis, Inc., 14 p.
Abstract:
GeoSystems Analysis Inc. was contracted by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) to conduct daily river monitoring and reporting during 2021 as part of a cooperative interagency effort to document the extent and duration of channel drying in the Middle Rio Grande (MRG). In this report, the MRG refers to the Rio Grande from Cochiti Dam to Elephant Butte Reservoir. The monitoring effort (referred to as “RiverEyes”) assists with meeting requirements under Reasonable and Prudent Measure 4, and Terms and Conditions 3.2, 9.1, and 9.2 of the December 2016 Final Biological and Conference Opinion for Bureau of Reclamation, Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), and Non-federal Water Management and Maintenance Activities on the Middle Rio Grande, New Mexico (2016 BO). When flows fell below key thresholds known to increase flow intermittency risk, field observations were relayed to an interagency water management team and, particularly when flow intermittency was detected, reported to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to support endangered Rio Grande silvery minnow (Hybognathus amarus) rescue and relocation activities.
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) maintains a network of streamflow monitoring stations throughout the MRG that publish real-time, provisional streamflow volumes to the internet (e.g., https://waterdata.usgs.gov/nm/...) . Per the contractual agreement with Reclamation, field reconnaissance within specific high-risk segments of the MRG was conducted when streamflow was below 300 cubic feet per second (cfs) at USGS 08354900 Rio Grande Floodway at San Acacia, New Mexico (NM); below 80 cfs at USGS 08331160 Rio Grande Near Bosque Farms, NM; or below 100 cfs at USGS 08330000 Rio Grande in Albuquerque, NM.
During 2021, streamflow fell below this threshold at the San Acacia gauge on June 11 and the monitoring team conducted regular field reconnaissance in this reach from June 14 through October 16. The Bosque Farms gauge fell below the 80 cfs threshold for the first time on June 21 and crews started regular monitoring in the Isleta Reach on June 23. Monitoring officially ended in the Isleta Reach on October 17. The Albuquerque gauge fell below the 100 cfs threshold periodically from July 9 through October 27. Sporadic monitoring was completed and channel drying never occurred in Albuquerque. From June 16 to June 20, the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District (MRGCD) pumped 65 acre-feet of water into the Rio Grande at the Socorro Hub (the former Neil Cupp pump site, near river mile (RM) 90) to augment the river recession in the San Acacia Reach (Marken, 2021).
Drying was first observed in the San Acacia and Isleta Reaches on June 17 and June 27, respectively. The last day that drying occurred was October 3rd in both the San Acacia and Isleta Reaches. The total number of unique RMs affected by drying at some point throughout the 2021 monitoring year was 32.05 in the San Acacia Reach and 14.04 in the Isleta Reach (46.09 RMs in total for the entire Middle Rio Grande) while the maximum single day dried extent was slightly lower in each reach. Table 1 summarizes relevant dates and the maximum 2021 RiverEyes Monitoring Report GeoSystems Analysis, Inc. 2 single day dried extent. The largest single day drying event the San Acacia Reach was on June 27 (31.89 RMs; the “Reachwide” field on Table 1), while the maximum extent dried on a single day in the Isleta Reach occurred on August 26 (11.93 RMs). Riverwide, the maximum extent dried on a single day happened on September 23 (38.97 RMs; 29.67 RM in the San Acacia Reach plus 9.3 RMs in the Isleta Reach). The dried channel conditions affected 108 days and 79 days in the San Acacia and Isleta Reaches, respectively, and drying affected one distinct segment of the San Acacia Reach and two segments of the Isleta Reach.