IRRIGATION SYSTEM MODERNIZATION IN THE MIDDLE RIO GRANDE VALLEY

摘要

The Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District (MRGCD) was officially founded in the 1920's, butrnit may well be the oldest operating irrigation system in North America. Prior to the arrival ofrnEuropean explorers, the area's Pueblo cultures were practicing flood irrigation along the banks ofrnthe Rio Grande. More elaborate irrigation practices were introduced to the Middle Rio GrandernValley by Spanish explorers in the 1600's and irrigation and water delivery practices have remainedrnvirtually unchanged for the past 300 to 400 years. Currently the MRGCD serves about 55,000 acresrnof irrigated land and provides additional benefits to the Middle Rio Grande (MRG) Valley byrnproviding water for domestic, industrial, and environmental needs.rnIn recent years the demand for water in the Middle Rio Grande Valley has increased drastically duernto explosive population growth, expanding industry, and water allocated for environmental andrnecological concerns, that include two federally listed endangered species -- the silvery minnowrn(Hybognathus amarus), and the southwestern willow fly catcher (Empidonax traillii extimus). Inrnresponse to the call for more efficient water use, the MRGCD embarked on a program of irrigationrnsystem modernization with SCADA incorporation. Over the past few years, the MRGCD hasrndeveloped a SCADA system with the focus being to improve water use efficiency throughout thernMiddle Rio Grande Valley. This paper examines the five components of the system and how eachrncomponent was developed and incorporated in the overall SCADA system. The SCADA systemrnand related improvements in operational practices have reduced MRGCD river diversions fromrn600,000 AF/year to an average of 350,000 AF/year over the last three years.