April 15th, 2020
The Honorable Tom Udall
United States Senate
531 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
The Honorable Martin Heinrich
United States Senate
303 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
The Honorable Ben Ray Luján
United States House of Representatives
2323 Rayburn HOB
Washington, D.C. 20515
The Honorable Debra Haaland
United States House of Representatives
1237 Longworth HOB
Washington, D.C. 20515
The Honorable Xochitl Torres Small
United States House of Representatives
430 Cannon HOB
Washington, D.C. 20515
Dear Honorable Members of Congress,
As New Mexico guides, outfitters, conservationists, and community advocates we rely on a healthy Rio Chama for our livelihood, personal enjoyment, and traditional ways of life. The 31 mile long Rio Chama Wild and Scenic River section below El Vado Dam is especially important to us. The area is filled with incredible biodiversity, contains great public access, and has the potential to be a world class destination and important economic driver creating jobs for local communities and our state’s burgeoning outdoor recreation economy. This stretch of the river is widely used by local communities for recreation, and the area has a rich Native American and Hispanic cultural history. However, for this area to reach its maximum potential, we must restore its ecological health by addressing the chronic turbidity of water released from El Vado Dam. Accordingly, we are asking for your help and support in addressing this critical issue.
The river flowing from El Vado Dam has a large impact on the Chama Valley, local communities and the region’s fish and wildlife. Due to the area’s geology and upstream land use practices above the dam, fine silt and clay sediments have accumulated at the dam at the level where water is released into the river below. The Bureau of Reclamation has operated the dam over the last 85 years. Over that time period, sediment loads released into the Rio Chama have averaged almost double the threshold that is considered ecologically deleterious to aquatic macroinvertebrate communities by the Environmental Protection Agency. Aquatic invertebrates are essential to the ecology and food web that supports both fish and wildlife in the Wild and Scenic River section of the Rio Chama.
To address this problem, the Chama Flows Project has proposed the installation of a gated inlet tower at El Vado Dam to allow the water to be released from the reservoir at a number of different elevations within the water column. The inlet tower would be an effective tool in controlling the current year-round turbidity in the river below, while still giving the Bureau of Reclamation the ability to flush sediment and maintain storage capacity of the reservoir. The inlet tower would allow sediment to get flushed a few times a year, consistent with natural events, rather than produce muddy water all year long. Due to the gated inlet’s variable intake elevation, water temperature can also be managed, further benefiting the river’s ecosystem and native species.
Further, El Vado Dam is currently leaking and costs about $300,000 per year to maintain. To address this distinct safety concern the Bureau of Reclamation has prepared a draft Corrective Action Plan detailed in the 52 page document titled “El Vado Dam – Safety of Dams Modification Project Daft Environmental Assessment.” The draft plan includes lowering the reservoir water level for about a year to allow for grouting cracks and installing a geomembrane (PVC cover) over the existing leaky faceplates. It also includes replacing the currently non-functional service spillway. Work is due to begin in May of 2022. The lowering of the reservoir pool and development of construction access to the toe of the dam for the proposed improvements provides a real opportunity to install a gated inlet tower. However, the current Corrective Action Plan does not include any attempts to correct the chronic turbidity problem of the Rio Chama.
There is a narrow window of opportunity before the Corrective Action Plan is finalized to include the installation of a gated inlet tower during the reservoir drawdown. The inlet tower would create a long-term, cost effective solution to the chronic turbidity problem and will have a positive impact on the area’s fishery, wildlife and ecosystem as well as on the local economy of the Chama Valley, all without affecting delivery of water to downstream users. We believe that the Bureau of Reclamation’s process represents a unique opportunity to fix a chronic problem and thus we are asking for your leadership and assistance in leveraging state and federal dollars to install an inlet tower on El Vado Dam. By making the installation of this tower a priority, you are supporting a cost-effective solution to a long-term problem as well as making a prudent investment that will have many benefits to New Mexico’s local communities, wildlife and outdoor recreation economy. Supporting this project directly promotes job growth when unemployment is at historic highs in an economically challenged region.
We are asking for your assistance to ensure we take advantage of this important opportunity.
Sincerely,
Jacob Clemens
Owner/Guide, Artful Angler
Toner Mitchell
New Mexico Water and Habitat Program Director, Trout Unlimited
Kerrie Romero
New Mexico Council of Outfitters and Guides, Inc
William Clark
President, Rio Arriba Concerned Citizens
Ivan Valdez
Owner, The Reel Life Fly Shop
Eric Jantz
Interim Executive Director, New Mexico Environmental Law Center
Rachel Conn
Projects Director, Amigos Bravos
Paul Tashjian
Director of Freshwater Conservation, Audubon New Mexico
Britt Runyon Huggins
New Wave Rafting LLC
Wes Dyer
Founder/CEO, AWOL Angler
Sloan Covington
Red Rover Angler & Sport
Robert King
Santa Fe Guiding Company
Andrew Black
Public Lands Field Director, National Wildlife Federation
Nick Streit
Owner, Taos Fly Shop
Steve Harris
Executive Director, Rio Grande Restoration
Angel Peña
Nuestra Tierra Conservation Project
Thomas Jervis Ph.D.
President, Sangre de Cristo Audubon Society
Connor Jandreau
New Mexico Land Conservancy
Casey Shaw
Innovative Designer, Patagonia
David Groenfeldt
Director, Water-Culture Institute
Paul White
President, Enchanted Circle Chapter Trout Unlimited
Kenneth Tabish
Trout Unlimited Bosque Chapter/TU New Mexico Council
Richard Schrader
River Source Inc.
Kelley Ruppert
Guide, Recreational Angler
Joseph Hart
Land of Enchantment Guides
Graham Bradhurst
Fly Fishing Guide, The Reel Life
Aaron Duncan
Land of Enchantment Guides
Ben Clary
Outdoor Enthusiast
James Glover
Once a Day Marketing LLC
Clayton Wallis
Christopher Smith
Daniel Ortega
Guide, The Reel Life
Mike A Sulkosky
Professional Fly Fishing Guide
Tom Boylan
Fly Fisherman, Guide
Rob Lochner
Santa Fe Habitat for Humanity
Jackson Mathey
Leo Valdez
Supervisor, Huntington Securities Inc
CC: Governor Lujan Grisham