'We have more water than we've had': Farmers frustrated with water distribution - KOAT New Mexico

New Mexico farmers protest delayed water distribution

'We have more water than we've had': Farmers frustrated with water distribution

“This should be one year that we shouldn't have any problems with water distribution. We have more water than we've had in the last two years,” New Mexico Sen. Joshua A. Sanchez said.

Sanchez is also a farmer. “On our farm, we raise melons, pinto beans. You know, we sell to the schools here. We raise beef," he said.

“We're struggling in some of the ditches to get water. And matter of fact, just a couple of weeks ago, I mean, it's not even it's the volume of the water, but the timing of the water as well,” Tome farmer Mark Garcia said.

Sanchez shares this problem.

“We were irrigating a couple of weeks ago. We ran out of water. While we were irrigating our farm,” Sanchez said.

CEO Jason Casuga for the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy said they have had several infrastructure failures that have delayed water.

“Even when we have water, the system's old and it's aged, and we do maintenance on it, but maintenance is not full rehabilitation,” Casuga said.

According to Casuga, the majority of employees at the conservancy work out in the field, maintaining the system.

“So if you have a system that's 1200 miles long and you employ 238 employees and the vast majority of them are field, you're going to have a large bill for employees,” Casuga said.

Farmers said they just want to be a part of the discussion.

“The compact is a big issue, but there's I'm sure there's a way that we can actually have a conversation about what's really going on with that,” Garcia said.

“It all works together. Water is life. There's nothing this morning that you didn't eat for breakfast that a farmer didn't put on your table,” Sanchez said.