Village councilors and interested parties will hear from Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District CEO Jason Casuga about the status of the Corrales Siphon and plan to stabilize the west riverbank in the same area of the siphon at the next village council meeting on Oct. 24.
Casuga told the Comment last month that the siphon was shut down in August due to low Rio Grande water levels, forcing local farmers to rely on Mother Nature to water their crops.
The siphon has been in place at the north end of the village since a pipe that transferred from the river to the irrigation network collapsed three years ago.
Low water levels in the river weren’t a problem earlier in the summer. In fact too much water from spring snowmelt resulted in high flows, which caused a couple hundred feet of the riverbank and several large cottonwoods just south of the siphon to wash away.
Mayor Jim Fahey said that the village has been working with the MRGCD, Bureau of Reclamation and Army Corps of Engineers to shore up the riverbank.