Annual Children’s Fishing Derby, affected by ‘dire’ drought, has been postponed
The drought afflicting New Mexico, its northern portions in particular, has hit the local youth fisherman where he lives.
Santa Fe’s annual Children’s Fishing Derby has been postponed as a result of abnormally slight inflows into the city reservoirs, which also have foreclosed the possibility of a spring “pulse” of water into the Santa Fe River, part of municipal “living river” efforts.
“It’s very dire,” said Melissa McDonald, the city’s rivershed water coordinator. “However, things change, and if we have normal monsoons, we could be in OK shape.”
The popular fishing event, normally scheduled for early June, could be rescheduled for the fall, pending the strength of the summer rains and a coordination of efforts with the state Department of Game and Fish, which provides the 500 rainbow trout for the derby.
Early forecasts put the Santa Fe River streamflow in “critical-dry” territory — just 17 percent of the 30-year average.
The actual inflow above the city’s McClure Reservoir, as of May 1, was roughly 1 cubic foot per second, well below the daily projections of roughly 4 cubic feet per second. What comes into the upper McClure Reservoir determines what can come out of the lower Nichols Reservoir, and then into the river, McDonald said.
As a result of lower projections, the typical two annual pulses of water into the Santa Fe River, one in the springtime and another in the summer, were to be combined into one scheduled for mid-May, according to a city memo composed last month.
That has been nixed as well, however. The snowmelt in the upper watershed is simply not sufficient, McDonald said.
“We were trying to do it earlier in the year, but it heated up too quickly,” McDonald said. “But those could happen later in the year.”
The pulses are meant to mimic the natural cycles of a river and
wet the streambed so summer stormflows pass through as intended — and provide for events like the fishing derby as well as nourish newly planted trees downstream.
“The winter was just brutal,” McDonald said.
“We’re seeing the effects of that.”
All of New Mexico is experiencing dryness or drought to some degree, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor at the University of NebraskaLincoln. Northern Santa Fe County was in the midst of extreme drought, the second-highest intensity level measured, as of May 1.