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Acequia representatives ask county to investigate irrigation blockage after nearby garage construction
Summary
Acequia Jarosa leaders told commissioners a permitted garage was built in or near an acequia easement and that concrete trucks may have damaged a corrugated pipeline, causing irrigation to back up and leaving 34 irrigators without water; they asked the county to assist with a pipe inspection using a ‘pig’ tool to locate blockages.
Toby Martinez, chairman of Acequia Jarosa in the Ranchos area, told the Taos County Commission during public comment that a newly constructed, permitted garage appears to have damaged a 24‑inch corrugated irrigation pipeline in the acequia easement. He said concrete trucks drove over the inlet and that, since April 2 when water distribution resumed, water has backed up and flooded fields and a wastewater treatment facility, leaving 34 irrigators unable to irrigate.
Martinez asked the county to help locate and clear the blockage by using a “pig” device that can travel the pipe and find the obstruction. He said neither he nor the acequia officers nor the local mayor were contacted by the landowner or builders before construction despite the pipeline’s visible inlet about 70 feet from the building.
Commission staff acknowledged the comment and said they would look into the matter. Martinez said he would await the county’s response.
