BDD hears preliminary 2026 water outlook; staff outlines storage, regional coordination
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Summary
City water staff told the Buckman Direct Diversion Board that early 2026 hydrology is tracking close to 2025, emphasized reservoir storage and conjunctive management, and described planning tools to guide drought declarations and demand‑management steps.
The Buckman Direct Diversion Board received a preliminary briefing on local water supplies and planning for 2026 on a presentation from Joel Schneider of the City of Santa Fe Water Division.
Schneider said early 2026 hydrologic indicators are tracking similarly to 2025 and stressed the importance of storage and coordinated use of city and county supplies. "There’s an incredible amount of uncertainty right now," Schneider said, noting that the city currently maintains "a little more than 10,000 acre‑feet" of storage across three reservoirs upstream of the Buckman diversion and that the county holds a contracted allotment of 375 acre‑feet per year. He added that the county likely has roughly 1,000 acre‑feet in storage available for diversion under current conditions (Schneider described that as an approximate estimate).
Schneider outlined a decision‑support tool the city is developing to guide drought staging and possible declarations under chapter 25 of the city code. The tool, he said, will combine multiple indicators and be folded into the city's water conservation plan to provide clearer, objective triggers for demand‑management actions.
Board members asked technical and public‑access questions. Member Schmidt Peterson asked where the NRCS snow‑melt forecasts and updated visualizations are posted; Schneider said the NRCS now hosts forecast visualizations on a new dashboard and offered to email board members the current products. Peterson also asked for comparative context to past low‑inflow years; Schneider provided percentage examples for recent years and said staff will continue to bring updated projections as the NRCS and Bureau of Reclamation forecasts solidify in April.
The presentation also referenced expanded regional coordination with San Juan‑Chama contractors, the Bureau of Reclamation and other river partners to manage shared supply and curtailment triggers at low Rio Grande flows. Schneider said staff have modeled approximately 40 adaptation measures—ranging from increased reuse to aquifer recharge—to evaluate which would be most effective under different future hydrology scenarios.
The board did not take formal action on the presentation; staff said a fuller feasibility summary and firmer projections will be available in coming months and that staff will return with materials the board requested, including a summary of alternatives and a March milestone update.
