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Acequia chair asks county to help after construction blocks irrigation pipeline
Summary
Toby Martinez, chair of Acequia Jarosa, told the county commission that a permitted garage appears to have damaged a 24-inch irrigation pipe, backing up water and leaving 34 irrigators without water; he asked the county to assist in locating and clearing the blockage.
During public comment, Toby Martinez identified himself as chairman of Acequia Jarosa and reported an irrigation disruption he said followed recent construction. Martinez said a newly built, permitted garage appears to have been constructed over the acequia easement; concrete-truck traffic has reportedly compacted or blocked a 24-inch corrugated irrigation pipe, causing water to back up, flood fields and a sewer plant and prevent 34 irrigators from using their water.
Martinez asked the county to help investigate and to use a device (a “pig”) that can be inserted into the pipeline to locate the blockage. He said the landowner who permitted the building did not contact acequia leaders or inspectors who could have alerted them to the pipeline’s location. “We have 34 people that need to irrigate that can't irrigate,” Martinez told the commissioners and asked for county assistance to resolve the problem.
Commission staff responded that they would look into the matter and follow up with Martinez.
