Corrales mayor updates budget, water concerns, and volunteer needs

Corrales irrigators and homeowners are heading into spring with a real water risk: the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District suspended deliveries to the village after Rio Grande levels dropped below the threshold needed to keep temporary pumping operations running. That leaves surface irrigation water potentially scarce this year unless rainfall and river conditions improve, a problem that will be felt first by home gardeners, small growers, acequia users and residents watching landscaping costs.

The district said the pumps at the siphon area lift water from the Rio Grande into the Corrales Main Canal, and it kept pumping as long as conditions allowed. It had already warned on April 9 that declining river levels could soon affect Corrales deliveries. The district also said the new Corrales siphon is still under construction, is expected to be completed before the end of 2026, and should replace the temporary pumps for Corrales irrigation deliveries during the 2027 season.

The longer-term fix is tied to a political and engineering process that has stretched for years. In May 2025, Sandia Pueblo Governor Felix Chaves said an agreement had been reached with MRGCD over the Corrales Siphon easement, removing a major obstacle to the replacement project. The mayor’s latest message also said the Corrales Water Team’s combine-and-commingle application to the Office of the State Engineer drew no protests. The state engineer administers New Mexico water resources, including surface and groundwater, and Corrales officials have spent months pushing a 40-year water plan and related water-rights filings. Local reporting also said the council approved a $2 million loan in late 2025 to support that work.

The water warning landed alongside budget planning. Village staff held a budget workshop with Finance, other departments, council and administration, and the full preliminary budget will return for discussion at the May 12 council meeting. The revised ICIP list, which has long been a flashpoint in Corrales because it helps define which infrastructure projects rise to the top of the village’s long-range priorities, will be discussed at the April 28 council meeting. That meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at the Council/Municipal Court Chambers, 4324 Corrales Road, with Zoom participation available. The agenda notice said the supporting packet would be posted after 5 p.m. Friday.

The mayor’s update also pointed residents to civic work already underway. The Corrales Historical Society’s Mudding & Spring-Cleaning Day at Old San Ysidro Church, 966 Old Church Road, was set for April 25 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. as part of the ¡Viva Corrales! schedule, and the society continues to seek veteran photos for its archives, especially from women and from more recent eras such as Vietnam. The Kiwanis Club is also looking for volunteers to help plan and run the Harvest Festival, a reminder that in Corrales, the village’s most immediate needs run from water to budgets to the volunteers who keep its traditions alive.