Corrales Council Receives Update on Long-Running Siphon Replacement, River Mile 199

Jason Casuga delivered a technical briefing to the Village of Corrales council on the long-running Corrales Siphon replacement and the adjacent Rio Grande River Mile 199 maintenance project, and officials said federal rerouting work will proceed to protect riverside infrastructure and levees. Casuga told council, "So, as many folks know, there's not a ton of activity going on at the siphon on the Corrales side. The project is still going forward."

Records and meeting materials list Casuga with differing affiliations: he is variously identified as director of the Middle Rio Grande Flood Control Authority, as CEO of the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District, and in truncated material as "acting manager of the Bureau" of an unnamed bureau. Council staff and agency contacts should be asked to confirm his formal title for the public record.

Councilors were told the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation will begin to reroute the Rio Grande channel under the River Mile 199 maintenance plan, a multi-phase effort described as the first of three planned rerouting phases. Nazario, identified only by surname in the briefing materials, said the reroute aims to protect riverside infrastructure from erosion north of Albuquerque and to protect the riverside levee system at three points where meandering currently threatens the levee. The briefing noted the next rerouting could occur as early as June, with a goal for a final rerouting in early 2027.

Technical work on the Corrales side of the siphon remains constrained by specific contractor and equipment issues: council materials record "some issues with the conductor casing, along with an auger that the contractor had in there." Council discussion placed those problems alongside longstanding land-access and permitting delays that have pushed the replacement project over multiple seasons.

The briefing revisited community impacts from the siphon failure and recent river behavior: the siphon was shut down in August due to low Rio Grande water levels, forcing local farmers to "rely on Mother Nature to water their crops," and high spring snowmelt flows previously washed away a couple hundred feet of riverbank and several large cottonwoods just south of the siphon. Mayor Jim Fahey told the council the village has been working with the MRGCD, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and the Army Corps of Engineers to shore up the riverbank.

A major advance reported to council came from the Pueblo of Sandia, where Governor Felix Chaves said the tribe and MRGCD signed a non-binding term sheet addressing land access and past trespass, allowing early construction activities to proceed. Chaves said, "They had been in trespass for nearly 100 years on tribal lands," and added, "It’s unfortunate that BIA took so long, but the Pueblo took measures to speed things along, fully aware of the impact of the siphon’s failure on the village of Corrales." The term sheet, officials said, permits test borings and staging on tribal land while lawyers complete final contracts, and Chaves contacted Mayor James Fahey’s office after tribal council approval to share the development.

With the term sheet in place and federal agencies lined up for river work, councilors were left with a concrete near-term schedule: early-stage construction and site borings can move forward immediately under the agreement, the Bureau of Reclamation will begin channel rerouting as described by Nazario, the next rerouting phase is slated as early as June, and project planners target a final rerouting in early 2027. A video of the council update is associated with the Village of Corrales' regular council meeting on Jan. 20, 2026, which contains the technical briefing for those seeking the full discussion on record.