Ash concerns cause Albuquerque to cut of Rio Grande water

July 23, 2011

we just learned that the water authority in albuquerque will stop pumping water from the rio grande this weekend because of dark, ashy water. eddie garcia tells us where the water is coming from ... and why it's a big concern for a lot of people. this dark, murky water is in the rio grande and can really be seen in irrigation ditches in bernalillo. the forest service says rain water washed ash from the los conchas and into the river. black water that smells like smoke and ash is running in the bernalillo bosque. rose jaramillo has lived here for more than 40 years and she's never seen it likehis - this is terrible! and she wants nothing to do with it. we won't use it. my grandson used it but he didn't know it was black. her grandson joe was doing yard work - irrigating the family's ranch this morning when the water suddenly ran black. he says this is serious for other ranchers who depend on the water. this us just the water that feeds all the reservations down sandia for all the farmers that crop their alfalfa. his brother michael has worries of his own. main concern of course is what is it going to do to the plants, the animals? like i said my brother has horses and those are the main concerns. joe's making sure his horse has fresh water for now but hopes he can soon get help from mother nature. hoping it will rain a little bit tonight so we can clean this field up a little bit. the water authority says to make up for the lack of water being pumped from the rio grande... they'll be switching over to groundwater for the weekend