Hunting for signs of hope in a hot, dry June

With a high pressure system parked over the Four Corners, Albuquerque has been hot and dry, and in this week’s episode Rin Tara and John Fleck don’t shy away from the bad water news weighing on New Mexico:

• Total flow on the Rio Grande at Otowi so far this year is the lowest it has been since 1904
•  81 miles of the Rio Grande’s main channel between Otowi and San Marcial is dry
• The federal government has stopped paying to monitor the Rio Grande for Los Alamos National Laboratory contamination at Santa Fe’s Buckman diversion

But they also see hopeful signs:

• Forecasters say odds favor a wet summer monsoon season, the July-September period that brings afternoon thunderstorms to Albuquerque
• While the Rio Grande’s main channel is dry through large stretches of Albuquerque, the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy district was able to capture some of the flow from recent rains to deliver water to irrigators in and around Albuquerque
• Delivering water to Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District outfalls to keep a bit of water flowing in the Rio Grande’s main channel

Other links and news of note:

•  Restoring the headwaters
• Albuquerque’s drinking water quality report
• Surface water quality standards