NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has signed a new agreement with the Albuquerque-Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority on water storage at Abiquiu Reservoir. The new deal allows water from the Rio Grande system to be stored at the look for the first time and increases its storage capacity from 200,000 acre-feet to 230,000 acre-feet.
Before that, the reservoir was only able to store water from the San Juan-Chama project. “I like to say we’re not in the water supply business, but we are in the water availability business. And the way we operate our facilities and do our work, we can work with all of our to reduce our drought resilience across the arid west,” said Michael Connor, Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works.
The Corps of Engineers said water storage must comply with all state and federal laws including the Rio Grande Compact.
