Feds issue warning as group fights for more Rio Grande water

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Environmentalists are challenging decades-old permits that allow one of New Mexico's major irrigation districts to pull water from the Rio Grande, saying the district has failed to prove to state regulators that it's putting the water to beneficial use.

The lawsuit filed in state district court in Santa Fe comes as federal officials warned Tuesday that climate change is expected to leave even less water in the river for municipalities, farmers and endangered species.

The environmental group claims the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District — which delivers irrigation water to more than 100 square miles of cropland in central New Mexico — has failed to prove to the state engineer's office that the water being diverting under permits issued more than 80 years ago is being put to beneficial use.

According to the federal report, supplies in the Upper Rio Grande are expected to decrease over the course of the 21st century by one-fourth in Colorado and one-third in New Mexico.