Tag: Rio Grande

A Persistence Of Wastewater

Timothy Price48 Comments

Corrales flood control channel this afternoon.

When I first started riding in July, the flood control channel was dry, and I could ride across the arroyo where the water ends, 300 yards from where I took this photo. At first, the flood control channel filled with water from rain collected on the west mesa up to 20 miles west of Corrales. That was the beginning of the second week of September. Since the beginning of October, the flood control channel has been filled with water. However, we have had zero rain in Corrales in October and little rain in Rio Rancho west of Corrales. I finally came to the realization that the water in the flood control channel is the treated wastewater from Rio Rancho backing up into the channel. I have not investigated why the water is backing up into the flood control channel now when the channel was dry in July, August, and the first week of September.

The treated wastewater from Rio Rancho is released into the mouth of the flood control channel near the levy and flows into the Rio Grande, as does the runoff collected by the flood control channel. Rio Rancho is the third largest city in New Mexico, with 109,060 people in 2023.

Cyclists, runners, and hikers who want to cross the flood control channel to continue north or south on the levee or the Bosque trail either have to ford the water or walk, run, or ride 200 yards into the flood control channel to get around the water.

The outlet for Rio Rancho’s treated wastewater.

Treated wastewater flowing toward the mouth of the flood control channel. The water smells like chlorine and detergents. I was surprised to see people fishing there the other day.

Different views of the treated wastewater outlet.

Erosion east of the current outlet. The erosion may be from before they reworked the area. The photo on the right is looking west from the eroded area.

The photo on the left was taken on 9/9/2023. The photo on the right was taken on 10/28/2023. You can see how much farther the water extends into the channel in the photo on the right.

Sasha and Glenda hovering over the heater.

It’s cold this week. The cats are clamoring for the space heaters we use to warm the spaces close to us. The cats were all piled up on me at 3:50 AM this morning. I had a cold ride this afternoon with the temps in the low 40s.

Cats from head to toe: Sasha on my chest in the foreground. Gwendolyn’s ears are on the right in the foreground. She was under the covers, resting her head on my shoulder. After Sasha is Marble, Spunk, Silver, and then Glenda is at the end of the bed, curled up on my feet. Loki was on Laurie out of the picture.

Mighty Dry Rio Grande

Timothy Price48 Comments

The crescent moon and Venus at dawn

When I was young, the Rio Grande would flood into the Bosque in the springtime and then dry up completely by the end of June and stay dry until the middle of July or the beginning of August after the monsoon rains started. After Cochiti Dam opened in 1973 and the Conservancy started holding water in Cochiti Lake, the spring floodwaters were controlled along with the flow of the Rio Grande. The river has not flooded into the bosque in Corrales in 50 years. The Rio Grande is currently running at its “natural flow,” according to the Conservancy, and it is down to a trickle on the west side of the sand bar at the Alameda Bridge, 3.5 miles south of where we live.

Standing on the bed of the Rio Grande looking north at Alameda Bridge.

Alameda Bridge, looking at the old bridge, now pedestrian. You can see the pillars of the new bridge on the other side. Note the large, rusty pipe running under the bridge. When I was in middle school, I used to get kicked off the school bus often, so I had to walk 6 miles to school, including crossing the old Alameda Bridge. One morning, a friend, who also got kicked off the bus, was walking to school with me. I decided to add some excitement to the walk and tried crawling across the river on the big pipe (painted back then). The river was running low, and while trying to crawl around one of the brackets that held the pipe to the bridge, I slipped off the pipe and fell into the river. I got to school half-wet, my clothes were drying out by the time I got to school, and I was covered with crusty mud. People used to tell my mom I would grow up to be a no-good-for-nothing delinquent. Now that I think about it, I’m grown up and old enough to go on Medicare; those people were right. If I hadn’t dropped out of high school, I could consider going to the 50th high school reunion in 2026. Then those folks who are still alive could say, “I told you so!”

Intermission: Tradescant Rose.

Rio Grande archipelago

I believe this is a boat launch/landing area for rafts, canoes, kayaks, paddleboards, and the annoying airboat the Fire Department uses to patrol the river when the water is high.

Sunset