Weather conditions since early May have provided several challenges for our agronomy staff at Las Campanas. The hot, dry weather in May and June required using a lot of water to get the golf courses in their current top notch condition. In early July the yearly monsoon began, providing some relief from the heat and dryness. However the heaviest and most persistent rains have been in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, Los Alamos and the Jemez Mountains. Precipitation events resulting in runoff from these watersheds have contributed sediment and residual ash from the Las Conchas Fire that exceeds Buckman Direct Diversion intake standards. This led to a shut down of operations at the BDD on July 4. Since the shut down, we have received virtually no irrigation water from the river and our lake storage has continually been depleted. The prognosis for restarting the diversion in the next weeks is not clear.
During this time, we have been working closely with BDD operations, the County and the City to develop workable backup arrangements for this extraordinary event. On Wednesday, July 25, Las Campanas received approval to initiate shipment of water from backup water sources operated by the City of Santa Fe. More normal irrigation schedules have now been put in place.
While these new arrangements are temporary, we expect to work closely with the City, the County and BDD to secure the long term integrity of our course irrigation system.
Thank you for your patience during this difficult period.
Regards,
David Loan, CCM
GM / COO