Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1922-02-24
COUNTY BOARD Seeks ORDER OF
COURT COMPELLING THE FLOOD
COMMISSIONER TO build JETTY
Climax Reached in Pajarito River-Cave Situa-
ton; Ranchers Claim They Pay for Flood
Protection and Do Not Get 1t; Commits
sioner Rankin Files Written Report.

Active steps for the protection
of property. including the public
highway about a mile north Of
Paiarito. from the inroads of the
Rio Grande were taken by the
county commissioners at their
meeting yesterday Following the
refusal of County Flood Commits
sioner Don Rankin to build a
lefty in the river to divert its
course and to use flood funds
for this purpose, the commission
ers instructed the district attor-
ney to bring a mandamus pro-
ceeding in the district court to
seek to compel this action on the
part of the flood commissioner.
The action came after a long
discussion of the subject One OF
the main speakers was Frank
Huhbell, who owns land near
Paiarito and who claimed that
the ranchers paid taxes fro flood
protection, but that when the
time came for them to secure the
protection, they were unable to
get any official interested in the
matter.
The mandamus action will be
brought at once and the matter
will be threshed out in the dis
trict court. 1t is possible that
Judge Harry p. owen Will be on
the bench to hear the case as
Judge NJ. +. Hickey is now out
of the city and speed is necessary
in order that the work, If ordered,
can be completed before the
spring high waters.
Flood Commissioner Rankin
bases his refusal to build the
proposed jetty from flood funds
on the claims that such funds
cannot be used to protect person
ally held land; that the property
owners should bear such expense
and that the trouble lies with the
present system of irrig a t
bitches.
Rankin's Report.
Substantiating this contention,
the flood commissioner submitted
the following report of the sit
uation:
Honorable Board of County Com
nissioners, Bernalillo County
New MeXico:
'Gentlemen-Some twenty years
ago this same proposition of d.
verting the river at nearly the
same place came up, and at that
time l made some recommended
lions to the county commissioners,
but did not put them in writing,
and they were overlooked and
soon forgotten and no action talk
en- on them. So l am going to
make them in writing.
This other occasion was divert
ing the river from cutting its
banks at the Ranches De Atrlsco
church. l then took the ground
that this was not a proper expen-
diture of flood funds, as the river
was not at any flood stage. but
was low, and that if the county
went to the expense of diverting
the river the acequia commission
or would soon be building wing
dams to get the water into the
aceuuia Just below that point and
the work would have to be done
over again.
"Mr. Frank Clancy, who was
district attorney at that time, told
the commissioners that | was
right about the flood fund. and
they could not be used for the
purpose asked. The people at that
time furnished the labor and ma
terial themselves and by putting
drags in the river we diverted 1t
and stopped the erosion.
II recommended at that time
that the intakes of all acequias
should be made more substantial
and permanent and that the own
ers of all the acequias should be
required before diverting the river
into the intakes, to riprap the
banks of the river both above and
below such intakes, so there would
be no erosion of the banks from
such diversion by them. If this
was done the continued changing
of the river channel would cease
and the expense of protecting the
bank would be at a minimum.
II now want to recommend tnat
all the owners of acequias on the
west side of the river join in one
large intake far enough north so
that water from it could be distrib-
ulGu " Tic NdllOhS llAdJOl eANtHh lelet
that the river bank for a quarter of
a mile above such intake be pro-
tected from caving and erosion and
that the river bank below such in
take be protected as far down the
river as the current stays against
the bank.
1.-THE first cost of such an under
taking will be expensive, but it
would do away with more expense
every year of diverting water into
the intakes, as the river channel
would always remain against the
permanent riprapped bank, because
it would scour out a deep channel
near it and this channel would not
be filled up by the caving bank.
This is why the river channel al
ways stays near a bluff or any high
perpendicular bank, because the
increased velocity of the current
from the decreased friction on the
perpendicular bank scours out a
channel and keeps it secured out, SO
that there would always be water at
the intake if they were made per-
manent and the bank protected be-
low there from erosion and caving;
that is, provided there was any
water in the river.
'The whole trouble with the
widening and filling up Of the river
bed has come about because of
faulty intake construction Of the
various acequias, and the expense
of controlling the river will in
crease from year to year as the
river bed is filled up by these
faulty practices.
1T would take from fifteen to
twenty-five thousand dollars to do
the work that have been asked to
do this year by various committees
and this would grow to forty to
fifty thousand in very few years
under the present methods.
This expense of permanent in
takes should be born by special as