Effects of Changes in Irrigation and Land Use on Streamflow in the Revuelto Creek Watershed, a Tributary of the Canadian River in New Mexico, USA

Extensive development in the Canadian River watershed in New Mexico and Texas occurred in the 20 century to supply water for irrigation, and municipal and industrial uses. In recent years (2000-2009), these infrastructures have not been able to supply sufficient water to meet demands. The objective of this study was to assess the effects of changes in irrigation allotments and land use to the Arch Hurley Conservancy District on streamflow out of Revuelto Creek, a tributary of the Canadian River in eastern New Mexico, USA. Outflow from Revuelto Creek varied considerably from 1961 to 2009. The best predictor of annual outflow was a two-component linear model with terms for annual precipitation and the annual irrigation allotment to the Arch Hurley Conservancy District. ArcSWAT (GIS extension of the Soil Water Assessment Tool) simulated outflow from Revuelto Creek best when historical values for irrigation allotments were used in the management operations for cropland. These results indicate that annual irrigation allotments of approximately 123,000,000 m increased outflow from the creek by approximately 25,000,000 m. Years in which the irrigation allotments to the district exceeded 100,000,000 m corresponded to years in which water was released from Ute Lake. These results suggest that managers of Lake Meredith need to take into account water availability upstream of Ute Dam when devising plans for Lake Meredith.