Wet winter gives rise to robust Rio Grande

Excerpts from article in the Santa Fe New Mexican, May 5, 2019, by Robert Nott

Wet winter gives rise to robust Rio Grande

RIO GRANDE DEL NORTE NATIONAL MONUMENT — The Rio Grande was running fast, high and wide … as John and Michelle Hood stood near a 14-foot rubber raft, preparing their 4-year-old daughter for her first rafting trip. Was Elizabeth Hood excited about her watery sojourn? “Yeah,” said the girl, whose family was visiting from Denver.

Minutes later, the Hoods were off, paddling a raft helmed by longtime river guide Britt Runyon of Dixon-based New Wave Rafting. The party trailed behind a small flotilla of at least a half-dozen rafts moving down the river. With the river benefiting from runoff generated by a strong snowmelt this year, Runyon predicted a good season for river tourism. “Everybody says it’s gonna be a huge year and I think they’re right,” he said.

Below the surface, that runoff could serve an even greater benefit, Runyon said. The rushing water will clear away sediment that had collected on the river bottom during drier years. It will provide water to the flora and fauna along the banks, offering nourishment to insects and other land animals. The fish, in turn, will have more bugs to feast on and the wet conditions will help those fish spawn. That’s because the Rio Grande, long accustomed to dry spells, will, in essence, get to take a much-needed drink of water.

Runyon, who has worked for New Wave Rafting since 1984 and has traveled the Rio Grande since 1968, keeps a daily journal of his observations about the river. He doesn’t think there is a “normal” anymore when it comes to the Rio Grande. “It’s like a lot of rivers,” he said. “It’s having trouble because of water, or a lack of it.”

Wet winter!