Maybe you’ve noticed the Rio Pueblo has stopped flowing somewhere just past where Upper and Lower Ranchitos Road meet. That’s because the river’s water has been diverted to flow into the San Franciso de Padua ditch while important work concludes on the acequia’s dam and headgate.
This ditch was awarded $165,000 back in August of last year – funds from the economic stimulus money, which were delivered to Taos by then-Governor Bill Richardson.
The process for these improvements actually began more than 10 years ago, even though the actual work did not begin until about two and a half months ago.
We talked with workmen on the project and they say the work will be finished in a couple more weeks.
One of the more tedious parts of the job are filling wire baskets with large stones then stacking the baskets to create the dam.
The money for this acequia project must be spent by the end of this month, and it looks like the project will be finished right on time.
The project is managed by the Interstate Stream Commission.