Rio Grande managers eye federal cash for western drought


              FILE - Tomas De Leon, foreman of the Hidalgo County Irrigation District #3 pump station, walks along a canal that feeds water from the Rio Grande, Sept. 14, 2021, in Hidalgo, Texas. With several billion dollars in federal money secured for drought-stricken western states, managers and officials on the Rio Grande are hopeful some will reach their communities and bring attention to the challenges facing one of North America’s longest rivers. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)
            
              FILE - A man walks along a canal near the Hidalgo County Irrigation District #3 pump station that feeds water from the Rio Grande, Sept. 14, 2021, in Hidalgo, Texas. With several billion dollars in federal money secured for drought-stricken western states, managers and officials on the Rio Grande are hopeful some will reach their communities and bring attention to the challenges facing one of North America’s longest rivers. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)
            
              FILE - Fish biologists work to rescue the endangered silvery minnows from pools of water in the dry Rio Grande riverbed July 26, 2022, in Albuquerque, N.M. With several billion dollars in federal money secured for drought-stricken western states, managers and officials on the Rio Grande are hopeful some will reach their communities and bring attention to the challenges facing one of North America’s longest rivers. (AP Photo/Brittany Peterson, File)
            
              FILE - Dead Rio Grande silvery minnows lie in the dry Rio Grande riverbed July 26, 2022, in Albuquerque, N.M. With several billion dollars in federal money secured for drought-stricken western states, managers and officials on the Rio Grande are hopeful some will reach their communities and bring attention to the challenges facing one of North America’s longest rivers. (AP Photo/Brittany Peterson, File)
            
              FILE - A cyclist bikes through a mostly dry Rio Grande riverbed July 27, 2022, in Albuquerque, N.M. With several billion dollars in federal money secured for drought-stricken western states, managers and officials on the Rio Grande are hopeful some will reach their communities and bring attention to the challenges facing one of North America’s longest rivers. (AP Photo/Brittany Peterson, File)