Our state is facing a catastrophic water crisis and is currently failing to meet a critical legal obligation. Under the Rio Grande Compact, New Mexico is required to deliver sufficient water downstream to the Elephant Butte Reservoir for users in southern New Mexico and Texas. New Mexico is NOT meeting this obligation.
The Crisis at a Glance
If we continue to fail to meet our water deliveries, we will likely find ourselves in another expensive lawsuit with potentially dire financial and water management consequences. The latest data reveals that New Mexico’s cumulative water delivery debt to Elephant Butte Reservoir has reached 167,600 acre-feet as of September 2025—perilously close to the Compact’s 200,000 acre-foot legal limit. Over the past decade and a half, we have averaged 20,000 acre feet under-delivery. We are operating on borrowed time and borrowed water and rapidly running out of the Compact’s allowed “breathing room.”
The root of this problem is clear: systemic overuse and a lack of decisive water rights enforcement, particularly concerning unregulated groundwater pumping in the Middle Rio Grande that impacts river flows.
We cannot afford to wait for a lawsuit to force action. Our legislators and water managers must demonstrate courage and act now while they still have options.
What You Must Do: A Call to Protect New Mexico’s Water
1. Read and Share the Facts
Understand the urgency by reviewing the details presented by experts and advocates.
- Read the latest analysis: Middle Rio Grande Water Debt to Elephant Butte Nears Legal Limit and Legislators Agree: New Mexico’s Water Situation is Dire. Things We Must Do.
- Understand Corporate Thirst: The Compact debt is driven by systemic illegal uses and overuse, but it is worsened by impending corporate demands. Learn about the controversial deals that would further drain our state’s limited supply. Watch our September Workshop “Niagara’s Water Rights Transfer: Bad for New Mexico” and register for our October workshop “The Rio Grande Reckoning: Data Centers, Debt, and the Compact Crisis.”
- Share the warning with your friends, family, and community networks to raise awareness about the immediate threat. We all need to understand that water is not just a utility; it is the foundation of New Mexico’s culture, economy, and survival.
2. Contact Your Representatives and Officials
The time for action is now. Your voice must demand that our leaders recognize this as an immediate crisis requiring action, not a political problem to be kicked down the road.
📞 Contact your State Legislator and the Office of the State Engineer and demand they take immediate, concrete steps to lessen the risk of violating the Compact:
- Enforce Water Rights: Ask Legislators to improve the State Engineer’s authority to enforce illegal and overuse of our water.
- Require Water Metering: Ask the State Engineer to immediately require metering in the Middle Rio Grande.
And request the funding needed:
- Fund the Future: Demand that the 2026 Legislature fully fund and require the decisive implementation of the 2023 Water Security Planning Act.
- Modernize Agencies: Push for the funding and modernization necessary for water agencies to finally enforce existing laws and collect accurate water data.
➡️ Find your legislator here, noting their legislative aide and contact information, and please see our talking points and sample letter to call or write your legislator and contact the office of the State Engineer.
As you leave this page, we ask you to pause and consider what water means to you. What does this precious natural resource mean to your family, your heritage, or your daily life? Now, take that deep, personal conviction and commitment to the future of our state and carry it into every conversation you have on this crisis. Your voice and your personal story are the most powerful tools we have in this fight for New Mexico’s water security.
¡Agua es Vida: Do Your Part!