Articles
Dive deeper into the complex world of New Mexico water issues with our curated collection of articles.
Explore a wide range of topics, from the impacts of climate change and water overuse to success stories found in communities around the state. We provide insights into water security policy and planning, governance reform, legislative actions, and more, empowering you to become a more informed advocate for our precious water resource.
Latest Articles
New Mexico’s water resource management agencies are telling the Legislature that New Mexico faces Middle Rio Grande compact jeopardy and lacks capacity to prevent that jeopardy from becoming a disaster. What jeopardy, you might be thinking? This is how the Office of the State Engineer (OSE) describes it (emphasis in the original): If hydrology does not improve, and without further action, New Mexico could violate the Rio Grande Compact – an agreement between New Mexico and our neighboring states related to how the waters of the river are shared. A compact violation could trigger curtailment and/or costly litigation that may result in severe and unpredictable shocks to the economy and water supply for agricultural and municipal users in the middle and lower Rio Grande. […] If depletion reductions are managed in a proactive manner, New Mexicans can retain local […]
This is a critique of the water-related special appropriations in House Bill 2, the 2025 General Appropriation Act that passed the House on February 24. The appropriations emphasize treating brackish water as a niche water supply rather than seeking broad […]
Planning versus “a plan” John R. Brown It may have been Dwight Eisenhower who said that “plans are worthless, but planning is everything.” A plan, in other words, may become outdated or irrelevant nearly as soon as it is agreed […]
House Bill 2, the 2025 General Appropriation Act, favors dirty water clean-up over good water stewardship. This is a huge mistake. Learn more and why we are asking the Senate to now allocate $6.9 million to cover "shovel-ready" implementation work.
February 24, 2025 via email to: Director Riseley-White for distribution to Commissioners New Mexico Interstate Stream Commission Santa Fe, New Mexico Attention: Ms. Hannah Riseley-White, Director RE: Public Comment on ISC Discussion Draft Rules & Guidelines for Regional Water Security Planning Dear […]
by John R. Brown This essay argues for an alternative to a mechanistic application of “priority administration” to allocate the “waters of New Mexico.” The 2023 Water Security Planning Act (WSP) provides flexibility at local and regional levels to move […]
Introduction The NM Legislature intended regional water security planning to be a New Mexico regional and community water resilience problem-solving tool and unanimously passed the 2023 Water Security Planning Act to authorize it and provide for state funding. For the […]
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