Stay informed about the latest legislative actions and policy developments related to water management in New Mexico, including bills, hearings, and advocacy efforts.
We’re Asking the Governor & Legislature to Fund State Water Agencies to Secure A Better Water Future
Senator Liz Stefanics, Chair of both the Legislature’s Water and Natural Resources Committee and the Senate Conservation Committee, asked water advocates to identify financial resources needed to confront New Mexico’s deepening water crisis. The New Mexico Water Advocates responded with three essential programs: Rio GrandeCompact Compliance, Water Data infrastructure, and Regional Water Security Planning.
These are not long-term wish-list items. They were recommended specifically by the 2022 New Mexico Water Policy and Infrastructure Task Force. They are well-vetted and justified emergency responses to New Mexico’s water crisis that is already destabilizing communities and ecosystems and threatening our economy. New Mexico is over-using its renewable water supplies while climate heating drives aridification and the decline of both groundwater and surface water resources. The State must improve its ability to comply with the Rio Grande Compact, to track and manage actual water use, and to plan realistically for a more resilient water future that is now in jeopardy.
These three programs are designed to meet the crisis and bring it under control. Together they build the State’s essential capacity to enforce water rights, meet New Mexico’s Rio Grande Compact obligations, generate and share reliable water data, and empower regional planning councils to act on that information. Only the State of New Mexico, through its agencies and technical institutions, has the authority and responsibility to do these essential jobs. With adequate funding to begin multi-year efforts this session, the State can start stabilizing the crisis and lay the foundation for science-based, transparent, and durable water governance. Without funding, New Mexico will remain in emergency mode—reacting to shortages, assuming the enormous risk and costs that a compact violation unleashes, and defending against new Texas litigation—instead of preventing or managing to mitigate them.
Rio Grande Compact Accrued Debit/Credit History
1) Rio Grande Compact Compliance
New Mexico must meet its delivery obligations to Texas and the United States while protecting communities and ecosystems in the Middle Rio Grande. We recommend:
$10 million (one-time) to the Office of the State Engineer (OSE) to implement the Lower Rio Grande settlement and prevent a new Rio Grande Compact violation due to Middle Rio Grande water overuse. At the current trend, we have only two years and perhaps only one to prevent new Texas v. New Mexico litigation. An emergency clause is needed to provide funding as early in 2026 as possible.
$1 million (recurring) for enforcement capacity—staff, office space, vehicles, and equipment—so the OSE can enforce Lower and Middle Rio Grande water rights.
Pass the Water Rights Enforcement bill, the 2025 measure to modernize an outdated statute that stalled on the Senate floor awaiting a final vote. The State Engineer needs workable administrative enforcement authority to stop illegal water uses without having to sue the user.
Why it matters: The Lower Rio Grande settlement requires New Mexico’s detailed plan in two years to substantially reduce Lower Rio Grande water use and full compliance in 10 years. At the present trend, Middle Rio Grande illegal water overuse will cause a compact violation in two years.
2) Water Data to Support Planning & Management
New Mexico’s water decisions are only as good as the data behind them. We recommend:
$7 million (one-time) to the OSE to replace the outdated water-rights database and application, build a real-time water-use database and application, and implement a modern management information system.
$3 million (one-time) to NM Tech for the Bureau of Geology & Mineral Resources (NMBGMR) to contract with Water Data Act directing agencies to publish priority datasets to the state water data catalogue. These datasets will be selected in consultation with the Interstate Stream Commission (ISC) to help ensure regional water planning councils have the best available science, data, and models.
$21.5 million (one-time) to NM Tech for NMBGMR to accelerate the statewide Aquifer Mapping Program—geophysics, new characterization and monitoring wells, and term staff—to illuminate where, how fast, and why groundwater conditions are changing.
Why it matters: You cannot manage what you don’t measure. These investments give local water managers, planners, and the public the transparent, timely information demanded by aridification, warming, and overuse.
3) Regional Water Security Planning
To make the Water Security Planning Act work on the ground, regions must organize credible councils and set pragmatic work plans. We recommend:
$4.8 million (one-time) to the OSE for the ISC to make grants to nine regional entities to stand up councils and develop work plans for Commission approval. The appropriation includes 6% for ISC administrative costs at $300,000.
Why it matters: Durable solutions are local and data driven. Funding regional councils to organize and plan with the best data available creates a transparent path from facts to decisions.
Bottom line: New Mexico is overusing declining renewable water supplies in a warming climate. The responsible fix is not slogans or one-off projects. It is steady, statewide capacity in water law enforcement, water data, aquifer science, and regional planning. Please urge your legislators to fund these requests and pass the enforcement bill this session. It’s the most cost-effective way to protect communities, economies, and rivers—not just this year, but for decades.
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.
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.
Water and Natural Resources Committee of the NM Legislature
Public Comment Letter: Confronting Water Planning and Governance Neglect
Executive Summary
New Mexico faces escalating water crises—including aquifer depletion, unsustainable surface water use, unsettled tribal water rights, and the likelihood of a Rio Grande Compact violation by 2026. Yet the State lacks the capacity to respond effectively. The Office of the State Engineer and Interstate Stream Commission do not have sufficient resources to fulfill their mandates.
The 2023 Water Security Planning Act requires a decentralized regional planning program. Regions cannot succeed until they are funded. The ISC’s centralized, consultant-driven approach is causing delays and undercutting regional council formation.
False promises of game-changing amounts of “new water” have diverted legislative attention and resources from urgently needed investments in protecting our good water.
Key Recommendations to the Legislature’s Water and Natural Resources Committee:
Modernize and fund core state water agencies through one-time, multi-year appropriations tied to accountable progress toward outcomes.
Ensure near-term implementation of the Water Security Planning Act by holding ISC accountable for timely implementation of the Act’s decentralization mandate and offering grant funding for all Regional Water Planning areas to initiate self-organization in FY26.
Address the imminent new Compact violation risk due to Middle Rio Grande water overuse by providing the State Engineer with the practical enforcement authority and resources to administer diversions.
Meet New Mexico’s water needs by investing in water planning and management. Stop the neglect.
These actions align with the Committee’s 2025 work plan and are essential to restoring trust, resilience, and legal compliance in New Mexico’s water future.
For legislators serious about water governance, these two presentations are essential viewing
At recent NM Water Advocates workshops, Nat Chakeres, General Counsel for the Office of the State Engineer, and Dr. Maurice Hall, an expert water resources engineer and senior advisor at the Environmental Defense Fund, delivered two of the clearest and most compelling explanations yet of New Mexico’s urgent water governance challenges—and how to address them. Click the images below to access the video recordings.
1. Nat Chakeres – State Engineer’s Strategic Approach
Chakeres, the state’s lead water attorney, argues that the time for delay is over. His key messages:
In western water management, there is no better alternative to a negotiated agreement.
Litigation is not a prerequisite to serious negotiation.
We must act now to prevent a new U.S. Supreme Court case with Texas.
The State must quantify all Middle Rio Grande water rights, including the time-immemorial rights of six Pueblos.
The state must begin active measurement and administration of diversions.
Priority Administration doesn’t work well or consider cities, hospitals, schools, homes and the sacred, the spiritual, and the living.
These water demands and other equitable claims are not going away.
Above all, New Mexico needs bold state and local leadership to manage our way out of crisis.
We don’t need another lawsuit—we need negotiated agreements, real water measurement & management, and bold leadership now.
2. Dr. Maurice Hall – Managing Aquifers as Infrastructure
Hall calls for a fundamental shift in how New Mexico manages groundwater. He explains that aquifers—natural underground formations that store and move water—must be treated as essential infrastructure. To cope with rising temperatures and shrinking water supplies, aquifers must be actively managed, not passively depleted. Hall emphasizes that building groundwater resilience requires the State to:
Invest in scientific understanding through sustained support for aquifer mapping and monitoring.
Organize and modernize water use data, including full implementation of the Water Data Act and new digital tools to track and automate water use data availability for effective balancing of supply and demand.
Delegate real authority to local leaders who are closest to the challenges and solutions.
Set enforceable statewide standards for regional water plans.
Support meaningful local control of shared water resources within a clear and accountable statewide framework.
“Resilience requires local leadership, real authority, and aquifer management grounded in science—not wishful thinking.”
— Maurice Hall, Ph.D., P.E., Environmental Defense Fund
Why These Presentations Matter for Legislative Action
Together, these presentations deliver essential insights. They lay out the reasons for actions by the 2026 and 2027 Legislatures. Legislators must authorize and help New Mexico to move from overuse and inadequate information to a much more resilient and secure water future.
Legislators: watch these briefings. They offer the foundation for the water governance policy decisions New Mexico must get right before it’s too late.
Seizing the Moment for Sustainable Water Governance in New Mexico
A Long History of Knowing—and Ignoring – For more than half a century, New Mexico has known that its water future is imperiled by persistent overuse, unsustainable pumping, and institutional failure. And for just as long, it has failed to act on that knowledge. Today, we face a narrowing window of opportunity to reverse that course. The 2023 Water Security Planning Act and other recommendations of the 2022 New Mexico Water Policy and Infrastructure Task Force offer a new legal and policy framework that could help New Mexico move beyond a legacy of neglect toward a model of proactive, inclusive, and science-based water governance.
Portales, Clovis, Cannon Air Force Base, and neighboring small towns face existential water shortages.
Ogallala Collapse Foretold—and Ignored – In 1968, the New Mexico Office of the State Engineer (OSE) published Technical Report 31, authored by hydrologist William Galloway. The report warned with unambiguous clarity that groundwater mining in eastern New Mexico was unsustainable and would ultimately collapse the agricultural base of the region. A 1999 OSE modeling report confirmed this trajectory of decline for the Ogallala Aquifer. Yet no policy shift followed.
Today, the communities of Portales, Clovis, Cannon Air Force Base, and neighboring small towns face existential water shortages, as the aquifer they solely depend upon is nearly forever depleted.
The Middle Rio Grande: A Crisis Denied – A parallel pattern of neglect has persisted in the Middle Rio Grande. Overuse and over-diversion of surface water, coupled with excessive groundwater pumping, have undermined both ecological health and legal obligations. This has triggered a new Rio Grande Compact compliance emergency centered on Middle Rio Grande water overuse. The cumulative effect of local water development coupled with state inaction and self-serving local water institutions has pushed the system to the brink. Yet, there remains no unified plan or political will to rein in the overuse or enforce sustainable limits.
State Engineer General Counsel Nat Chakeres recently announced meaningful water policy changes are forthcoming. His presentation covering both the problem and the solution is the best and most accessible I have seen. He admitted it may be too late.
The Governor’s FY26 budget recommendation included dedicated staff and office space for the State Engineer to begin essential regulation of Middle Rio Grande overuse. It died by inaction of the House Appropriations and Finance Committee.
Plans Unheeded: Policy Paralysis – In 2002, the nonprofit 1000 Friends of New Mexico published Taking Charge of Our Water Destiny, a sweeping and thoughtful roadmap for comprehensive water reform. The report called for state leadership, regional empowerment, and public participation in water planning. It urged the use of science, transparency, and collaboration as the foundation of decision-making.
Two decades later, those recommendations remain strikingly relevant—and largely unfulfilled. Once again, knowledge was not the problem; the failure was in the doing.
Once again, knowledge was not the problem; the failure was in the doing.
Public Welfare Standard: Dormant by Design – The consequences of that failure are now visible statewide: rivers drying, aquifers collapsing, and legal obligations nearing breach. Yet even now, decision-makers struggle to apply the tools that already exist. One of the most powerful is the statutory requirement that water rights transactions be consistent with the public welfare of the state. Though this criterion was added to New Mexico law in the 1980s, it has never been defined or interpreted to reflect today’s hydrologic, ecological, or societal realities.
As legal scholar Susanne Dooley Hoffman wrote in 1997, the public welfare standard is a dormant authority—a tool requiring additional legislative definition to ensure that private water use aligns with the broader needs of communities, ecosystems, and future generations. These essential and equitable needs were described by Mr. Chakares as valid claims “that are not going away.”
Ms. Hoffman-Dooley argued that the Legislature’s designation of “the public welfare of the State” as one of three statutory criteria for the State Engineer’s discretionary approvals without defining it is unconstitutional. Almost three decades later, we now await a New Mexico Supreme Count decision related to an illegal lease of a previously dormant Pecos River water right in the Intrepid case by a State Engineer that abused the public welfare of the state criterion. The ISC protested the application that the State Engineer later approved because it was so obviously counter to the public interest and dollars spent to comply with the Pecos River Compact. The State Engineer fired the ISC Director. In this case, the ISC persisted, and will be vindicated in the forthcoming decision.
Here again, the problem is not in the knowing, but in the failure to act.
Sufficient understanding and the political will to confront New Mexico’s existential water crisis does not yet exist in the Governor’s office or the Legislature.
Leadership Vacuum: Executive and Legislative Inaction – This long pattern of neglect—in science, in policy, and in law—must end. Yet the failure is not only administrative. It is also legislative. During the interim between sessions, legislative committees often hold hearings that illuminate the gravity of New Mexico’s water problems. These hearings gather testimony, generate interest, and highlight urgent needs. But rarely—if ever—do they result in committee-sponsored water policy reform legislation. In the 2025 session, the Legislature essentially ignored water resources sustainability altogether.
Meanwhile, the Governor’s office provided no water resources sustainability leadership, leaving state water institutions with a crippling lack of permission to take the bold steps required. Inaction makes it clear that sufficient understanding and the political will to confront New Mexico’s existential water crisis does not yet exist in the Governor’s office or the Legislature.
Effective water governance cannot flourish without transparency, accountability, and public inclusion.
The ISC Restricts Participation – Interstate Stream Commission’s policies are problematic examples. In March 2025, the ISC staff revealed its intended process for the Commission to promulgate regional water planning rules. The announced process would limit technical and expert testimony to only those experts selected by the ISC staff, not withstanding due process guarantees of law. Another example: the ISC’s public comment policy requires a written submission 72 hours in advance with no opportunities for public engagement at ISC public meetings.
At a time when broad civic engagement is critical, the Commission’s approach is misaligned with the scale and urgency of the water supply challenges facing the state. Effective water governance cannot flourish without transparency, deliberation of policy decisions in public, accountability, public inclusion, and yes, due process.
A Path Forward: The Promise of Polycentric Governance – The Water Security Planning Act of 2023 provides a way forward. For the first time, it mandates the creation of regional water planning councils empowered by statute and supported by state resources. These councils represent a shift toward polycentric governance: a model that recognizes the diversity of New Mexico’s water challenges and enables regionally informed solutions within a statewide framework. But that potential will not be realized if state institutions cling to the command-and-control habits of the past.
We have the legal foundation and the scientific understanding. What remains is the political courage to act.
What Must Change: Vision, Function, and Courage – To succeed, the water planning program must be grounded in a clear vision: one that distinguishes the appropriate roles of state and regional actors, prioritizes transparency and public participation, and builds from the ground up. Funding must follow function. Councils must have the means to organize themselves, evaluate and understand water data, and propose actions suited to their unique conditions. And the State Engineer and Interstate Stream Commission must lead by enabling—not overriding—local and regional responsibility.
No More Waiting – New Mexico has waited far too long to confront its water realities. But today, we have sufficient legal foundation, scientific understanding, and the community will. We lack the political courage of our elected and appointed leaders to lead and share power to confront our water crisis. To date, they collectively lack political will. We, and they, must change that.
One of the primary focuses of the New Mexico Water Advocates is advocating for critical support staff (capacity) and improved tools (such as modern computing capacity and software) for the Office of State Engineer and the Interstate Stream Commission. This past legislative session, the NM Water Advocates learned that two bills with the same purpose had been introduced in the House (HB348) and in the Senate (SB210), the main purpose being to raise the penalty for violations of State Water Law*. The existing penalty is a paltry $100/day, first set in 1907 and not updated since. Either bill, if passed, would have raised the penalty to $2000/day; for context, $100/day in 1907 is equivalent to over $3,400/day in 2025 dollars.
These two bills each cleared their first committee in the respective chambers in the first month of the 2-month session, but then stalled respectively in House Judiciary and Senate Judiciary, i.e., not being scheduled for a hearing.
The bills were bipartisan, with Republican Senator Jim Townsend joining as a cosponsor on both the SB and HB. NMWA appealed via email to the chairs of both of the Judiciary committees to schedule the bills; the HJC finally heard the bill on March 14, one week before the session ended and it passed unanimously with a couple of targeted, friendly amendments. When asked for a couple examples of water rights violations that this bill would help likely reduce, the OSE Chief Counsel cited illegal wells drilled to provide water to the O&G industry and illegal diversions of water to the cannabis industry. Additionally, there were only voices of support for the bill during the public comment period in HJC.
[aside: SB210 was never scheduled for a hearing in SJC, but that became moot when HB348 moved along quickly near end of session]
It was then passed unanimously on the House Floor two days later, assigned to the Senate Conservation Committee (SCONC), where it passed unanimously the next day, March 18, again with only voices of support from the public. Recently confirmed State Engineer Liz Anderson stated in the SCONC, “This is the most important bill for the agency (OSE). We can’t enforce against illegal water use with the current penalties. We need this (updated penalty) to modernize our administrative structure. “
With three days to spare before practical end of the session, HB348 seemed to have momentum. It was placed on the Senate calendar. NM Water Advocates expected the Senate Majority Leader to make sure the bill could get a vote by the full Senate. However, it unfortunately did not get scheduled for a vote before the session ended on Sat, Mar 22 and therefore the bill failed for another session. It’s a shame the urgency was apparently not communicated to Senate Majority Leader Peter Wirth.
OSE notes the maximum penalty for a water law violation was set in 1907 at $100 per day and has not been changed since. Analysis from OSE notes in most enforcement cases, the agency seeks payback of water rather than money. This is typically done through compelling the enforced-on party to reduce future diversions by the quantity of water which was previously over-or illegally taken or diverted. OSE has found this practice is a successful deterrent against future diversions or breakings of water law. The HJC amendment clarifies that OSE may not pursue monetary penalties (in the situations of over diversion of legally held rights, e.g., for farmers and ranchers,) and may only pursue repayment of water for over diversion of water rights.
Follow the Money: What the 2025 Legislature Funded—And What It Didn’t
The final version of the 2025 General Appropriation Act tells a clearer story than the session itself: when the dust settled, the Legislature prioritized water infrastructure and dirty water development projects over science-based management and environmental stewardship. While critical needs in clean water access and infrastructure received attention, both the Governor and the Legislature shortchanged programs focused on protecting, conserving, and managing New Mexico’s water resources.
Advocates pleaded, to no avail, for multi-year appropriations to implement the very laws the Legislature has already passed.
The House adopted one-time (non-recurring) water funding allocations—many of which were later slashed by the Senate. These cuts disproportionately affected programs grounded in science, water data, and environmental cleanup.Many of those cuts targeted programs rooted in water data, science, and environmental cleanup. The result: funding levels fell tens of millions of dollars below both the House budget and the Governor’s official budget recommendation. Click the graphic to download a larger copy.
The Legislature also transferred $200 million of General Fund revenue to the Water Project Fund for specific water and wastewater infrastructure projects authorized by HB206.
Key Cuts Included:
NMED cleanup of contaminated sites: Cut by $30 million by the Senate, leaving $20 million
NMED River Stewards Program: Entire $7 million request eliminated by the Senate
NM Tech Aquifer Mapping Program: Cut by a total of $22 million in the House and Senate, leaving $7.5 million
NMED low-interest water and wastewater loans: Cut by $5 million by the Senate, leaving $15 million
Governor’s ‘Strategic’ Treated Brackish Water Supply: Cut by $25 million, leaving $40 million for a project that remains unvetted, undefined, and controversial
Other critical science and management-focused programs were already reduced in the Governor’s budget before the session even began—and then further cut by the House:
OSE Water Rights Enforcement, Middle Rio Grande: Cut $0.5 million in the House, leaving nothing.
Indian Water Rights Settlement Matching Funds: Cut by $15 million, leaving $25 million.
The Legislature’s priorities are clear: funding flowed to infrastructure, water quality enforcement, and so-called ‘new water’ concepts more than stewardship, enforcement against illegal water use, and data and science-driven water resources management and planning. Large appropriations went to the New Mexico Environment Department for water quality assurance and clean-up programs, infrastructure, and brackish water development for high water use industries.
The 2025 Legislature gave little attention—or funding—to the Office of the State Engineer and the Interstate Stream Commission to:
Plan for adapting to a future with much less water,
Establish effective water data systems, and
Enforce against illegal water use and protect against the impacts of Middle Rio Grande overuse
The Legislature has already passed three major laws to support these purposes. Two—the 2019 Water Data Act and the 2023 Water Security Planning Act—passed unanimously. The third law, which requires the State Engineer to administer water to prevent interstate stream compact violations, was upheld unanimously by the New Mexico Supreme Court, along with the detailed rules it authorized.
The political will to prioritize New Mexico’s adaptation to a future with far less water has not yet emerged. The Governor’s and Legislature’s funding choices still fall short of the understanding and leadership our water and economic security urgently require.
What becomes possible when our agencies are well-funded, our water security laws are fully implemented, and we all work together? The Water Advocates envision a future where New Mexico thrives in harmony with its arid environment. When this vision is realized, New Mexico will be a state where:
Diverse cultures flourish: Indigenous and traditional water practices are honored and integrated with modern solutions, ensuring cultural continuity and resilience.
Economic prosperity is sustained: Water is used wisely to support a diverse economy, including agriculture, industry, and tourism, while prioritizing the needs of communities.
Food Security is strengthened: Water is prioritized for local food production, enhancing food security across the state.
Natural ecosystems are protected: Healthy rivers, wetlands, and riparian areas support biodiversity and provide critical ecosystem services.
Communities are resilient: Water resources are managed equitably and sustainably empowering communities to withstand drought and the impacts of climate change.
Achieving this future requires a collective commitment to good water governance, active engagement in New Mexico’s water security agenda, and inclusive participation. By embracing this vision, New Mexico can secure a vibrant and water-secure future for generations to come.
Now is the time to build on the foundation of good water law already on the books. Fully funding the implementation of key legislation—is crucial for securing our water future. These acts provide a framework for addressing critical water challenges, yet their full potential can only be realized if state water agencies have the capacity to fully implement them. Here are the essential elements of our water security agenda emphasizing the urgent need for accelerated progress.
The 2023 Water Security Planning Act: Passed unanimously in its first year, this act emerged as a direct recommendation of the 2022 Water Policy and Infrastructure Task Force. Endorsed by the Governor, the State Engineer, and legislators, the Act received unanimous support in committee hearings and both legislative chambers. Its goal is to establish a statewide set of regional water resilience plans, grounded in robust data and each region’s unique hydrologic reality. Effective water planning requires good water data and water models, both of which state water agencies are mandated to provide under this law.
The 2019 Water Data Act: This act addresses the critical need for comprehensive and accessible water data to support effective water management across New Mexico. Currently, data availability varies significantly across the state, limiting planning and decision-making capabilities. The Act mandates a modern, integrated approach to water data management, spearheaded by the New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources alongside other state agencies. Full implementation of the Act—including through data collection, analysis, and public accessibility, is essential for sustainable water use and building a resilient future for New Mexico.
Aquifer Mapping Program: Led by the Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources, New Mexico’s designated water science agency, this program received legislative funding in the early 2010s. It involves extensive aquifer research and monitoring to determine the quality and quantity of both fresh and brackish groundwater, estimated remaining water resources, and project longevity under current usage rates. This initiative requires drilling about 100 dedicated aquifer monitoring wells statewide, maintaining and interpreting the data to build actionable knowledge of New Mexico’s groundwater resources. Given New Mexico’s reliance on groundwater more than any other state, this comprehensive, decade-long initiative is crucial.
Active Water Resources Management(AWRM): This approach administers “wet water” in accordance with legal requirements, through either priority administration or shortage-sharing agreements that equivalently limit total water use. Unlike the Office of the State Engineer’s administration of “paper water” (rights and permits that may exceed actual water availability), AWRM is grounded in real water use and availability, ensuring that legal objectives are met without exceeding the resource’s natural limits. Active Administration of water by the State Engineer, based on actual available water, was authorized by a straightforward 2003 water law—upheld by the New Mexico Supreme Court in 2012—that recognized the urgent need for water administration and compact compliance. However, AWRM has yet to be fully implemented due lack of political will and limited staffing and regulatory capacity. As a result, annual water depletions in the Lower Rio Grande are approximately 9,000 acre-feet above New Mexico’s allowable share of releases from Elephant Butte Reservoir. In the Middle Rio Grande, average annual water depletions have exceeded the legal limit by 26,000 acre-feet per year on average since 2018, setting the state up for further interstate litigation. Immediate, full implementation of AWRM is crucial. The 2023 Water Security Planning Act further supports AWRM by allowing water planning regions to voluntarily develop shortage-sharing plans as a central component of their regional water security strategies.
Modernization for Resilience: New Mexico’s state water agencies, tasked with managing our precious water resources and protecting our water rights, need adequate funding and staffing to operate effectively. These agencies must be empowered to modernize their operations by updating their business processes, enhancing data collection and verification methods, and replacing dysfunctional information technology infrastructure. The success of New Mexico’s water security agenda—and the effective implementation of the great laws already enacted—depends on this modernization. Key areas for improvement include:
Adopting modern business practices and information safeguards
Significantly enhancing quality control for water data collected, maintained, and managed by the Office of the State Engineer (OSE) and Interstate Stream Commission (ISC)
Ensuring reliability in water use measurements and data collection
Timely generation of integrated water use data to support effective water planning and administration
Fulfilling responsibilities assigned by the Water Data Act
Administering “wet water” (actual water available) to meet legal and management requirements
Equipping OSE/ISC with modern information technology essential for agency staff to effectively fulfill their statutory responsibilities.
Water Education: Building widespread public awareness and understanding of New Mexico’s water challenges and solutions is essential to achieving water security. This involves creating and implementing comprehensive educational programs that reach diverse communities across the state. These programs should leverage multiple platforms—community gatherings, schools, workshops, webinars, and online resources—to share knowledge about water conservation, efficient water use, and the importance of active public engagement in water management decision-making.
An informed and engaged public is crucial for achieving water security. While Water Advocates play a vital role and believe in the power of public education to drive change, achieving this goal requires the collective efforts of water governance bodies, environmental organizations, and engaged citizens to make this a reality. Water education is a primary objective of our advocacy, and these programs should aim to:
Be accessible: Reach diverse audiences by using a variety of platforms—workshops, webinars, online resources, and community events—that reach diverse audiences and cater to different learning styles.
Be comprehensive: Address a broad range of topics, including water conservation, efficient water use, water rights, and the impacts of climate change on water resources—as well as the results of inaction.
Be engaging: Employ interactive and participatory approaches to learning, such as hands-on activities, simulations, and community discussions, to make learning memorable and impactful.
Be inclusive: Ensure that materials and programs are culturally appropriate and accessible to everyone, including individuals with limited English proficiency or disabilities.
Empower action: Equip individuals with the knowledge and tools to become active stewards of water resources in their homes, communities, and workplaces.
By fostering public awareness and understanding of water issues, we can empower New Mexicans to play an active role in shaping a sustainable water future for the state.
All the Above Actions and Fully Funded Program Lead to Achieving Water Security
Water security forms the foundation of a thriving New Mexico. As stated above, achieving water security requires a multifaceted approach, encompassing responsible management, forward-thinking planning, and collaborative action.
Aquifer Resilience: Water Security for New Mexicans relying on groundwater. With a comprehensive understanding of this vital groundwater resource, achieved through the Aquifer Mapping programs and groundwater resilience planning, our water agencies can make informed decisions about the management of aquifer usage and recharge. A resilient aquifer can maintain its essential functions—providing water for people, ecosystems, and economies—even under changing conditions. Where aquifers are tributary to rivers, higher water security is attained when a coordinated plan is implemented to manage both surface and groundwater resources, preventing excessive groundwater pumping that damages aquifers and hinders compact compliance.
Interstate Stream Compacts Compliance: – Achieving water security for New Mexicans reliant on interstate stream water requires meeting depletion limits and delivery requirements specified in enforceable compacts. The Active Water Resources Management (AWRM) authorizing statute, along with supporting State Engineer rules and the 2012 NM Supreme Court unanimous decision, provides a strong legal framework. Effective application of AWRM in the Lower and Middle Rio Grande —whether through priority administration or regional shortage-sharing agreements—will enhance resilience in these basins’ water supplies. Compliance with Colorado River Basin compacts, however, is more complex and can best be improved through regional water security planning and vigorous state advocacy in intergovernmental forums. Compliance with all interstate obligations should be actively managed, monitored, and publicly reported.
Public Engagement and Awareness: New Mexico will always have to live with scarce water resources and the challenges of increasing aridity, making public engagement and education critical. Regional water security planning will foster engagement from stakeholders, communities, and the general public through statewide and regionally focused educational campaigns. New Mexicans deserve clear information on the realities of their water resources; consistent public education can help advance awareness and acceptance that current water management practices must evolve for long-term water security.
Crisis Avoidance and Preparedness: Water Security is strengthened when state agencies and communities understand water resource trends and impending insecurity early, allowing for timely actions to avert crises or plan for their impacts. Preparedness is also bolstered when the state government has advance plans, resources stockpiled, and funds set aside to provide meaningful assistance in the face of unanticipated water crises.
