This interactive workshop had a panel of three former members of the 2022 State Engineer’s Water Policy and Infrastructure Task Force, Phil King, Ladona Clayton, and Norm Gaume. The panelists are working together currently as NM Water Ambassadors. The Water Ambassadors joint purpose is to advocate for all the water task force recommendations. The panelists each presented their highest priorities for water funding and policy, and why. The joint funding requests to the 2024 Legislature of Dr. Ladona Clayton, Executive Director, Ogallala Land and Water Conservancy, and Norm Gaume, P.E. (ret), President, Water Advocates, are available here.
This ongoing mismanagement of vital water data hampers effective decision-making needed to address the state’s water crisis. New Mexico is at a crossroads. Without a significant shift towards a water governance framework that recognizes and integrates hydrologic and climate realities with actionable data, parts of the state risk becoming uninhabitable. This shift requires a departure […]