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.
Effective democratic governance of New Mexico's water resources requires more than good intentions — it requires shared vocabulary. Drawing on Elinor Ostrom's Governing the Commons and subsequent scholarship, this essay clarifies what water advocates mean by institutions, collective action, and polycentric governance, and why getting these concepts right matters for building durable, self-governing arrangements across […]