From the President’s Desk: Preventing New Tragedies of NM’s Water Supply Commons

The Tragedy of the Commons: A Lesson from an 8th Grader

Why do we struggle to act on problems we know are urgent? An 8th-grade Santa Fe girl’s January 28, 2025, public comment in support of passing Senate Bill 4 to comprehensively limit greenhouse gas emissions defines the problem and a simple solution.

“I have learned about the Tragedy of the Commons, which occurs when each well-meaning individual takes or uses only what they need, but the total is greater than the resource available. In the case of our environment, this plays out in small emissions that total more than our atmosphere can handle. … One of the best things we can do is impose regulations that cap resource use at a level that is sustainable for a long period of time.”

The concept applies to our water. The total of our individual, well-meaning uses are more than our water supplies can handle. As the Water Advocates explain in Our Water Crisis, overuse is causing growing New Mexico water supply security deficits for many communities. Opportunities are lost as time passes without action.

Water in New Mexico: Sacred Resource or Commodity?

We know that water is sacred, essential for all life. But we also see it as a mineral resource to be mined. The New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources, after all, is New Mexico’s (top quality) water science agency. We have been using groundwater as a mineral resource, mining it across New Mexico for more than a century, Vast volumes have been removed. We don’t know in any dependable way how much groundwater remains, nor how fast our collective overuse is using up what is left.

New Mexico has many ghost towns, vibrant places until the minerals were mined out.

The Consequences of Inaction

Some aquifers don’t recharge at all or very much.  Water users who depend on such aquifers have two choices. One is to mine the water until it’s gone and suffer the consequences, including more ghost towns. The other is to reduce and stop unsustainable high-volume mining to leave enough water to meet the relatively small water needs of local communities long into the future. The sooner that step is taken, the more water remains for all future uses.

For example, the Ogallala aquifer is New Mexico’s first large-scale case of mining the water until it’s virtually gone, until municipal wells have faltered or run dry. Think of the people in Portales who are saying, “if only I had known.”

Think of Deming and the surrounding Mimbres Basin farming community, which formerly grew fruit and vegetables from accumulated groundwater in this closed basin, back when farm labor from Mexico was available. Now, the farmers mine groundwater to grow hay for mechanized harvest. Surely running out of water is a bad outcome. Inaction will surely deliver that outcome to Luna County. We don’t know when.

Pumping groundwater from aquifers interconnected with rivers is more complex because the aquifers do recharge from their rivers. Pumping groundwater takes water from the river, but days to decades in the future, depending on the hydrologic connection.

Diversions from the river, wells, and ditches by well-meaning individual Middle Rio Grande water users and institutions together take more water than the Middle Rio Grande’s share of of the river. The water delivery debt accrued since 2019 is dangerously close to the maximum allowed.

Make no mistake. This overuse will stop, not because the water runs out but because we are using water that belongs to others downstream. Most of that water is allocated to Elephant Butte Irrigation District, for New Mexico farms.

Recent Interstate Stream Commission staff reports document official state estimates of current Rio Grande overuse:  17,000 to 18,000 acre-feet/year in the Lower Rio Grande and about 26,000 acre-feet/year in the Middle Rio Grande. It will take resources and political will to rein in that overuse.

The Challenge of Human Attention to Long-Term Problems

Human beings naturally struggle to focus on long-term issues like water security. Evolution has wired us to prioritize immediate threats over distant risks and to seek immediate rewards. This cognitive bias, known as present bias, causes us to underestimate future dangers and delay action until it is too late. Complex, slow-moving problems like growing water scarcity lack the urgency of immediate disasters, making them easier to ignore.

Another bias, normalcy bias, leads us to assume that the future will be much like the past, blinding us to the signs of an impending crisis. This is why, even as wells run dry and rivers shrink, many fail to recognize the urgency of sustainable water management.

However, this tendency can be overcome. Societal change often begins with heightened awareness, followed by collective action. When informed citizens demand accountability, leaders are compelled to act. Recognizing the slow-moving nature of water crises is the first step in shifting public consciousness and, ultimately, policy.

The Role of Political Will and Citizen Action

The primary barrier to effective water management is not technical expertise or scientific knowledge—it is political will. Politicians operate in environments driven by immediate demands, often prioritizing short-term issues over long-term sustainability. This is not a failure of leadership but a reflection of where public pressure is applied.

Citizens have the power to change this dynamic. By:

• Raising Awareness: Talk about water issues in your community, with friends, and on social media.
• Engaging with Leaders: Contact your legislators, attend public meetings, and demand that water security is prioritized.
• Supporting Advocacy Groups: Collaborate with organizations working to influence water policy.

When citizens speak with a unified voice, leaders listen. Creating political will is not just about holding leaders accountable—it’s about giving them the mandate and public support they need to act boldly on long-term challenges.

The Call to Action

The 2025 Legislature faces a clear choice:

1. Continue to underfund essential water management functions, risking avoidable crises; or
2. Invest wisely in the future of New Mexico’s water security, ensuring resilience for generations to come.

This is not about optional programs; it’s about the fundamentals that determine whether our communities thrive or face preventable water crises.

New Mexico must finish what it has started, with adequate funding for water data, agency modernization, enforcement against illegal water use, and building the scientific understanding that supports sound decisions. The primary barrier is not technical; it’s political will. Let 2025 be the year we overcome that barrier. Citizens, your voices matter—now is the time to use them to secure our water future.

P.S. Don’t just read about the water crisis—understand it. The Water Advocates’ new website is your go-to resource for learning about the challenges facing our state. Explore the site, learn more, and share this and other vital articles with your friends and family. Our water future depends on it.