A coalition of New Mexico environmental advocacy groups this week endorsed $218 million in funding requests that would bolster water conservation and restoration projects. Lawmakers are expected to tackle these projects as they craft the state’s budget in January’s legislative session.
Projects in the group’s list range from relatively small — $1.5 million to upgrade an IT system in the Office of the State Engineer — to large — $50 million to meet the terms of the settlement agreement in a yearslong legal battle over Rio Grande water between Texas and New Mexico.
Many of the projects aim at giving New Mexico’s waterways preventative care to reduce the amount of costly disaster relief that’s often needed after wildfires give way to floods, advocates said.
“It is cheaper to invest before the big fire, before the big flood,” Dan Roper, New Mexico lead for Trout Unlimited, said during a news conference Wednesday that included representatives from nonprofit groups including Trout Unlimited, the New Mexico Acequia Association, New Mexico Wild and Western Resource Advocates. “We are getting fewer and fewer drops of water these days…these projects keep water, whether it falls as snow or monsoon rains, on the landscape longer. In doing that, we make sure that water is available downstream when it’s needed for things like irrigation and agriculture.”
Roper and his colleagues also back a proposed law, known as the Land Grant-Merced and Acequia Infrastructure Act, which would create funds that support infrastructure and disaster recovery in rural and historic communities.
Together, representatives from the four advocacy organizations highlighted nearly a dozen budget requests from state agencies as the projects they see as most urgent for New Mexico’s environment.
New Mexico Environment DepartmentAdvocates expressed support for a $50 million request that would aid the department’s River Stewardship Program, which funds projects that address poor water quality in the state’s rivers. The funding is critical for waterways damaged by recent wildfires, such as those near the Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon burn scar and those in Ruidoso, advocates said.
They praised a $25 million ask for the department’s Neglected and Contaminated Site Fund, which would consider hundreds of contaminated or threatened groundwater sources across the state.
They also endorsed $3.5 million for the department’s Surface Water Permitting Program, which state leaders created in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Sackett v. EPA ruling. The decision removed protections from about half of the nation’s wetlands.
New Mexico Office of the State EngineerEnvironmental advocates said they want to see a $1 million appropriation for the Office of the State Engineer to develop tools and strategies to navigate interstate water agreements and mitigate the effects of long-term drought.
They also backed a request of $1.5 million to upgrade the office’s dated IT system. The Water Administration Technical Engineering Resource System, known as WATERS, database is the “backbone” for state officials who deal with rights, permitting and other legal issues regarding water. However, advocates said it’s been in need of an update for nearly 30 years and cannot perform basic functions, like digitizing existing records.
Interstate Stream CommissionAdvocates backed a $10 million request for the Interstate Stream Commission’s infrastructure fund to pay for acequia and community ditch needs and disaster recovery.
They recommended $5 million for the commission’s regional water planning efforts, which stems from the 2023 Water Security Planning Act. The funding would pay for regional planning councils and public education initiatives, such as Main Stream New Mexico.
They highlighted a $15 million appropriation for the state’s Strategic Water Reserve, which allows people to sell or lease their water rights to the Interstate Stream Commission for various purposes, including pumping water underground and supporting endangered species. The money would go to a fund, which Senate Bill 37 created earlier this year, and give the Strategic Water Reserve a consistent lifeline.
The group also called out a $50 million request to help the Interstate Stream Commission meet the settlement terms of a lengthy legal dispute over Rio Grande water between Texas and New Mexico. The settlement requires “significant” groundwater purchases, advocates said, to reduce depletions on the Rio Grande.
The group championed a potential appropriation of $35 million for the Indian Water Rights Settlement Fund, which will help to pay for resolving Indigenous water rights claims.
New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral ResourcesClimate advocates said they want to see lawmakers appropriate $22 million for ongoing aquifer mapping and monitoring in the New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources. These mapping projects are meant to give state leaders a clear picture of the quantity and quality of groundwater resources across the state.
