TOWARD A MORE RELEVANT STATE WATER PLAN

TOWARD A MORE RELEVANT STATE WATER PLAN Online registration is now open for the New Mexico Water Dialogue's 23rd Annual Statewide Meeting, to be held on January 12, 2017 at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center. To register please visit the Dialogue's website or Click Here to Register for this Event The issue of ensuring a reliable water supply for New Mexico has been the focus of water planning for over 30 years. In 2003, the legislature enacted provisions for “a comprehensive state water plan.” A skeletal state water plan was adopted that same year. Finally this year, the Interstate Stream Commission began the process of working toward a comprehensive state water plan. It is not clear what that means, but it will be substantially different than the one adopted in 2003. In 1987 the New Mexico Legislature had mandated regional water planning to demonstrate that all of New Mexico’s unappropriated water was needed within the state and was therefore not available for appropriation by out-of-state entities. From then until 2008, broadly representative groups in 16 distinct planning areas developed regional water plans. Since 2013, the ISC has supervised a process to “update” these plans and align them better with future efforts at statewide water planning, just getting underway.. The threat of unappropriated water in New Mexico being taken by out-of-state entities has not been a significant issue for some time. But ensuring a reliable water supply for many parts of our state has continued to be a major focus of water planning for over 30 years. There are clearly overarching jurisdictional issues affecting the entire state, requiring uniform statewide policies to ensure legal sufficiency and fairness in protecting and appropriating the state’s water resources. Other statewide issues require regional input to respond to the many different physical realities, cultures and economies of our diverse state. Finally there are issues that need to be left to local communities to resolve through voluntary planning coordination among them. Join us on January 12th to discuss these important issues, and register early to help us plan (and to save a few bucks)! If you have questions or problems with registering, please call or send us an email. Joaquin Baca (505) 377-7549