Annual water conference focuses on tribal water issues in New Mexico

Annual water conference focuses on tribal water issues in New Mexico
DATE: 10/30/2019
WRITER: Mark Sheely, 575-646-1195, msheely@nmsu.edu
More than 250 people are expected to attend the 64th Annual New Mexico Water Conference, which will take place Nov. 7-8 at the Buffalo Thunder Resort in Santa Fe. The conference is co-sponsored by the Pueblo of Pojoaque.

With the theme this year “Common Water, Sacred Water: Tribal perspectives on water issues in New Mexico,” the New Mexico Water Conference will for the first time focus on water issues facing the tribes, nations and pueblos across New Mexico.

Over the course of two full days, tribal leaders and water experts will address a host of important and timely topics, such as Indian water rights settlements, tribal water quality, infrastructure, climate change, watershed restoration, and the role of both traditional and modern science in water management.

Two pre-conference field trips will take place Nov. 6. The morning field trip, hosted by Santa Clara Pueblo, will tour the Puye Cliff Dwellings, as well as the Pueblo’s forest restoration efforts following the 2011 Las Conchas Fire. An afternoon field trip hosted by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation will take attendees through the planned project area of the Pojoaque Basin Regional Water System.

The Nov. 8 luncheon will feature the 2019 Albert E. Utton Memorial Water Lecture given by Sandra Postel, founder and director of the Global Water Policy Project, who has been featured in documentaries by PBS and the BBC. Based on her latest book, “Replenish: The Virtuous Cycle of Water and Prosperity,” Postel’s lecture will address ways in which farmers, cities, conservationists and engineers across the US and around the world are re-shaping 21st century water management to meet the challenges ahead.

A poster session the morning of Nov. 8 will highlight water-related research projects, with many presented by university students from across New Mexico.

The registration fee for the conference is $150. Students may attend for $75.

Please visit the conference website, which includes links to the preliminary program and registration at https://nmwaterconference.nmwrri.nmsu.edu/2019/ or call 575-646-4337 for more information.
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New Mexico Delegation Introduces Water Conservation Legislation to Safeguard Water Resources for Future Generations

New Mexico Delegation Introduces Water Conservation Legislation to Safeguard Water Resources for Future Generations

Western Water Security Act of 2019 will equip New Mexico and Western states and communities with the research, infrastructure, and technology they need to secure their water resources in a time of climate change

WASHINGTON—Today, U.S. Senators Tom Udall (D-N.M.) and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and U.S. Representatives Xochitl Torres Small (D-N.M.),Deb Haaland (D-N.M.), and Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), introduced the Western Water Security Act of 2019, legislation to improve water management in the West through investments in water infrastructure, a focus on conservation, efficiency, and environmental restoration, and tailored funding for local communities. The forward-looking legislation will arm communities with the federal funding and research necessary to grapple with the potential of a long-term drying trend in the West and changes in water availability exacerbated by climate change.  

“Make no mistake about it: we are in the midst of a water crisis in the West. Communities in New Mexico and across the country depend on fragile water ecosystems that are struggling to adapt to the wild swings in weather caused by climate change,” said Udall. “In New Mexico and in the West, we are trying to cash checks from an account that is overdrawn, by relying on diminishing snowpacks and over-allocated surface water supplies and drawing on precious and dwindling groundwater resources. It is past time that Congress address this problem, which is hitting our most vulnerable communities the hardest, to ensure that future generations can sustain life in the American West. In New Mexico, we know how vital water is to preserving our economy, our environment, and our way of life. I will continue to fight for legislation like the Western Water Security Act to ensure we are making smart investments in water infrastructure and meeting the needs of our changing climate.”

“In New Mexico, we know that water is life. Particularly in an era of prolonged droughts and climate disruption, we must use the best available science to protect and conserve our limited freshwater supplies. I’m proud to support this legislation to make smart investments in watershed restoration, scientific research, and infrastructure that will help our communities use water more efficiently,” said Heinrich.

“Water is life, and few places have felt the impact of its scarcity like New Mexico. The future of our state and the rest of the West depends on communities and industries’ ability to adapt in the face of a dwindling water supply. Smart investments in water management will ensure that our way of life, economy, and environment are preserved for generations to come,” said Torres Small.

“In New Mexico, water is life. This precious resource fuels our traditional way of life and economy. We know the climate crisis is threatening the West - perpetuating a drought that puts these vital resources at risk. I’m proud to work with my colleagues to put forward a bold solution to improve water management by ensuring investments in water infrastructure, a focus on conservation, and targeted funding for rural communities,” said Luján.

“Water is essential to life, but in the desert we’re constantly struggling to ensure we have the water resources to sustain our communities. Our delegation is working to address the water shortages that result from a changing climate. Our bill will empower local communities including Pueblos along the Rio Grande, conserve water resources, and prepare for a future of climate change,” said Haaland.

The Western Water Security Act is supported by a number of organizations including the Audubon Society, the Nature Conservancy, Trout Unlimited, the National Wildlife Federation, the State of New Mexico, the Elephant Butte Irrigation District, and the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District.

"Trout Unlimited supports Senator Udall’s legislation because it brings a portfolio approach to addressing water security in the West, and advances the Bureau of Reclamation’s WaterSMART program as a leader in this effort,” said Laura Ziemer, Senior Counsel and Water Policy Advisor for Trout Unlimited.

“The Western Water Security Act helps address a number of major issues facing water users in the Southwest where the warming climate is predicted to have major impacts to an already water stressed region,” said Karen Dunning, Chair of the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District Board of Directors. “The Rio Grande valley is in the epicenter of water supply variability with vulnerable agricultural economies and ecosystems and this bill provides vital support to this region in a proactive approach.  The Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District supports the passage of this critical legislation.”

“The New Mexico Office of the State Engineer and Interstate Stream Commission strongly support the Western Water Security Act,” said New Mexico State Engineer John D’Antonio. “The bill will provide technical support and funding to many New Mexico communities to address current and future water security issues. In particular, the portions of the bill on rural water desalinization, technical support for water conservation, and projects to improve river conditions and habitat for endangered species are aligned with the Governor's vision for New Mexico's water future.”

“The Western Water Security Act of 2019 will help to plant the opportunity and stimulate investments in water infrastructure as well as advance the focus on conservation and the needs of environmental enhancement. Long term solutions take time to develop and Senator Udall has stepped up to initiate action now through tailored funds designed to improve groundwater and surface water assessments during a time of needed response to an emerging long-lasting drought in the West. The Elephant Butte Irrigation is in full support of this Bill and the overwhelming impact it will have up and down the river in the Rio Grande Basin of New Mexico,” said Gary Esslinger, Manager and Treasurer of the Elephant Butte Irrigation District.

The full text of the legislation is available HERE. A one-page summary of the bill is available HERE.  A section-by-section summary of the legislation is available HERE.

The Western Water Security Act of 2019 would:

Expand and Enhance Water Infrastructure

• Invest in WaterSMART-this bill will give an additional $120 million to the Bureau of Reclamation’s WaterSMART program, which helps water users throughout the West tackle water security through common-sense solutions, such as investments in conservation and efficiency. The bill would also build on the success of this popular program and make eligible for grants non-governmental organizations—who have played an invaluable role throughout the West helping to promote water efficiency. The bill also expands the authority of States and Indian Tribes to declare a drought emergency and access vital drought emergency funds when confronted with any water crisis or conflict. This federal assistance could then go towards projects designed to secure reliable water supplies for vulnerable communities and restore the environment to benefit imperiled fish and wildlife.

• Groundwater Management - Through the re-authorization and expansion of the Transboundary Aquifer Assessment Program (TAAP), Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas, in partnership with water institutes throughout the West and the U.S. Geological Survey, can collaborate with Mexican water management officials to study this shared resource.

• Water Conservation and Environmental Restoration- The legislation reauthorizes the Cooperative Watershed Management Program, an important program that brings together stakeholders from throughout the basin to find local solutions for their local water management needs.  The bill also creates a pilot water leasing program that provides the Bureau of Reclamation and local water districts with increased flexibility to move water where it can be of the most use, including for environmental purposes—a potential model for other water districts throughout the west.

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Contacts: Ned Adriance (Udall) 202.228.6870 / Whitney Potter (Heinrich) 202.228.1578 / Lauren French (Luján) 202.225.6190 / Felicia Salazar (Haaland) 202.981.1594 / Paloma Perez (Torres Small) 202.225.7890

NM begins discussion on reusing wastewater from fracking

NM begins discussion on reusing wastewater from fracking

Albuquerque Journal
By Theresa Davis

The potential to turn wastewater from the oil industry into a resource has sparked conversation in arid New Mexico. State agencies held a public meeting about “produced water” Tuesday in Albuquerque. It was the first of five to be held in October and November. New Mexico wells in the Permian Basin generated 42 billion gallons of the wastewater last year. It’s high in salt and may have trace amounts of fracking chemicals...Many meeting attendees opposed even the state’s first steps to research the wastewater. One commenter said irrigating New Mexico crops with produced water could harm the reputation of the state’s agriculture and food products

NMSU Water Initiative Event to highlight NMSU graduate student water research.

You are invited to participate in NMSU’s Research and Creativity Week during the NMSU Water Initiative Event to highlight NMSU graduate student water research. The purpose of the event is to learn about NMSU graduate student’s water-related research and to create opportunities for NMSU faculty and graduate students to collaborate on water-related research and grant proposals. Please disseminate widely to any graduate students from NMSU involved in water research. Please see agenda below for more details

NMSU researchers, EBID develop metrics for water-resource management, sustainability

NMSU researchers, EBID develop metrics for water-resource management, sustainability
DATE: 10/07/2019
WRITER: Melissa R. Rutter, 575-646-4211, mrrutter@nmsu.edu
CONTACT: Kenneth Carroll, 575-646-5929, kccarr@nmsu.edu
Researchers from New Mexico State University, working in collaboration with the Elephant Butte Irrigation District, have determined that groundwater resilience can be quantified on a basin scale and have developed metrics to support integrated water-resource management and sustainability.

The research is a joint effort by Kenneth “K.C.” Carroll, an associate professor in NMSU’s College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences, James P. King, a professor and associate department head in NMSU’s College of Engineering, and Erek H. Fuchs, the groundwater resources director for EBID.

This summer, Carroll, King and Fuchs observed a significant amount of refilling of the Elephant Butte Reservoir after storage in the reservoir decreased to a very low-level last summer. Although, they were not able to see the groundwater beneath the land surface that is used, they were able to confirm the resilience in groundwater storage with return of increased surface-water flows in the Rio Grande.

The research team began its work by looking at the multiyear drought that began in the early 2000s and extended drastically into the 2010s.

Currently, the drought is slowly easing up, according to the researchers, and there is now more water in the Elephant Butte Reservoir, which is about half full. But they cautioned that the area is not completely out of a drought and that a similar drought cycle is possible.

“One of the things we focused on is the irrigation and groundwater system in the Hatch area within the EBID. Hatch is centrally located in the Rincon Valley watershed, which features a small, geologically constrained and shallow groundwater system, but the Hatch population is also small and imports groundwater from the neighboring Nutt-Hockett basin,” Fuchs said.

According to the researchers, more and more farmers are pumping groundwater in the Southwest. The use of both surface water and groundwater is critical to agriculture in the EBID and the Hatch area, and virtually all river-connected irrigation projects throughout the world.

“We wanted to look at quantifying impacts of using both surface water and groundwater,” Fuchs said, adding, “We wanted to look at the ability of the groundwater system, which we consider to be particularly vulnerable to drought given its limited groundwater resources, to rebound from a stress during the longer-term prolonged droughts, and we wanted to develop some of the metrics for groundwater resilience.”

Fuchs also explained that he and the researchers looked at shallow aquifer storage changes in the groundwater system because the surface water and a potential for aquifer recharge comes back each year in varying degrees.

“Surface water has a residence time that is short, and we are dependent on surface water that mainly originates mostly as annual snowpack and spring snowmelt. The groundwater residence time is typically much longer, and the process of aquifer recharge where we have replenishment of groundwater in storage can take many years, if not decades. So, we looked at shallow groundwater storage changes as a metric for groundwater resilience,” he said.

The research team found a very strong correlation between the annual amount of groundwater extraction for irrigation and the annual availability of surface water.

“When we have more surface water, farmers extract less groundwater, and when we have less surface water, they extract more ground water. This by itself isn’t at all surprising, and is in keeping with conjunctive water resource use as it has occurred historically in this area. What is interesting is that it’s almost a one-to-one ratio,” King said.

The researchers also found that in the Rincon Valley, when there is additional surface water available for release, there is an increase in storage of the shallow alluvium aquifer within the year that the additional surface water is made available, which is attributable to recharge of the shallow alluvium.

When there is a decrease in available surface water, there is a decline in storage in the aquifer within the year the decrease occurs. All recharge and when and how much it occurs, depends on flows in the Rio Grande and the diversion of that water for irrigation within the EBID.

The researchers created a metric to evaluate dependence on groundwater over time as a potential indicator of groundwater stress and, therefore, resilience.

“We developed a metric for water use called the GSRA, which is the groundwater: surface water ratio of application. The basic premise is that when we have more groundwater extraction than surface water diversion over time, we are going to see a decrease in groundwater storage. When we have less groundwater extraction relative to surface water use over time, then we will see less declines in the aquifer,” Carroll said.

He added, “This metric can be used by farmers on an on-farm basis, water policymakers and water managers alike to make more informed choices about groundwater resilience and sustainability of water in aquifer storage.”
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