Use and Management of Hydrologic Resources in New Mexico

1. Use and Management of Hydrologic Resources in New Mexico

2. NEW MEXICO REPORT August, 2006 Utton Transboundary Resources Center University of New Mexico School of Law New Mexico Water Work Table Mesa de Trabajo Sobre Agua

3. New Mexico’s Geographic and Socioeconomic Profile • State Capital – Santa Fe • Geographic Boundaries • North - Colorado • South - Mexico and Texas • East - Texas and Oklahoma • West - Arizona • Total Area: Surface area = • 315,114 km2 • 121,666 Square Miles • Federal Lands – 34.2% • State Lands – 11.8% • Native American Lands – 9.4% • Political Subdivisions • 32 counties California Nevada Utah Colorado Oklahoma New Mexico Arizona Texas Mexico

4. Major Urban Areas Population Albuquerque Metro Area 603,562 Las Cruces Metro Area 189,444 Santa Fe 140,855 Population and Socioeconomics • Socioeconomic Profile • Per Capita Income • Rural – USD $21,321 • Urban – USD $27,033 • Poverty Rate • Rural – 20.2% • Urban – 16.3% • State Population 1,903,000 (2005) • Rural – 672,876 • Urban – 1,230,410 (U.S. Census Bureau)

5. Industry 2003 2004 Total Gross State Product 57,078 61,012 Mining 4,181 4,766 Manufacturing 5,238 5,466 Retail Trade 4,204 4,431 Finance and Insurance 2,158 2,284 Real Estate, Rental, and Leasing 6,635 7,105 Health Care and Social Assistance 3,801 4,107 Agriculture 1,056 1,001 Economic Activities (in millions USD) (U.S. Department of Commerce – 2005)

6. Hydrologic Resources of New Mexico • Precipitation averages: • Desert / valleys 8 inches (20.3 cm) / year • Mountains 30 inches (76.2 cm) / year • Most rainfall occurs in intense seasonal storms • Most precipitation falls in the mountains as snow Gila River

7. Major River Systems • Major river systems include: • Rio Grande • Pecos River • Gila River (tributary to Colorado River) • Canadian River • San Juan River (tributary to Colorado River)

8. New Mexico's Major Lakes and Reservoirs www.usbr.gov

9. Drought in New Mexico Reservoir levels as of March 2006 as a percent of capacity: *thousands of acre-feet (USGS - 2004) (CLIMAS, University of Arizona)

10. Surface water • 11 surface water basins • Managed on watershed scale (NMED - 1998)

11. Groundwater • 33 “Declared” groundwater basins • State Engineer can only regulate water use in declared basins (NMED - 1998)

12. Office of the State Engineer • Established by New Mexico Statute • Responsible for managing the allocation of ground- and surface water resources • New Mexico Environment Department primarily responsible for monitoring water quality

13. New Mexico Interstate Stream Commission • Operates within the Office of the State Engineer • Manages and oversees New Mexico’s compact obligations in 8 interstate basins • Animas-La Plata River Compact • Canadian River Compact • Upper Colorado River Compact • Colorado River Compact • La Plata River Compact • Pecos River Compact • Rio Grande Compact • Costillo Creek Compact

14. Rio Grande Compact – • Purpose: To allocate the waters in the Rio Grande above Fort Quitman, TX • Signed in 1938 • Includes – Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas • Establishes a commission including the state engineers of Colorado and New Mexico, an appointed commissioner from Texas, and a representative of the U.S. This commission meets annually • Pecos River Compact – • Purpose: To establish delivery obligations to Texas. This compact is managed by a Pecos Compact commissioner • Signed in 1948 • Includes – New Mexico and Texas • Problems: U.S. Supreme Court prohibits net shortfalls in delivery rates. Drought and well-pumping have brought deliveries below this level for many years

15. Colorado River Compact – • Purpose: To determine and coordinate the flows, appropriation, consumption, and use of water in the Colorado River Basin • Signed in 1922 • Upper Basin States – Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming, and parts of Arizona • Lower Basin States – California, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and parts of Arizona • Upper Colorado River Basin Compact – • Purpose: Creation of the Upper Colorado River Commision • Signed in 1948 • Commission includes – United States, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming

16. 1906 Treaty with Mexico • Convention between the United States and Mexico • Equitable Distribution of the Waters of the Rio Grande • 60,000 acre feet delivery requirement at Mexican Canal • Extraordinary drought provision (USFWS - 1999)

17. Water Use (http://www.ose.state.nm.us)

18. Domestic Water Use • 90% of state population uses groundwater for drinking • Albuquerque • Aquifer not as large as originally thought. Moving to use of surface water from San Juan-Chama Project. This is NM water pursuant to Colorado Compact, transbasin diversion for use in Rio Grande Basin • Santa Fe • Also relies primarily on groundwater. Will use San Juan-Chama water and lease surface water rights from Pueblos

19. San Juan-Chama Project • Encompasses many planning regions • Colorado River Compact water • 110,000 AF annually • Water to be used by: • Albuquerque (largest share) • Jicarilla Apache • Santa Fe City and County • Los Alamos County • Espanola • Belen • Los Lunas • Taos • Bernalillo • Red River • Twinning • Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District • Pojoaque Valley Irrigation District (City of Albuquerque - 2006) (USBOR - 2006)

20. Institutional Framework and Management of Hydrologic Resources • New Mexico follows the prior appropriation doctrine • All appropriated waters must be put to beneficial use • Beneficial use shall be the basis, the measure and the limit of the right to the use of water • Priority shall give the better right • State Engineer - Administers the Water Codes for Surface and Groundwater

21. Adjudication of Water Rights • Judicial process • Who owns what water and in what amount • Less that 20% of the state is fully adjudicated • About 60% of the state has active adjudications in progress • Middle Rio Grande, area of ½ population of state, has not been adjudicated (OSE - 2005)

22. Water Planning in New Mexico • State Water Plan was completed and approved by the Interstate Stream Commission in 2003 http://www.ose.state.nm.us/publications_state_water_plans.html • Extensive public involvement • Integrates regional planning efforts conducted statewide • Both the Office of the State Engineer and the Interstate Stream Commission are working to implement 98 strategies outlined in the Plan • 2006 Status Report http://www.ose.state.nm.us/PDF/Publications/StateWaterPlans/swp-2006-06-progress-report.pdf

23. Water Planning Regions 1 - Northeast New Mexico 2 - San Juan 3 - Jemez y Sangre 4 - Southwest New Mexico 5 - Tularosa, Salt and Sacramento River Basins 6 - Northwest New Mexico 7 - Taos 8 - Mora-San Miguel 9 - Colfax 10 - Lower Pecos Valley 11 - Lower Rio Grande 12 - Middle Rio Grande 13 - Estancia Basin 14 - Rio Arriba 15 - Socorro-Sierra 16 - Lea County

24. SW New Mexico Regional Water Planning • Population growth near border • Economic growth attributed to industrial operations • and retirement communities will drive population increase • Majority of water use in border region is from groundwater • Irrigation • Domestic • Industrial / Mining • Commercial • Water quality and quantity in transboundary Mimbres Basin • Salinity increases from Columbus, NM (north) to • Palomas, CH (south) • Groundwater pumping has reversed water flow • direction from south to north • (NMWRRI, 2000 & SWNM Regional Water Plan, 2005) • (SWNM Regional Water Plan, 2005) • (NM WRRI - 2005)

25. Lower Rio Grande Regional Water Planning • Water Management Alternatives • Developed for each aquifer • Recommendations to decrease demand in some sectors, • and increase supply through desalination, phreatophyte • management and use of reclaimed water • Elephant Butte Reservoir • Stores water for irrigation for both • New Mexico and Texas • Established to help U.S. meet • meet treaty obligations to Mexico • (LRG Regional Water Plan, 2003) • Groundwater aquifers • Mesilla, Hueco Bolson, Jornada del Muerto, Rincon Valley • Mesilla and Hueco Bolson are shared with Mexico • and Texas • Groundwater is recharged by leakage from the Rio Grande • and irrigation return flows • (NM WRRI - 2005)

26. Measurement Measurement and monitoring of ground-water, surface-water, snow-pack, and water diversions Management Creation of water districts to allow the Office of the State Engineer to enforce priority-based water administration of water in times of short supply Markets The state will streamline water markets in order to encourage the more efficient use of limited resources Active Water Resource Management State Water Plan Goals: To ensure water is available for the continued and future economic vitality of the state; Protecting senior water rights

27. Lower Pecos Basin • Additional efforts being made to comply with the Pecos River Compact and U.S. Supreme Court Amended Decree • Hired additional water masters • Lower Rio Grande • AWRM will help meet critical needs in times of reduced surface water flow • Recent metering order and hiring of a water master • San Juan • Negotiations with the State Engineer for shortage sharing agreements • Hired a water master • Mimbres • The upper portion of the Mimbres will be managed under the AWRM • Hired a water master • Rio Gallinas • Area dominated by surface water rights with controversy between acequias and municipal water use • Nambe-Pojoaque-Tesuque Basin • Hired water master for Aamodt adjudication. Affects Pueblo and non-Pueblo water users • Rio Chama • State Engineer oversees administration of the San Juan-Chama Project water

28. Sources • Bureau of Business and Economic Research. University of New Mexio. Accessed on April 3, 2006. Updated on March 28, 2006. Available at: http://www.unm.edu/~bber/econ/sttpipci.htm • Bureau of Economic Analysis. U.S. Department of Commerce. Available at: http://www.bea.gov/bea/regional/gsp. Accessed on March 20, 2006. Updated on October 26, 2005. • City of Albuquerque San Juan-Chama Drinking Water Project. Available at: http://www.sjcdrinkingwater.org/. Accessed August 18, 2006. • Daniel B. Stephens & Associates, Inc. (2005) Southwest New Mexico Regional Water Plan,May 2005. Available at: http://www.ose.state.nm.us/water-info/NMWaterPlanning/regions/SouthwestNM/southwestnm-menu.html. Accessed August 16, 2006. • Economic Research Service. United States Department of Agriculture. State Fact Sheets: New Mexico. Accessed on March 20, 2006. Updated 12/8/2005. Available at: http://www.ers.usda.gov

29. Sources • Lower Rio Grande Regional Water Plan, August 2004. Available at: http://wrri.nmsu.edu/lrgwuo/page2.html. Accessed August 18, 2006. • New Mexico Environment Department. 1998. Water Quality Control Commission. State of New Mexico. Water Quality And Water Pollution Control in New Mexico. A State Report Required By The U.S. Congress Under §305(b) of the Clean Water Act. Available at: http://www.nmenv.state.nm.us/swqb/305b/1998/305b_98.html • New Mexico Office of the State Engineer. 2005. Accessed on April 3, 2006. Updated 2005. Available at: http://www.ose.state.nm.us/ • New Mexico State Water Plan, 2003. Available at: http://www.ose.state.nm.us/publications_state_water_plans.html. Accessed August 18, 2006. • US Bureau of Reclamation – San Juan-Chama Project. Available at: http://www.usbr.gov/dataweb/html/sjuanchama.html. Accessed August 16, 2006.