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Explore NMSU’s expertise in water policy analysis for addressing global challenges such as food security, water poverty, and transboundary water sharing. Learn about solutions for sustainable water management in New Mexico, Queretaro, and beyond. Discover how science informs policy decisions to enhance water conservation, pricing, infrastructure, and economic efficiency.
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NMSU’s Water Policy Analysis Research Capabilities • Frank A. Ward, Professor • NMSU College of Agriculture, Consumer, and Environmental Sciences • Guests: Comisión Estatal de Aguas del Estado de Querétaro • September 27, 2010
Water Policy Challenges • Global • Water conservation to promote food security for growing population • Eliminating water poverty • Drinking water • Sanitation • Peaceful sharing of transboundary waters • Finding flexible institutions to allocate water with • Drought • Climate change
Water Policy Challenges • New Mexico, USA • Low cost safe water supply for rural areas. • Meet delivery requirements to TX and MX • Maximize economic benefits produced by very scarce water (about 1 MAF/year in RG Basin) • Affordable water conservation • Efficient transfers from farms to cities • Water rights adjudication
Water Policy Challenges • Queretaro, MX • Sustainability of groundwater pumping • Pricing water for justice and sustainability • Low cost measures for safe and reliable supplies in rural areas. (e.g., solar pumps) • Sustainable surface water use • Panuco Basin • Lerma-Santiago
Informing policy with science • Integrated River Basin Analysis (IRBA) • Hydrology • Agronomy • Economics • Institutions and Policies • River Basins in Queretaro • east-bound Panuco Basin, drains to Gulf • west-bound Lerma-Santiago, drains to Pacific.
Basin Schematic Uses • Engages stakeholders • Promote stakeholder consensus • Promote stakeholder debate • Summarizes sources, uses, and values • Tool for policy analysis • Tool for policy experiments • Hydrologic • Economic • Agronomic • Institutions (compatibility, needed adjustments)
Informing policy with science • Data • Supplies (headwater flows) • Past patterns • Future patterns (climate change) • Demands • Past (cities, agriculture) • Future (growing cities, changing agriculture) • Technology • Past (old) • Future (new) • Population, Demographics (past, future) • Economic Value of water in alternative uses
Informing policy with science • Policy choices (institutions) • Promoting conservation • Agriculture • Urban use • Adjudicating water rights • Establishing Water markets • Pricing • Social justice • Revenue sustainability • Economic efficiency • Regulating groundwater pumping
Informing policy with science • Policy choices (infrastructure) • Pipes into homes • Small scale water filtration • Facilities (e.g., treatment, recycling, reuse) • Private groundwater development • Supply solar panels for pumping • low flow showerheads • Build, expand reservoirs • Rehab ditches • Radio telemetry
Recent Research findings(NMSU) • Rio Grande Basin, US-MX • Subsidizing drip irrigation can increase water use • Two-tiered pricing can conserve water while promoting social justice • Nile Basin, Egypt • Water trading can increase income by 5-7% • Balkh Basin, Afghanistan • Investing in better water shortage sharing institutions: raise farm income and food security
Planned Research (NMSU) • Rio Grande Basin, US-MX • What does it cost to use water sustainably? • What are the benefits of water rights adjudication? • Groundwater storage / recovery • Nile Basin, Egypt • Least cost ways to accommodate Egypt’s growing populations • Euphrates (Turkey, Syria, Iraq) • How to promote development in Iraq with falling supplies (drought, dams, climate change)
