Letters to the editor

The legislature should fully fund water planning

To the editor: Water is critical to the future of New Mexico, McKinley County and Gallup. We are dependent on ground water and our aquifer is not being replenished because of low snowpack. We need to know how much water remains in the aquifer and how much water is being taken from the aquifer. Planning needs to begin immediately.

During the 2023 legislative session, the Water Security Planning Act was passed unanimously. The proposal was to develop six planning regions. The New Mexico Interstate Stream Commission (NMISC) was given responsibility for implementation of the act. It needs to develop and promulgate (publish) the rules and guidelines. Promulgation requires that we as citizens can weigh in on the rules to ensure that those rules appropriately reflect the values and needs of the community. The NMISC does not have adequate staff to do this job.

Local entities like McKinley County and the City of Gallup will need state funding assistance to participate in the promulgation process. It is imperative that our local officials participate in this rule making process because we have values and needs unique to our diverse community. The Water Security Planning Act appropriation is in HB 2. This money would support the NMISC and provide local communities with funding to participate.

Another critical piece of water planning that needs to be funded is information. We need data about our water resources to make informed decisions. The 2019 Water Data Act should be fully funded. The five agencies that are required to implement this need 23 new staff positions (mainly information technology positions). Only six of the 23 positions are presently funded.

Aquifer mapping has been completed in only a limited number of places. I can find no data for McKinley County. Over the next 10 years, a statewide network of aquifer research and monitoring wells needs to be drilled and equipped with instrumentation. Half of the needed wells should be completed over the next five years. This will expand aquifer mapping into critical areas and define remaining groundwater reserves. This is a huge job and will require $1.2 million in recurring funding for staff and $100 million to drill and equip the wells. The Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources (NMBGMR) would oversee this effort.

An example of the importance of aquifer mapping is the Ogallala aquifer in eastern New Mexico. Roosevelt and Curry counties are faced with a water crisis, with communities like Portales on Stage 3 Emergency Water Restrictions since June 2023. Clovis and Texico are already calling for a supplemental groundwater supply to meet water demands within the next few years. Clovis laid the groundwork through water security planning to adapt to pending water shortages when they learned that the Ogallala Aquifer would no longer sustain the community. Portales did not.

New Mexico has experienced a huge increase in income due to oil and gas. (As a side note: We receive less in royalties than surrounding states. HB48 would increase the cap on royalty rates on state lands for new wells from 20% to 25%.) Many legislators believe that we should save much of this money for a rainy day. I suggest that we spend an adequate amount of money for water data and planning to ensure that we plan for our future water security. We are not getting enough rain and snow to continue business as usual. Water must be our number one priority today if we want New Mexico to remain a viable place to live and do business in the future. Patricia Sheely Gallup