The Water Task Force was appointed by State Engineer Mike Hamman in June 2022. It has since worked intensely to prepare recommendations for the Governor, the Legislature, and all New Mexicans. Their report, regarding the upending of historic trends of water resources and uses, will be released soon.

Kyle Harwood, water attorney, and Norm Gaume, president of the Middle Rio Grande Water Advocates, are Water Task Force members. They will summarize scientific projections of how water supplies will shrink due to climate change and the challenges this brings to water use and management in New Mexico.

This virtual production presented by 350NM on November 29 at 6:30 p.m. is the first of a three-part series, focusing on summarizing our water resource problems under climate change and the task force water management and planning recommendations.

The Middle Rio Grande Water Advocates will present the second session on December 8 at 6:30 pm. Task Force members will summarize Task Force recommendations pertaining to helping communities plan, fund, design, build, operate, and maintain drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater infrastructure, and to recommendations to improve watershed, river, and aquifer health.

The third session will be presented by the Water Advocates on January 11, at 6:30 pm. This presentation will focus on the task force and other water bills and appropriation requests that require the 2023 Legislature’s and the Governor’s approval.

Even if precipitation remains the same in New Mexico, rising temperatures from historical and continuing greenhouse gas emissions mean much less water available for wildlife, agriculture, and us all. Our state is one of the driest in the nation, with a highly variable surface water supply and high dependence on irreplaceable fossil groundwater. Water required for New Mexico’s resilient future is further challenged by growing aridity, unsustainable and growing water demand, increasing temperatures, competing interests, and interstate litigation. Climate change is upending the historical trends on which water use practices and interstate water compact agreements are based.

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