2 Rivers In Peril In One Thirsty State

New Mexico is Parched

A Lack of Focus on an Essential Need

Last year, as I traveled about the Southwest and saw the devastating effects of the megadrought first hand, I wrote several stories that caught the attention of thousands. This one was the most popular.

New Mexico is in dire straits as I now look at my own backyard.

I write about New Mexico a lot. It is my adopted home, and I love it here. You would, too if you didn’t see it as a flyover state.

It couldn’t be more different from Chicago, where I came from. There, with Lake Michigan lapping at our shore, water was never a topic of conversation. Water was…well, infinite.

If New Mexico were a country, it would rank at #10 or 11 in water scarcity. Drought has been in place for more than twenty years, and it shows no sign of letting up. It just doesn’t rain like it used to.

According to the World Resources Institute, New Mexico had the highest water stress of all fifty states by 2019. Our only saving grace is our slow rate of growth — about 3%. In the West, only Wyoming grew at a slower pace.

The West’s other thirsty states, including Utah, Arizona, and Nevada, have seen growth rates above 10%, further exacerbating the already dire situation in the Colorado River watershed.

The state legislature doesn’t seem to be too concerned. They’re only in session for thirty days in even-numbered years, making this a short session. This year’s agenda focuses mainly on people development (teachers and law enforcement) and the creation of a significant hydrogen program. Unfortunately, the agenda is dry when it comes to water.

At the base of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs are our physiological needs, without which we have nothing. After air, food and water are the next highest needs. Since water can grow food, let’s consider water the number two need.

Part of the High Plains, Eastern New Mexico has depended on water from the Ogallala Aquifer, the nation's largest, to sustain farming and ranching. Almost the entire state of Nebraska, as well as portions of South Dakota, Wyoming, Colorado, Kansas, Texas, and Oklahoma rely on the aquifer for some of their water needs. But the aquifer is diminishing due to overuse that is not being replenished by rains. Up to 83% of aquifer water drawn is used for agriculture.

New Mexico has a robust agricultural industry. But with little grass to feed the herds, ranchers have had to cull their herds to purchase hay, the price of which has skyrocketed. As a result, many ranchers have sought federal loans to cover their losses. About 44% of New Mexico’s agricultural revenue stems from cattle production.

“We count on rain. We count on rain for everything” -Rancher Cassidy Johnston in The New Humanitarian

Pecan and pistachio trees, the state’s ubiquitous chile industry, and now recreational marijuana are all vying for a shrinking percentage of the water available to agriculture.

The Rio Grande

The river runs in New Mexico from top to bottom, roughly cutting the state in half. Agriculture uses nearly 80% of the Rio Grande’s water. It also quenches the thirst for the cities of Albuquerque and El Paso and the border city in Mexico, Ciudad Juarez.

The Rio Grande often runs dry in Southern New Mexico, where aquifers then bring it back to life. How much water is delivered to New Mexico and Texas is based on the 1938 Rio Grande Compact from the river’s source in Colorado. (A prior treaty in 1906 ruled how much of the river’s water would be delivered to Mexico.)

Currently, there is a case pending in the Supreme Court between New Mexico and Texas. Texas claims New Mexico is not releasing enough water per the agreements. New Mexico claims it is not receiving its fair share of water, relying on groundwater as a replacement. So far the U.S. Department of Justice has sided with Texas.

And the beat goes on.

The Pecos River

This river runs roughly from the mountains near Las Vegas through the state's eastern portion. At least five dams preserve water along the way, and its only saving grace is that the cities that rely on it are small. So Texas, being the big bully that it is, sued New Mexico in 1949, claiming it wasn’t getting its fair share of the river. The agreement became known as the Pecos River Compact.

Texas again sued New Mexico in 1974 in the Supreme Court alleging that groundwater pumping in New Mexico depleted the flow of the Pecos into Texas. In 1983, the Supreme Court decided against New Mexico.

In southeastern New Mexico, the Pecos flows in the oil-rich Permian Basin, most of which lies in Texas. Complicating matters is water needed for fracking for oil extraction. Since New Mexico is in arrears to Texas already, Texas is pumping water from an aquifer that straddles both states back to New Mexico.

The Pecos eventually finds its way to the Rio Grande near Del Rio, Texas.

Conclusion

This is a very simplified version of the issue at hand.

The heart of the matter is the lack of rain and snow in southern Colorado and Northern New Mexico. On top of a spotty monsoon season in 2021, precipitation since has been below average, with temperatures above average. That’s on top of 22 years of drought. There is little snowpack, and the forecast calls for the same conditions.

It would help if Albuquerque instituted a water awareness campaign and implemented restrictions. But at 121 gallons per household per day, it is already one of the lowest users of cities in the West. Beginning April 1, El Paso will see water restrictions in their city.

“There’s no water in the bank, so to speak, next year,” - Rolf Schmidt-Petersen, Interstate Stream Commission director.

Don’t go chasing waterfalls in New Mexico. Even the few that we had may be a thing of the past.

Sources for this article include:

https://www.businessinsider.com/new-mexico-faces-extreme-water-stress-2019–8 https://www.krqe.com/plus/data-reporting/census-2020-how-has-new-mexicos-population-changed/ https://deeply.thenewhumanitarian.org/water/articles/2018/08/13/drought-forces-hard-choices-for-farmers-and-ranchers-in-the-southwest https://elpasomatters.org/2021/10/12/what-you-should-know-about-the-texas-new-mexico-fight-over-rio-grande-water/ https://news.yahoo.com/mexico-cattle-ranchers-pummeled-ongoing-150300277.html?soc_src=social-sh&soc_trk=ma https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/new-mexico/articles/2021-12-23/forecasters-new-mexico-should-brace-for-worsening-drought https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/new-mexico-water-managers-bracing-for-another-dry-winter-spring/article_cf69277e-6415-11ec-abb3-27c72caa3dae.html https://deeply.thenewhumanitarian.org/water/articles/2018/07/16/oil-boom-in-southern-new-mexico-ignites-groundwater-feud-with-texas

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