Susan Morée talks to Gretel Follingstad, senior manager in the Climate Resilient Water Systems Program for the Environmental Defense Fund and one of the lead writers and researchers on the New Mexico 360 Groundwater Report. Here is a transcript of the first of their two-part conversation.
Susan Morée:
Were there any findings that surprised you or that you found to be particularly concerning?
Gretel Follingstad:
I think the most important component around the report is that when we look deep into what's happening due to climate change in New Mexico, we understand that New Mexico's water resources are declining due to climate change. The aridification due to increased heat is consuming a lot of the historic water supply that the state has used over the past millennia. And what that means is that our surface water size is diminishing because there's less snowpack, which means there's less runoff into our rivers and streams and less precipitation across our landscape. This means that our aquifers are also receiving less recharge and less infiltration. And all of this equates to the 25% to 30% less water supply that the state is facing by 2050. And what that means is that we need to manage what we do have better so that we can best adapt to these changing conditions.
Susan Morée:
And what happens in 2050? Can you talk about that?
Gretel Follingstad:
The projections for 2050 is that our water supplies and our snow pack will be significantly less because of increasing temperatures. And that means is that our reservoirs will have less water in them because our streams will be flowing with less water. And that stored water will become much more scarce, which requires more efficiency. There will also be wet years as we move forward in time. And if we're actively managing our water based on supply and the hydrology that is occurring, then we won't end up in a place of peril which would be where we don't have enough water in our aquifers to sustain our communities, our economies, and our environment.
Susan Morée:
One thing that I noticed in looking at the report was that Doña Ana County in particular was, literally, in the red. Can you talk about that and how southwest New Mexico, in particular, could be impacted by these water shortages?
Gretel Follingstad:
Doña Ana County is in the red, and part of that is because you have one of our biggest cities in the state, and you have a large economy that is supported by agriculture. The Lower Rio Grande Groundwater Basin is actually one of the examples within the report of active groundwater management in a very information-rich or data-rich area of the state. And while it is in red, it is also one of the areas, partially because it's in red, where we are actually managing our groundwater resources very acutely. And part of the reason why that is, is because of the Rio Grande Compact and the Supreme Court settlement agreements for Texas v. New Mexico. This is one of the things that Doña Ana County can be very proud of because it serves as, in some ways, a blueprint of where you have good aquifer characterization and understanding of the supplies of the aquifer and the variation and the changes in that supply, either because of use, which is metered, so you understand what's being drawn out of the aquifer, as well as infiltration or recharge for when there are wet years and water is recharging those groundwater levels. So that monitoring and management framework that is already taking place in the Lower Rio Grande and Doña Ana County serves as an example of what statewide groundwater monitoring and management could look like for each of the basins across the state. So yes, you are in the red. However, you are also managing those supplies diligently based on data.
