New Mexico has been in a sustained drought since 2002 far longer than experts predicted. And scientists from NASA, Cornell and Columbia University are warning if climate change continues the way it has the drought may get a lot worse. As Simon Thompson reports some water experts say New Mexico is trailing far behind other southwestern states in developing strategies for sustained growth and water access.
Southern New Mexico water consumption is increasing as farms use more groundwater during the drought. The population has grown over time as well. So the groundwater is being depleted. Diminished snow pack in the mountains of Colorado has reduced runoff that would help recharge Elephant Butte and some groundwater supplies.
““The problem is we have more water users than we have water- and we are not managing our water in an integrated way” said Sam Fernald, New Mexico State professor and Director of the Water Resources Research Institute.
Elephant Butte reservoir went from 1.6 million acre feet in the year 2000 to less 400,000 acre feet in 2011. At the same time, New Mexicans are increasingly pumping water resources out of the ground.
Experts say this might be sustainable when there are wet seasons every few years but not in a sustained drought. Fernald says all this groundwater use is like draining a bank account.
“In drought without that recharge, without the surface water, without the precipitation that soaks into the ground. Then you start getting into a situation where you are extracting more than you are recharging. If that go’s on for a while you’ve used up your checking account and you start dipping into your savings.”
“That can be a problem because your savings account once you use that up, you don’t have anything to turn to”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoIMEmPBFx0&feature=youtu.be
How is all this groundwater pumping affecting the water table? Here are a few examples: The Mesilla Basin, the aquifer below Las Cruces dropped 15 feet in 15 years, in that same amount of time the Hueco Bolson aquifer below El Paso dropped 55 feet.
How is all this groundwater pumping affecting the water table? Here are a few examples
So how dire is the current situation? And precisely how much water do we have?
“Actually I don’t know about that” Fernald said.
That’s because New Mexico has not been keeping track of the state’s total water supply.
Fernald says New Mexico has focused on administering water rights for farmers. Fernald says that made sense in the 80’s and 90’s, before the drought hit- when reservoirs like Elephant Butte were better supplied. But now, the state must adapt to the new reality of water scarcity.
“We are bumping up against the basically limits to use because we are in a drought. That is why we need this data now and they didn’t have them before because there wasn’t this scarcity driving a the need for the research like there is now,” Fernald said.
Fernald says the institute he directs is working to get state funding for the needed research. He’s pushing for a $2 million dollar water bill in the New Mexico legislature to support statewide water research and assessment and new water sources.
“We are looking to new waters and one of those is marginal quality waters like brackish water, salty ground water, produced water the water that comes up with oil of gas, the byproduct of the oil and gas production, reused water the waste water from urban areas can be re-used” Fernald said.
Fernald says informed decisions about New Mexico’s future water resources need to be made. But he says that can’t happen without a comprehensive statewide assessment into strategies for sustainable water use and access.
“We are building the tools to make informed decisions about water.”
In the long run the research would be used to inform state water policy and allow for regions to manage their own water supplies. There is little legislative opposition to the water research bill. But with less state money available Fernald says he is working to ensure the $2 million dollars in funding is a legislative priority.
