Let’s Talk New Mexico 6/3 at 8 am: The Rio Grande is swelling right now, but looks can be deceiving. Climate change is drying out this lifeline in the high desert. The river is a highly managed water system, so flows are supplemented and the impacts of global warming aren't always immediately visible. But climate change is taking its toll, and local managers say those miles-long dry patches we’ve been seeing could grow larger and last longer. The annual flows may drop even further, leaving thirsty cottonwood trees, parched ecosystems and dry farms.
We want to hear from you!How can we make preserving the state's struggling rivers and dwindling water supply a priority for elected officials?Who controls the river’s water?How do we reverse the impacts of climate change in New Mexico?Do you agree with those who say the river has a right to its own water?And how can we reframe our thinking about natural resources?
Join the conversation by emailingletstalk@kunm.orgor call in live during the show, Thursday, June 3, at 8 a.m. on KUNM. GUESTS:
- Phoebe Suina from Cochiti and San Felipe Pueblos, hydrologist and owner ofHigh Water Mark
- Dagmar Llewellyn, Water Management Division,U.S. Bureau of Reclamation
- Laura Paskus,environment reporter for New Mexico PBSand author ofAt The Precipice: New Mexico’s Changing Climate
RESOURCES:
- NM water managers warn communities to prepare for a low Rio Grande—Albuquerque Journal
- Memory of a River—Santa Fe Reporter
- Dagmar Llewellyn’s research
- One-on-one with Phoebe Suina—Albuquerque Journal
- ‘Megadrought’ persists in western U.S., as another extremely dry year develops—National Geographic
- 2021 could be one of the driest years in a millennium, and there’s no relief in sight—PBS News Hour
- Severe Drought, Worsened by Climate Change, Ravages the American West—New York Times
- New Mexico Farmers Adapt As Drought Grows Harsher—KRWG
- Some New Mexico farms apply for pilot project to save water—Associated Press
- Fallowing land to conserve groundwater not enough, New Mexico lawmakers say—Santa Fe New Mexican
- 2021 drought ‘a harbinger of what is coming’ for El Paso area water management—El Paso Matters
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And a note: Host Marisa Demarco is also one of the artists behind “There Must Be Other Names For The River,” a song based on 50 years of flow data andonline art installationfor theUNM Art Museum.The piece aims to bring attention to water resources and the impacts of climate change along the Rio Grande.
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