Media Coverage

Op-ed: Sky-rocketing temperatures in March and an early start to wildfires have resulted in two federal disaster declarations, citing all 33 counties — or 100% of the state — in some stage of drought. 

The state's new LeakTracer program uses data from "L-band synthetic aperture radar" satellites and AI to identify anomalies in soil moisture that could signal water escaping underground.

The special master in a long-standing legal conflict over the Rio Grande is recommending the U.S. Supreme Court approve a joint motion to settle the matter.

Members of the New Mexico House Appropriations and Finance Committee held a news conference Wednesday morning to discuss the state’s $11.1 billion budget, which has already passed the House. Rural needs were said to be among the top priorities for bill-makers.

A new groundwater report is sounding the alarm in New Mexico, warning that shrinking aquifers, limited data, and fragmented management are pushing the state toward a serious water supply crunch.

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.

The New Mexico 360 Groundwater Report says drought, climate change, water-hungry data center, and PFA contamination are major contributors for historically low levels of usable groundwater, and that without an implemented strategy, more communities will have depleted aquifers, worse water quality, and disruptions in water service.

Groundwater is the source of almost 80% of the state’s drinking water supply and more than half of the state’s total water supply, according to a January report on groundwater uses. But despite its outsize role, the underground freshwater resource isn’t always well understood

The New Mexico Groundwater Alliance, made up of water policy experts from around the state, released the 80-page report Wednesday.

Groundwater accounts for more than half of New Mexico’s total supplies and about 80% of the state’s drinking water.