Healthy Rivers and Water Quality

In the desert, more than most places, we are constantly reminded that water nourishes us… that without a clean, sustainable supply of water, we couldn’t survive. What other Americans might take for granted, we cannot.

The challenge of meeting the growing demands for water with the same limited supply—and how we meet that challenge—is likely to define the future of our Land of Enchantment as much or more than any other dynamic.

Most New Mexican cities and towns have barely scratched the surface of water conservation efforts but, even if they had, efficiency alone might not prevent the consequences of too much demand for not enough water:

• Intensifying pressure to transfer water from farms, ranches and smaller communities to thirsty, growing cities—literally draining the lifeblood from our rural areas;
• escalating legal costs as we engage in expensive and risky litigation with neighboring states; and
• ever-diminishing river flows, deteriorating streamside habitats, and more fish and wildlife in danger of extinction.

This isn’t an exhaustive list, but all of these have occurred in the past, are still happening now, and will inevitably continue in the future. Water policy is extremely complicated, and the complexity is exacerbated by the conflicts and emotion that get tangled up in almost every policy discussion.

So what can we do?

There is a range of policy solutions that can address every aspect of our water challenges, but they all require a combination of common sense, innovation and bravery. Only the boldest of leaders will have the requisite nerve to take on the powerful interests and knit together solutions that not everyone is happy with, but that cause the least harm.

An excellent primer on New Mexico’s water challenges—and the solutions available to us if we have the courage to pursue them—is “Taking Charge of Our Water Destiny”, which you can download here (hyperlink). Although the report is now nearly 10 years old, we’ve made such little progress that the problems are the same, but so are the solutions.

In the end, as Mark Twain says, “whiskey is for drinking; water is for fighting over”. Old and clichéd, perhaps. But sadly, never more true.

Examples of actions that promote healthy rivers and a clean, sustainable supply of water for New Mexicans:

In 2010, after more than two years of public process and hearings, the state Water Quality Control Commission (WQCC) officially designated about 700 miles of perennial rivers and streams, 29 lakes and more than 4,900 acres of wetlands in federal wilderness areas as “Outstanding National Resource Waters”. The designation means that these critical water sources will receive the highest level of protection from activities that would degrade water quality.

One of the more contentious actions of the Richardson administration was the adoption in 2008 of the ‘pit rule’ for the oil and gas industry. In adopting the rule, the Oil Conservation Commission (OCC) set standards for the treatment and disposal of waste from oil and gas operations. However contentious, there is no denying that this common-sense rule is remarkably effective. In the fifteen years prior to the pit rule, industry self-reported 421 cases of groundwater contamination caused by oil and gas waste disposal pits—more than half of all cases of groundwater contamination reported by the industry. Since adoption of the pit rule, there has not been a single reported case of groundwater contamination from an oil or gas waste pit.

Example of action that threatens our rivers and water resources:

Did you know that New Mexico’s last wild river is being threatened by a dam? In the heart of America’s first designated wilderness area, the last free-flowing river in our state supports habitat for myriad fish and wildlife—including more than 300 species of birds. Anglers, rafters, birders, hikers, and residents and tourists of all stripes treasure the Gila River. But now, there is a strong push to build a dam or ‘diversion project’ that would impair the flow of the river, threaten fish and wildlife, and cost taxpayers a fortune for an unnecessary, wasteful and harmful boondoggle.