Water Advocates comment publicly regarding the NM Interstate Stream Commission’s water planning study session. The comments identify essential elements of a meaningful NM water planning process.
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Pursuing water equity is a moral project. Addressing water equity is often absent from conversations about the sustainability of our water resources. It is unfortunate not all of the important issues facing water challenges revolve around water quality. There is broad consensus that equity refers to just and fair inclusion–a condition in which everyone has the opportunity to participate and prosper.
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Introduction As the din of calls to deal with all the profound crises—social, cultural, economic, and environmental—finally start to dominate the political discourse it might serve us well to start to build a coherent vision of where this is going to end up. Author and farmer Chris Smaje has given us a comprehensive guide to…
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How We Could Preserve Our Water Future At the New Mexico Water Dialogue’s annual statewide meeting (January 13-14, 2021) the New Mexico Interstate Stream Commission (ISC) launched the process to develop a Fifty-Year Water Plan for New Mexico. The plan presents a new opportunity to really face up to and address New Mexico’s scarcity of…
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The Rio Grande Basin Study is beginning to feel more tangible. Over sixty people attended Reclamation’s quarterly “All Partners” meeting held Dec. 4. After a presentation on in-progress climate assessment research and a coming agricultural adaptation workshop, the discussion focused on the detailed draft plan for the three-year …
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Interstate Stream Commission members agree the need for effective water planning is urgent. Yet two years into this administration, the staff is not yet focused on “helping New Mexicans plan for water scarcity and a changing climate.”
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Leadership and unprecedented actions are needed to prevent a Rio Grande Compact violation in 2021. Serious water planning can no longer be neglected. The legislature is requested to take five actions.
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The ISC provided a draft of a “Briefing Paper: 50-Year Water Plan. If we want to make the Fifty-Year Water Plan exercise meaningful, the initial (objectives) paragraph of the Briefing Paper is far too weak. It must be strengthened significantly.
The first paragraphs of the document should unambiguously emphasize a (the) purpose or goal of…
Read MoreThe U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s Rio Grande New Mexico Basin Study conducted a webinar meeting on September 10, 2020 for all of the program partners (as of that date). The meeting agenda topics included a status report on the program, a presentation on the Ten Tribes Partnership involvement in the Colorado River Basin Study, and…
Read MoreThe New York Times published an article on October 15 “Nearly Half of the U.S. Is in Drought. It May Get Worse.” Nearly half of the continental United States is gripped by drought, government forecasters said Thursday, and conditions are expected to worsen this winter across much of the Southwest and South. Mike Halpert, deputy…
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