Water Data
The Water Data Act and the Water Security Planning Act
Editor’s note: Stacy Timmons prepared this paper for the January 2024 New Mexico Water Dialogue Annual Statewide Meeting information packet. Stacy is the New Mexico water scientist who oversees the hydrogeology programs as Associate Director of the New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources. It’s republished here because funding is needed from the 2025…
Read MoreFrom Portales, NM – “If Only I had Known”
If I had only known! How many times have you said that in your life? Grab some caffeine and join me for a tour of our possible water future. Do you remember that time when you meant to go see someone but something came up, only to get a call that something had happened to…
Read MoreFrom the President’s Desk: Addressing New Mexico’s Water Crisis by Adequately Funding the Prerequisites to Data-Driven Water Governance
This ongoing mismanagement of vital water data hampers effective decision-making needed to address the state’s water crisis.
New Mexico is at a crossroads. Without a significant shift towards a water governance framework that recognizes and integrates hydrologic and climate realities with actionable data, parts of the state risk becoming uninhabitable. This shift requires a departure from the Legislature’s practice of passing laws without funding their implementation. It is imperative that the Governor’s Office and the Legislature fully commit to funding the necessary changes outlined in the 2019 Water Data Act and the 2023 Water Security Planning Act. Only through such transformative changes can New Mexico hope to secure a sustainable water future for all its regions and residents.
From the President’s Desk: State Government Neglect of Water Must Stop Now
To prevent population evaporation, it is vital that the state fund serious adaptation measures to cope with reduced water availability. This is not a temporary drought but a permanent increase in aridity. The State of New Mexico has the power and resources to initiate required strategic changes. We know the path forward. We urge you to communicate this to the Governor and the Legislature. Do what Water requires. Do it Now.
Read MoreProgress Is Accelerating. Think Water – Act Now.
At this juncture, New Mexico and the Middle Rio Grande stand on the precipice, necessitating unified, swift action to combat looming water challenges. With the legal framework now in place, we must now establish collaborative regional water security planning councils across New Mexico.
Read MoreUNM’s Middle Rio Grande Water Data Dashboard: Status Report & What’s Next
The Water Data Dashboard will be online at the end of this semester as an interactive website prototype with integrated graphic views and drill-down features, illustrating where our water comes from, where it is going, and what we need to know but don’t.
Read MoreThe 2024 Legislature Must Think Water: Act Now!
Wake Up New Mexico. Collectively, we are asleep at the wheel. Our collective inaction puts our water security, and therefore our economic security, at risk.
Read MoreWater Data 101 Guidebook
Internet of Water has published Data 101 as a guidebook for water data users and decision makers. Around the globe and here in the United States, water challenges are mounting. As climate change, population growth, and other drivers of water stress increase, decision makers at every level of society—from governors, to reservoir operators, to city…
Read More