A Campaign For Water

Why "Water Can't Wait" In New Mexico & Beyond

If there’s one thing this U.S. election cycle has shown us is that we live in a politically dysfunctional and divided country. When Pew Research asked U.S. adults what one word they would use to describe politics today, the most popular response was “divisive.”

Yet, I think there are core issues that we can and should unite on. When I’m out on the lecture circuit and visiting communities throughout the country, I know how much people care about our natural resources—our water, our air, and our land. People on both sides of the political spectrum love our National Park System, want clean, drinkable water and access to fresh foods.

Yes, elections are important but so is using your voice and your actions every day of the year. We have so much more power than we think to create a better world for us and for future generations. I talk a lot about putting anger into action, and one way to do that is by joining forces to support the issues that matter most to us.

That’s why I’m so excited to see what’s happening in New Mexico.

Water Can’t Wait is a public education campaign that launched earlier this year to elevate water issues in the state. It’s a nonpartisan movement, not specific to any one policy or bill.

The goal is to ensure water issues will become more of a priority in upcoming legislative sessions. The campaign features storytelling and community voices and brings together organizations and individuals within the water-deprived state.

“Without action, New Mexico will not have enough water to meet our needs,” reads the state’s 50 Year Water Action Plan.

The campaign is policy-focused and aims to ensure that addressing the water crisis is a priority for communities, local governments, and policy makers.

“Communities in eastern New Mexico need action on water issues, and they need it now,” said Ladona Clayton, executive director for Ogallala Land & Water Conservancy in a statement. “Scientists have been sounding the alarm about the depletion of groundwater sources like the Ogallala Aquifer, and we need to treat it like the crisis it is. I’m working hard to bring farmers, ranchers, military leaders and everyday citizens together to support local solutions, but we need more help from the state. The staffing levels at our agencies are unacceptable. The way we fund water projects is broken and outdated. It’s time to roll up our sleeves and fix these problems together.” 

What are some of the biggest water challenges in New Mexico?

In the summer of 2022, state officials created the New Mexico Water Policy and Infrastructure Task Force, which included a range of state agency officials and stakeholders across New Mexico’s water-using communities, to define the state’s water problems and present a far-reaching list of legislative and executive policy recommendations to address them.

According to the 2023 report, many water challenges exist in the state including drought, dwindling water stores, and aging infrastructure.

The state endured an unprecedented wildfire season, including the two largest wildfires in the state’s recorded history, which devastated watersheds and communities across New Mexico.

Flows in the Rio Grande, the state’s most important source of surface water supply, have been below average for all but four years in the 21st century, with the river through central New Mexico at its lowest flows in recorded history.

To put an exclamation point on the crisis, the river briefly dried up in the summer of 2022 through Albuquerque, the state’s largest city, for the first time in four decades.

Total water storage in the Rio Grande’s major reservoirs entered the third decade of the 21st century at their lowest levels since the drought of the 1950s.

Accelerated decline of many of the state’s major aquifers is the result of pumping water to make up for chronic shortages of rain and snow, while adding additional demands as the state’s population increases.

Gaps in New Mexico’s groundwater monitoring network leave communities with no clear picture of the status of the state’s aquifers in many parts of the state. Several communities have seen their wells go dry, forcing them to take emergency measures such as trucking in water.

Aging water infrastructure, especially in New Mexico’s smaller communities, is under increasing pressure to meet the challenges posed by the climate crisis. Decaying infrastructure and lack of community capacity to repair, replace, and manage water and wastewater systems threaten equitable access to the basic necessity of clean, safe drinking water

Water pollution issues also exist in New Mexico. Like so many other states, New Mexico has discovered PFAS contamination. Ongoing issues persist with the Camino Real Regional Utility Authority (CRRUA) in the southern part of the state. Despite repeated assurances from CRRUA, community members face problems with arsenic contamination, discolored water, health concerns and escalating water rates. In September, the New Mexico Environment Department and the New Mexico Department of Health held a public town hall in Sunland Park about the ongoing water crisis.

Protecting watersheds and working to reduce the amount of pollution entering New Mexico’s rivers, lakes, streams and wetlands must become a priority.

As stated in the 50-year plan:

New Mexico is one of three states that is not authorized by the federal government to administer the Clean Water Act discharge permitting program. Instead, New Mexico businesses and utilities rely on the U.S. EPA in Dallas, Texas to write and enforce these permits. In addition, given that the majority of New Mexico’s surface waters are not protected from pollution under current federal law, a state program would ensure protection of all waters of the State and the communities and ecosystems that rely on them.

In order to fix our biggest environmental problems, we have to begin by admitting they exist. For years, I’ve been shouting about this country’s water crisis from shortages to changing weather patterns to pollution problems.

Are water issues complicated? Yes, but they are not impossible. We have to keep listening to the people and working toward solutions.

Seeing movements like this one in New Mexico offers hope that we can not just report on issues but start creating momentum to solve them.

“We see this as an emergency moment, and we need our elected officials to as well,” said Carol Ann Fugagli, executive director of the Upper Gila Watershed Alliance (UGWA) in a statement. “My husband Mike and I have seen the changes in the Cliff Gila Valley since we moved here 30 years ago. Everyday, every square meter of land is losing more and more moisture. Our water systems are home to some of the most biologically diverse ecosystems in the world, yet the amount of springs that are being protected are very few. We’ve spent most of our adult professional lives seeing this moment come, and we wish our policymakers would take action to solve the water crisis now—because if we don’t, it’s only going to get worse.” 

We can’t sit on the sidelines waiting for our water issues to get worse. We’ve got to engage in meaningful advocacy that can impact both policy change and funding for water programs locally—whether that’s at state legislatures, governors’ offices, or with state agencies.

Funding for this campaign comes from the Water Foundation, who with partners works to advance lasting solutions to secure safe water for people, restore and sustain freshwater ecosystems, and build climate resilience.

“When water issues are ignored, it has a ripple effect on our communities, causing additional problems with basic healthcare, housing and infrastructure that depend on healthy water supplies,” wrote Theresa Pasqual, a member of Acoma Pueblo in an editorial for Cibola Citizen. “All these issues are intertwined. And unlike other people, we cannot simply move away. We are rooted here. Acoma is one of the oldest continuously inhabited communities in North America, and we are determined to ensure it lasts for another millennia. Let’s honor this land and the people who live here by taking action now. Water can’t wait.”

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Keep the conversation going in the comments below. How are you working to educate your community about water issues?