Making Every Desert Downpour Count Can Stormwater Help New Mexico Weather A Historic Drought? Jun / 2026 It rushes down streets and arroyos, pools in great puddles in the middle of the road and evaporates when the sun reemerges at the end of a downpour. In arid states like New Mexico where every drop counts, seeing stormwater race away to …

Farming Through The Worst Drought in 1,200 Years Threading a Needle in the Mesilla Valley Jun / 2026 James Sloan has never farmed in anything but a drought.  For nearly the past quarter-century, he’s grown in the famously fertile ribbon of land known as the Mesilla Valley. It has been an exercise in patience. But some of that waiting is …

Compacts Benefit and Bind Us Balancing Interstate Water Obligations in Times of Drought May / 2026 Before 1878, when the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad started steaming its way through southwest Colorado’s San Luis Valley, sagebrush and stands of native grasses dotted the landscape. Native Peoples and Spanish settlers used hand-dug diversion ditches to reroute just enough stream water to …

Making Tribal Water Rights Right The history and urgency of Indian water rights settlements May / 2026 In a few years, a final pipe will be laid, a tap will open, and one of the longest-running court cases in the history of the United States will, at long last, come to a close. It’s been 60 years since the start …

Off the Shelf Next steps in water planning in New Mexico Apr / 2026 For decades, regional water plans in New Mexico often ended up as binders on a shelf — carefully written, rarely referenced. But in a state where water is quickly dwindling, it’s more important than ever to turn abstract plans into action. So now, a small team …

Measuring Up New Mexico’s Aquifers A closer look with Katie Zemlick, OSE Hydrology Bureau Chief Mar / 2026 Beneath New Mexico’s landscapes is a hidden anatomy of sediment and rock that governs how we live on the surface. New Mexico’s 39 groundwater basins — natural containers that house our aquifers — are crucial sources of water for most of New …

WaterTAP – A New Tool For Public Water System Managers Mar / 2026 Managing a public water system, you are balancing immediate needs like repairs and operations with bigger questions about reliability. Finding the right guidance and funding can be time-consuming, especially when information is spread across multiple programs and resources. The New Mexico Interstate Stream Commission (NMISC) has launched …

Can weather data help us dodge disaster? A conversation with State Climatologist Dr. Dave DuBois Feb / 2026 In May 2022, as the largest wildfire in state history crested the hill south of Mora, New Mexico, data from the weather station in the middle of town was worth its weight in water. During a wildfire, ground-truth reports about wind speed, …

Investing in Farm- and Ranch-Led Drought Solutions An interview with Sam Fernald of New Mexico State University Dec / 2025 The image of a multi-million-dollar water treatment facility sitting abandoned and inoperable in the Dominican Republic is still fresh in Sam Fernald’s mind. A professor of watershed management at New Mexico State University and the director of the state’s Water …

Supporting Acequia Resilience An interview with Paula Garcia, executive director of the New Mexico Acequia Association Nov / 2025 There is perhaps no better place in New Mexico to experience the joys — and challenges — of community than on the banks of an acequia in early spring. As days get longer and snowmelt collects in streams and rivers, communities …