Climate changes initiated by global warming and disputes with neighboring states are threatening New Mexico's already-limited water supply, New Mexico Natural Resource Trustee Bill Turner said Tuesday.
Turner, a water consultant, argued that global warming has caused frequent droughts internationally and has increased the summer season by 14 days during the past 50 years.
He said that global climate change causes snow melt on the San Juan Mountains in Southwestern Colorado to run off faster, which means New Mexico gets most of the water earlier in the year.
Turner said that global warming causes water to evaporate more rapidly because less water is spread over a larger area and land is drier. As a result, less runoff water is available.
The Interstate Stream Commission compacts compounded the problem. The compacts were signed by several states and regulate the amount of water each receives. New Mexico's two water sources, the Rio Grande Basin and the Pecos River Basin, are major water sources for Colorado and Texas.
Despite New Mexico's water shortage, Turner said, Texas is not being flexible in negotiations to reduce the amount of water earmarked for the state.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
"Texas will not give one inch to the state of New Mexico," he said.
He added that commercial water transactions between Southern Colorado and New Mexico are in virtually the same condition, with Colorado not budging.
"So the state of Colorado is not about to be generous and give New Mexico any water either, so we're caught between a rock and a hard place and nobody knows the dimensions of this hard place," he said.
Turner said he will demonstrate to legislators that money needs to be spent on watersheds to supplement a runoff only if he can discover that climatic change won't offset the money spent.
This water delivery problem has led to a bigger battle between New Mexico and Texas, Turner said. Last May, the Texas Legislature passed a bill that directed the Texas attorney general to pursue water rights disputes involving the Rio Grande Basin and allocated $6.2 million to carry it out.
Turner added that New Mexico has been stalling in a variety of ways, including very slow approval of New Mexico water plans that are already out of date. He said that this has prompted Texas to take its case to court.
"The state of Texas believes it has a greater use for the water and would produce a greater economic benefit, or more economic benefit, than leaving it right where it is in New Mexico," he said.
New Mexico officials knew about this situation last year, Turner said, but the Legislature still didn't appropriate money to respond to Texas' appropriations. This session the Legislature appropriated some money for water, but Gov. Gary Johnson still must approve it.
"The pressure is on New Mexico, like Texas, to do a better job and it's better to address these problems while they're small," he said.
