50-Year Water Planning with Norm Gaume

Earth Matters co-host and Gila Resources Information Project executive director Allyson Siwik talks to former Interstate Stream Commission director and Middle Rio Grande Water Assembly President Norm Gaume about New Mexico’s 50-year water planning effort.

The State of New Mexico has been engaged in a rigorous water planning effort to evaluate the predicted impacts of climate change on water resources and plan for reductions in water supplies over the next 50 years. The predictions are dire. Temperatures in the state are projected to increase by 5 – 7 degrees F over the next 50 years, with the state becoming more arid and with more severe droughts. Our water resources, already stretched thin, will be diminished further by increasing demand and as much as a 25% reduction in runoff and recharge. What do we need to be doing today so that we can be prepared for even more limited water supplies in the future?

More information:

Interstate Stream Commission 50-year Water Plan – https://engagenmwater.org/

The Leap Ahead Report (Climate Change in New Mexico Over the Next 50 Years: Impacts on Water Resources) – document and YouTube video presentations on the report

https://engagenmwater.org/hotter-drier-impacts-to-new-mexico-s-water-resources-from-climate-change-2020-2070

Resilience of  Water Use Sectors  to  Climate Change in New Mexico

https://engagenmwater.org/16315/widgets/50375/documents/33755

Governor’s Water Policy and Infrastructure Task Force Recommendations

https://uttoncenter.unm.edu/resources/state-water-task-force/new-mexico-water-policy-and-infrastructure-task-force-final-report-2022.pdf

Middle Rio Grande Water Advocates

https://mrgwateradvocates.org/

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Which unexpected issues arose in 2022 that the local conservation groups responded to? What good work was accomplished in 2022 on behalf of our land and water? Join Earth Matters co-hosts Allyson Siwik (Gila Resources Information Project) and Donna Stevens and Carol Ann Fugagli (Upper Gila Watershed Alliance) to hear updates on conservation work in 2022 and take a look ahead to 2023.

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Are you curious about how many large mammals are hit on New Mexico’s highways? Where are the hotspots where vehicles collide with deer, elk, bear, and other animals? It turns out that the Hwy. 180 and 90 corridor just outside Silver City is the second-worst place in the entire state for wildlife/vehicle collisions. Join Donna Stevens of the Upper Gila Watershed Alliance in a conversation with Jesse Deubel of the New Mexico Wildlife Federation and Jeremy Romero of the National Wildlife Federation. We’ll talk about the problem and, more importantly, the solutions.

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This week, host Donna Stevens is joined by Tom Ribe, author of Inferno by Committee: A History of the Cerro Grande (Los Alamos) Fire, America’s Worst Prescribed Fire Disaster, to talk about New Mexico’s wildfires. Listen below:

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Join Donna Stevens of the Upper Gila Watershed Alliance and Don Graves of the Gila Native Plant Society for a discussion about the importance and decline of pollinators such as bees, moths, wasps, beetles, flies, bats, and birds. Unfortunately, it’s not just pollinators that are in trouble. Pollinators’ host plants, which play a huge role in pollinators’ life cycles, are in decline, so we discuss that, too. Learn how you can help pollinators and their larval plants.

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Gila Resources Information Project Executive Director and Earth Matters co-host Allyson Siwik talks to Christian Casillas and Ona Porter about New Mexico’s new Community Solar program that could jumpstart broad adoption of renewable energy in the state. The Public Regulation Commission recently approved rules to implement the 2021 legislation to guide development of 200 megawatts of solar power over the first three years of the program. A key component of New Mexico’s program is the requirement that 30% of each solar project must be reserved for low-income customers and low-income service organizations.

Christian Casillas, Director of Policy Development and Research with the Coalition of Sustainable Communities New Mexico. Christian has lived and worked in countries around the globe, focused on aspects of sustainable energy use and rural electrification for under-served communities. He has been the lead author for peer-reviewed papers in Science, Climate Policy, and Energy Policy.   https://www.coalitionscnm.org/

Ona Porter, Founder Emerita & Clean Energy Leader, with Prosperity Works. Ona develops and tests high impact strategies that build the opportunities, knowledge and relationships required for all New Mexicans to achieve economic security and prosperity. She is known for her powerful, no-nonsense approach to problem solving and strategy development in business, education, health and human services. https://www.prosperityworks.net/

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Additional Information

New Mexico Public Regulation Commission Community Solar website – https://www.nm-prc.org/utilities/community-solar/