New Water Supply
With projections of 25% less water available in 50 years, we must develop new sources of water while we conserve and protect our freshwater resources. Technological advances continue to make water treatment safer and more economically viable. This includes safely tapping and treating ancient underground reserves of brackish water to remove salt and other naturally occurring constituents, as well as the treatment of wastewater from industrial processes to remove harmful pollutants so the treated water may be used to offset demand for freshwater.
New Mexico will become the first state in the country to establish a State Strategic Water Supply through a program that offers advanced market commitments to mitigate market risks through State commitments to purchase treated water from selected projects to build new desalination plants and produced water treatment plants in New Mexico. Depending on the quality of the treated water and associated regulatory standards, the State would be able to use or sell the auxiliary water for a range of specified purposes, for example, recharge a depleted freshwater aquifer with desalinated brackish water or use treated wastewater to develop and store renewable energy. In other words, among other benefits, we will better meet the water demands of our clean energy transition without reducing the availability of freshwater for human consumption, growing crops and raising livestock, and cultural and ecological purposes.
Our policy innovations will spur huge capital investments in new water treatment infrastructure and help to accelerate ongoing research and development for inland desalination and produced water treatment and reuse. In addition, the priority actions below demonstrate our commitment to ensuring each new investment in new sources of water is grounded in strong science and data and subject to regulatory frameworks that protect public health and foster accountability. As we expand utilization of a wider range of water resources and continue to conserve, it is important to closely monitor existing groundwater supplies. Building a dedicated water resource monitoring network will help New Mexico track the impacts of our water management decisions, thereby better informing state, tribal and local water managers for decades to come.
New Water Supply Actions
Action: B1
Establish the State Strategic Water Supply with $500 million reserved during 2024 and 2025 for New Mexico to apply toward purchases of water that can be used for everything from community water supply to building our clean energy economy. The State’s program for “advanced market commitments” will reduce risk for private companies looking to build desalination and produced water treatment facilities to convert brackish groundwater and oil and gas sector wastewater to valuable resources. These nonrenewable additional sources of water will greatly bolster water security by addressing near and long-term future water supply needs without increasing demand on the State’s diminishing freshwater resources.
Immediate Next Steps:
In 2024, create the program framework and guidelines, and launch concept paper competition for advanced market commitments for desalination and wastewater treatment/reuse. In 2024 and 2025, secure $500 million in program funding through revenues from severance taxes collected on oil, gas, and other natural resource extraction.
Return on Investment
By 2028, 100,000-acre-feet of new water is available for State use and resale for clean energy production, storage and manufacturing and for other zero-discharge industrial processes. By 2035, 50,000-acre-feet of treated brackish water is available and/or applied to active projects to recharge freshwater aquifers and otherwise augment the supply of freshwater for communities, farms, aquatic ecosystems, and interstate compact compliance.
Action: B2
Develop and implement comprehensive water reuse rules for potable and non-potable reuse of treated wastewater, including, but not limited to, continued implementation of the Produced Water Act, which was enacted in 2019 to spur greater reuse of produced water, by developing rigorous science-based standards and permitting requirements to protect the environment and public health.
Immediate Next Steps:
By 2024 adopt preliminary water reuse rules to create a consistent and science-based regulatory program for treatment and reuse of produced water outside of the oil and gas sector. By 2026, adopt necessary revised and sector-specific water reuse rules pursuant to the Water Quality Act, the Produced Water Act and the Environmental Improvement Act to establish clear regulatory pathways for potable (direct and indirect) and fit-for-purpose non-potable reuse of all relevant sources of wastewater, including from domestic/municipal and industrial sectors.
Return on Investment
The necessary regulatory frameworks are in place by 2026 to maximize utilization of the new water supplies identified in Action B1 above.
Action: B3
Fully fund and implement the Aquifer Mapping and Monitoring Program at the New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources and establish an integrated statewide groundwater monitoring network to support ongoing water management decisions, including development of desalination treatment plants and aquifer recharge projects. This action also directly supports action B1 above by expanding opportunities for the proper siting of water treatment plants and characterization of brackish water aquifers. In order to better understand our complex aquifers and track changes in some regions, we will need to drill wells to explore and delineate the aquifers. These wells can then be used for dedicated, long-term monitoring to track the impacts of our water use and conservation efforts.
A 25 million gallon per day brackish water treatment plant could produce up to 27,900 acre-feet of potable water a year. For comparison, this would cover approximately 70% of the annual consumptive water use in the Albuquerque area, which is roughly 40,000 acre-feet.
Immediate Next Steps:
In 2024 and subsequent years, fully fund the Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources’ request for recurring funding (i.e., an increase of $1.25 million) and any requested nonrecurring program funding. Utilize federal infrastructure funding to help cover costs to drill wells and build an improved groundwater monitoring network.
Return on Investment
By 2037, after 12 years fully-funded, the Program has added 100 new dedicated monitoring wells to the statewide network and characterized all major and minor aquifers in the State – freshwater and brackish water – with major aquifers characterized by 2032.