ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The U.S. government will spend $60 million over the next few years on projects along the Rio Grande in southern New Mexico and West Texas to make the river more resilient in the face of climate change and growing demand.
The funding announced Friday by U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland marks the first Inflation Reduction Act disbursement for a watershed outside the Colorado River system. As pressure on the Colorado River dominated headlines, Haaland and others acknowledged that other communities in the West — from Native American reservations to growing cities and agricultural strongholds — are experiencing the effects of unprecedented drought.
Water users and managers cannot afford to waste a single drop, Haaland said, sharing the advice her own grandmother used to give as she and her cousins carried buckets of water to their Laguna Pueblo home for cooking, cleaning and bathe.
“She taught us how precious water is in the desert,” Haaland said, standing among the cottonwood trees that form a green belt that stretches the length of the river from the Colorado-New Mexico border south to Texas and Mexico .
Haaland noted that parts of the river have dried up in the Albuquerque stretch in recent years. In fact, a decades-long drought has led to record low water levels throughout the Rio Grande Basin.
“When drought conditions like this strike, we know it impacts not just one community, but all of us,” she said, noting the importance of investing in water projects across the basin.
The Rio Grande, one of the longest rivers in North America, provides drinking water to millions of people and supplies thousands of farmers with water for their crops. Management of the river has led to legal battles in recent decades. The latest case is before the U.S. Supreme Court as New Mexico, Texas and Colorado seek approval for a settlement that will give them more flexibility in the future.
U.S. Rep. Melanie Stansbury, a Democrat from New Mexico, said improving sustainability along the Rio Grande will help the state meet obligations under a decades-old pact to deliver water downstream to Texas and eventually Mexico.
Irrigation districts in southern New Mexico and El Paso, Texas, will work with the New Mexico Interstate Stream Commission, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to develop projects that benefit the river and its endangered species that live in the river basin.
The work will range from capturing more stormwater runoff to improving existing infrastructure. Officials said the savings could result in tens of thousands of acres of water. An acre-foot is roughly enough to serve two to three American households annually.
In total, the Inflation Reduction Act provides $4 billion for drought relief in 17 western states, with a priority in the Colorado River Basin. However, the legislation also freed up $500 million for water management and conservation projects in other watersheds experiencing similar levels of prolonged drought.
The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation said funding for other basins will be announced later this year, with the goal of using the money over the next four years.
On the Rio Grande, prolonged drought and heavy reliance on groundwater pumping have reduced surface water supplies, resulting in reduced efficiency and lost wildlife habitat.
By capturing more rainwater and increasing storage, officials said they could replenish aquifers and reduce demand for irrigation.
Some of that work is already happening in the Elephant Butte Irrigation District, which serves about 5,000 farmers in southern New Mexico. Near the farming village of Rincon, officials are trying to slow the flow and prevent sediment from clogging the channels that feed the river.
It is one of several projects the irrigation district has proposed to federal officials to conserve water, protect communities from seasonal flooding and restore habitat.
Irrigation District Manager Gary Esslinger and Samantha Barncastle, a water attorney representing the district, traveled to Albuquerque on Friday to participate in a briefing with Haaland and other officials. They described the effort as “re-sanitizing” the West with irrigation and flood control systems that can accommodate changing conditions.
“It’s a pretty big vision,” Barncastle said, “but it’s what everyone should be doing: Thinking big is the only way to solve the climate crisis.”