New Mexico Water Planning Assistance Act
Key claim: If enacted, Interior (through Reclamation and USGS) would give New Mexico technical help and 50-50 matching grants to write statewide water plans, map water resources, and study groundwater, including hydrologic models for the Rio Grande, San Juan, Gila, and related basins.
Abstract
(S178 · 109th Congress) (This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary of that version is repeated here.) New Mexico Water Planning Assistance Act - Directs the Secretary of the Interior, at the request of the Governor of New Mexico and acting through the Bureau of Reclamation and the U.S. Geological Survey, to: (1) provide to New Mexico technical assistance and grants for the development of comprehensive state water plans; (2) conduct water resources mapping in New Mexico; and (3) conduct a comprehensive study of groundwater resources in New Mexico to assess the quantity, quality, and interaction of groundwater and surface water resources. Lists types of technical assistance that may be provided, including acquisition of hydrologic data, expansion of groundwater monitoring networks, and coordination of federal water management planning efforts. Directs the Secretary to allocate specified funds: (1) to develop hydrologic models and acquire associated equipment for the New Mexico Rio Grande main stem sections and Rios Pueblo de Taos and Hondo, Rios Nambe, Pojoaque and Teseque, Rio Chama, and Lower Rio Grande tributaries; (2) to complete the hydrographic survey development of hydrologic models and acquire associated equipment for the San Juan River and tributaries and for Southwest New Mexico, including the Animas Basin, the Gila River, and tributaries; and (3) for statewide digital orthophotography mapping. Sets the non-federal share of the total cost of any activity carried out using a grant under this Act at 50 percent, which may be in the form of in-kind services as determined by the Secretary. Latest action (2005-08-02): Referred to the Subcommittee on Water and Power.
Why this matters
State water planning in the arid Southwest depends on federal hydrologic data and cost-shared studies that individual states rarely fund alone. If enacted, this bill would channel Reclamation and USGS resources into New Mexico’s basin-scale groundwater and surface-water modeling, shaping how future drought, allocation, and interstate compact decisions on the Rio Grande, San Juan, and Gila are made.