- Groundwater supplies more than half of New Mexico’s water and most drinking water.
- Climate change and long-term pumping are shrinking available groundwater.
- Several major aquifers are already seeing rapid declines.
- The report urges better data, monitoring, and regional planning.
- Lawmakers have proposed record funding for water science and programs.
Wednesday, January 21, 2026 — A report from Source New Mexico
reveals that the state’s water experts are warning that New Mexico faces increasing stress on its groundwater as hotter temperatures and continued pumping reduce already limited supplies. An 80-page report from the New Mexico Groundwater Alliance notes that groundwater provides more than half of the state’s total water and about 80 percent of its drinking water, yet levels are dropping fastest in several key agricultural and urban basins, including areas near Clovis, Deming, Albuquerque, and the East Mountains. The report calls for expanded aquifer mapping, improved monitoring of pumping, technical support for local management, and clearer inclusion of groundwater in regional planning. While the report urges further action, it also comes as lawmakers consider record funding for water priorities, including aquifer mapping, river and wetland projects, and water storage programs, reflecting growing recognition at the Capitol of the scale and urgency of New Mexico’s water challenges.
The full report from Source New Mexico is republished below under the Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license.
Report says New Mexico faces ‘looming groundwater crisis’ from climate change, overuse
by Danielle Prokop, Source New Mexico
January 14, 2026
Even as water advocates praised lawmakers’ record funding proposals for aquifer mapping and other water priorities in the upcoming 2026 legislative session, a report urged the Roundhouse to do more to protect the state’s declining groundwater.
The New Mexico Groundwater Alliance, made up of water policy experts from around the state, released the 80-page report Wednesday. Groundwater accounts for more than half of New Mexico’s total supplies and about 80% of the state’s drinking water. The report builds on previous findings that the already arid state faces a shrinking supply, estimated to be 25% to 30% by 2050, from hotter temperatures and continued pumping.
“New Mexico is at the front lines of climate change impacts, which threatens water resource availability,” the report stated. “Groundwater management is paramount to the resilience of water supplies, communities, and economies for generations to come.”
In the last several decades, the fastest-dropping groundwater levels include important agricultural and residential basins: the Ogallala aquifer near Clovis and Portales; the Mimbres Basin near Deming; Estancia Basin in east-central New Mexico; the Albuquerque Basin; and the Placitas and East Mountains areas.
In order to address the threat of a “looming groundwater crisis,” the report requests that lawmakers and the state government map aquifers; better monitor pumping; develop technical assistance for local management; and ensure groundwater is included and understood in regional planning efforts. The report also includes for consideration groundwater management policies from around the state and neighboring Western states.
The policies don’t require New Mexico “to reinvent the wheel,” coauthor Aron Balok, superintendent of the Pecos Valley Artesian Conservancy District, said in a statement. “Many of our local communities already have the experience, knowledge and determination needed to protect our groundwater,” Balok said. “The state should look to these communities and figure out how to replicate what we know is already working.”
Already, lawmakers have proposed record funding for water priorities, including more than $22 million to map the state’s aquifers, more than double 2025’s funding of just over $7 million.
Everyone agrees: Big data gaps remain as state explores brackish water market
“Policymakers understand that we need sound science, data and modeling to better manage our groundwater resources and we’re ready to supply it,” said Stacy Timmons, associate director of Hydrogeology Programs at the New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources, in a statement. “Building on the initial funding provided by the Legislature last session, we’re prepared to execute a long-term strategy that will close our water data gaps and modernize our antiquated systems using 21st century technology.”
Additionally, the Legislature proposed $15 million for the River Stewardship Program for the environment department for rivers, streams and wetlands projects; and $15.5 million for the Strategic Water Reserve after changes to the program in 2025 to allow additional uses for banking water in New Mexico rivers.
Water getting this much funding and attention at the Roundhouse is “rare but welcome,” Tricia Snyder, the rivers and water director for New Mexico Wilderness Alliance, told Source NM in a call.
“We’re seeing the water crisis with the naked eye,” she said, referring to the summer drying of Rio Grande and continued snow drought. “There’s challenges there that we have never experienced before, it’s becoming self-evident that we really have to figure out solutions because it only gets harder from here.”
Source New Mexico is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Source New Mexico maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Julia Goldberg for questions: info@sourcenm.com.
