New Mexico’s Interstate Stream Commission has a new leader, just as the U.S. Supreme Court case between New Mexico and Texas over water from the Rio Grande might be coming to a close. Hannah Riesley-White took over the top job this month at the department tasked with keeping the state on track with interstate water compacts and federal regulation.
Riesley-White has filled a lot of roles in her nine years at the department, including deputy director, Pecos River bureau chief, and hydrologist. She told KUNM that one of her top priorities as director is to recruit and retain staff.
HANNAH RIESLEY-WHITE: In a lot of ways, it's hard for us to be competitive with the private sector, in some ways related to salary, but yet we do this super interesting work that has a real potential to impact communities and our natural landscapes across the state.
The next thing I would say is I'm pretty focused on partnerships and relationships. I think the challenges that we face from a water perspective in New Mexico are significant with climate change and increasing water scarcity, but the only way we confront those is by having really solid partnerships with stakeholders, with other state and federal agencies. And then last, I would say I'm very excited about our water planning initiatives.
KUNM: The first point there about hiring and retaining–how do you do that and what do you need? What do you see is the approach you want to take with that?
RIESLEY-WHITE: Thankfully, under our current governor and current budget situation, we've been able to offer some salary increases for existing staff. A lot of folks who've been here for a long time have tremendous expertise. We've been able to honor that with salary increases in the last couple of years, which is great.
I think in terms of recruiting staff, I'm pretty excited to work on increasing internship opportunities, and coordination with our academic institutions. I think there's lots of opportunities for mutually beneficial projects through which we get access to some smart folks, they get the opportunity to work on interesting projects that support their academic track, and then ultimately, hopefully recruit some of those folks into the agency to do the work that we're doing.
But certainly just getting the word out more broadly, not just to students, but to professionals across the board.
KUNM: What do you see your role potentially being or what kind of work might be on the table, if the deal involving New Mexico and Texas over the Rio Grande Compact gets fully approved and moves forward?
RIESLEY-WHITE: Thank you for bringing that up. I mean, as you know, last week, the US Supreme Court special master issued his report related to the three states draft consent decree, which is the proposal for resolving the conflict in the Lower Rio Grande that was crafted together with New Mexico, Colorado and Texas. That decision from the Special Master was a real win for New Mexico and the states.
We feel really pleased with the outcome there. Of course, his recommendation goes to the court, and we'll see what they end up doing with it, but we feel like we are very well positioned.
We're going to need to work really closely with the stakeholders in that part of the state to figure out what the state needs to do to comply with the conditions set out in the consent decree, and also what happens in times of scarcity and how we're going to respond to that as a community.
KUNM: How do you plan on making this position your own?
RIESLEY-WHITE: Something that's worth highlighting is, although I do have a technical background, I may be the first director of the interstate stream commission who isn't solidly an engineer or solidly a hydrologist.
My background is really more in community organizing, and collaborative policy development. Of course, I will be relying very heavily on the technical expertise that we have at the agency, which is really strong, and I feel really grateful to have those folks.
KUNM: Is there anything I didn't ask you about that you'd want to talk about?
RIESLEY-WHITE: This legislative session, the legislature enacted Senate Bill 337, which is the Water Security Planning Act. I'm really excited to embark on that effort with our staff and all of the partners out in the state to think through what is the future of regional water planning going to look like for New Mexico.
The last statute was from the mid-1980s to this new statute and the rulemaking and guidelines that will come out of it over the next couple of years have the potential to establish a process for New Mexicans to confront scarcity for decades to come. So, I really want to encourage people to stay tuned and participate in that process. A lot is at stake, and there's a lot of potential there for really good outcomes for our communities across the state.
This coverage is made possible by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and KUNM listeners.
