New Mexico is creating new rules to protect its limited surface water after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling narrowed which waters qualify for federal protection under the Clean Water Act.
Among U.S. states, New Mexico has the lowest ratio of surface water to land. Safeguards against pollution for many wetlands and seasonal streams were stripped after the ruling.
Vidal Gonzales, director of policy and planning for the New Mexico Acequia Association, is advocating for strict rules to protect the state’s centuries-old irrigation system, which provides water for families and agriculture.
“There’s about 700 acequias in the state, and an acequia can have anywhere from three water users on the acequia up to, I would say, about 200 or more,” Gonzales explained.
Most acequias are in northern New Mexico, around smaller rivers and watersheds, though some stem from larger rivers.
The Water Quality Control Commission is holding rulemaking hearings in Santa Fe through June 18 to decide how a bill passed by the 2025 Legislature should be implemented. The public can comment in person or virtually each day at 1 p.m. The commission is expected to approve the rules at a later date.
Clean water sustains New Mexico’s $50 billion annual agricultural industry, led by chiles, pecans, onions and fruit but state waters face threats, including climate change, which is raising year-round temperatures and making the state drier than ever. Industrial growth from mining, oil and gas exploration, and data centers also increases demand for water and amplifies pollution risks.
Gonzales argued new state rules should be at least as protective as the lost federal requirements, including “ensuring acequias are not overburdened with permitting so that we allow our traditional acequias and farmers to continue their ways of life.”
Before the Supreme Court ruling, New Mexico was one of only three states to relegate its management of surface-water pollution to federal authorities. By adopting its own permitting and enforcement program, the state can administer Clean Water Act-style protections for waters still under federal jurisdiction and those now outside narrowed federal oversight.