New Mexico
Currier: New Mexico officials on the right track in exploring water reuse
Water is New Mexico’s most precious resource. We must ensure it is conserved and utilized to the greatest extent and encourage innovative technologies that result in safe, responsible water reuse. As directed by the 2019 Produced Water Act, state officials are working diligently to create a framework for water reuse through the Water Quality Control Commission rulemaking.
All viable and safe options to address our declining water availability should be considered, including finding ways to safely use treated produced water. The oil and gas industry is truly one of the few industries capable of attaining “net positive” water balance by saving more fresh water than it uses. Achieving this is a win for all New Mexicans.
In New Mexico, oil and natural gas production uses less than 1 percent of the state’s annual freshwater consumption, while the vast majority of water continues to be consumed by individuals or other water-necessary industries.
Produced water is mostly naturally occurring, highly saline water brought to the surface as part of oil and gas production. Leading universities, like New Mexico State, New Mexico Tech, and Texas Tech, are on the forefront of treated produced water use research. Developments in water recycling technology show that high-quality water can be extracted from produced water for appropriate and regulated reuse. With additional treatment, the water can be cleaner than some natural river ecosystems.
Currently, produced water is injected back into deep subsurface formations as one of the few approved disposal methods. The reinjection of produced water can contribute to seismic events. Coupled with depleting water supplies, it is crucial to find ways to best utilize produced water.
Due to technological advancements, produced water could be used for industrial applications such as municipal landscaping, road construction, and irrigation for non-edible agriculture like cotton. To ensure its safe utilization in approved applications, the use of any produced water will be extensively tested and monitored to guarantee it meets stringent water-quality standards.
Every gallon of treated produced water used for irrigation or industrial uses frees up a gallon of native fresh water.
Concerns that the oil and gas industry introduces Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances – or PFAS – into its produced water are unwarranted. To be clear, the oil and gas industry is not a source of PFAS in produced water. A recent study by the U.S. Geological Survey found PFAS concentrations in the Pecos River near Artesia (upstream of oil and gas fields) averaged 15 nanograms per liter. Water from the Pecos River downstream of oil and gas fields had the same or lower levels. The trace amounts of PFAS found in the surface water are introduced before water reaches the Permian Basin. The study also found PFAS levels in the Pecos River were lower than samples taken from the Rio Grande south of Albuquerque.
We urge state officials to make data- and science-based decisions in the upcoming WQCC rulemaking hearing to ensure proper utilization of all our water resources, preserve our limited supply of fresh water for future generations, and enable economic diversification. To learn more about the rulemaking and treated produced water facts, we urge you to visit NM Environment Department, the WQCC, NMSU, NMT, and TTU sites to learn more the safe usage of produced water and its benefits to New Mexico’s future.
Missi Currier is a Carlsbad native, and President and CEO of the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association.
El Paso police seek suspect in East Side robbery, burglary
An unidentified man is suspected in an East Side robbery and a restaurant burglary on Oct. 20, 2025, in Crime Stoppers of El Paso’s Crime of the Week.
Provided by Crime Stoppers of El Paso
An Anthony, New Mexico man was sentenced to nearly two decades in federal prison for selling methamphetamine from a trailer on his parents’ property, authorities said.
A federal judge sentenced David Amaya, 43, to 19 years and seven months in prison on one count of possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine, New Mexico federal court records show. He was also sentenced to five years of supervised release after he serves his prison term.
U.S. District Judge Margaret I. Strickland handed down the sentence on Wednesday, Dec. 10, at the federal courthouse in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kirk Williams prosecuted the case.
Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of New Mexico Ryan Ellison and FBI Albuquerque Field Office Special Agent in Charge Justin A. Garris announced Amaya’s sentencing in a joint news release.
Amaya pleaded guilty to the charge in September as part of a plea agreement that dismissed one count of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, court records show.
Anthony, New Mexico man sells meth on parents’ property
FBI agents began investigating Amaya after he sold methamphetamine to a “controlled buyer” in July and August 2024, the news release states. Controlled buys are when law enforcement uses an undercover agent or a witness to purchase drugs from a suspected drug dealer.
The agents obtained a search warrant on Aug. 22, 2024, for a “specific tow-behind type trailer that Amaya was known to be living in and conducting narcotics transfers out of,” a federal complaint affidavit states. The trailer was located on property owned by Amaya’s parents in Anthony, New Mexico, the news release states.
The trailer did not have a restroom, but agents found a small makeshift bathroom structure with a porta-potty inside next to the trailer. The agents then obtained a warrant to also search the small bathroom structure.
The agents found “a large quantity of white crystalline substance suspected to be methamphetamine” throughout the trailer and bathroom structure, the affidavit states. In the bathroom, agents found a clothing hamper with “a gallon zip lock bag full of suspected methamphetamine” hidden inside.
Agents found a black Ruger .357 caliber handgun containing five rounds of .357 caliber ammunition and a black Mossberg 500 E410 gauge shotgun on the bed inside the trailer, the affidavit states. The news release states agents found “hundreds of rounds of ammunition.”
They also found about 4.42 grams of methamphetamine on the bed and another 26 grams under the bed, the affidavit states. Agents found eight more grams of methamphetamine on a nightstand.
Amaya told agents during an interview that the methamphetamine was his, he had acquired it over a period of time, and did not realize how much it was, the affidavit states. He added he “needed the guns for protection, so people would know he has them, making him safer,” the affidavit states.
In total, the agents found 1,183 grams of methamphetamine.
Aaron Martinez covers the criminal justice system for the El Paso Times. He may be reached at amartinez1@elpasotimes.com.
GRANTS, N.M. – The City of Grants is canceling this year’s annual Christmas light parade, citing the safety of the public and their own officers.
Dozens of floats were supposed to roll down Santa Fe Avenue on Saturday night, but Grants police are holding off until next year after three incidents where someone shot at law enforcement officers.
“It was definitely a difficult decision, but due to the incident that took place on December 8, where law enforcement was shot at in the area of Santa Fe Avenue, we made that decision to protect the citizens of Grants,” says Grants Police Chief Maxine Monte.
She says a New Mexico State Police officer was shot at while making a traffic stop. The officer walked away uninjured, but this was too much for the chief.
“We’ve had three different incidents where law enforcement was shot at. One was May of 2025, the other one was August of 2025, and then the recent event of December 8 of 2025,” says Monte.
It’s not a risk the chief wants to take, and points out people would be standing exactly where the last shooting happened.
“We have a lot of citizens that attend our parade, and our main concern was that they were out in the open in the middle of the night, and in the same area that our latest shooting took place.”
Grant residents will be able to see the floats during the day on Saturday. But even some daylight isn’t convincing some residents.
“I’ll be staying home,” said Amy Brigdon. “There’s too many people in the world that want to see bad things happen to other people. I’m not one of them.”
Police still don’t have a suspect for this week’s attempted shooting. Anyone with information is asked to get in touch with the Grants Police Department.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife rereleased a wolf into Grand County this week after it had traveled into New Mexico, according to a news release.
The New Mexico Department of Game and Fish captured gray wolf 2403 and returned the animal to Colorado.
Colorado wildlife officials decided to release the wolf in Grand County yesterday because of the proximity to “an unpaired female gray wolf,” nearby prey populations and distance from livestock, according to the release.
“Gray wolf 2403 has been returned to Colorado and released in a location where it can best contribute to CPW’s efforts to establish a self-sustaining wolf population while concurrently attempting to minimize potential wolf-related livestock conflicts,” said acting director of CPW Laura Clellan, according to the release.
The wolf was once a member of the Copper Creek pack but departed from it this fall.
A memorandum of understanding between Colorado and Arizona, New Mexico and Utah requires that any gray wolves that leave Colorado and enter those states be returned. That was created in part to maintain the integrity of a Mexican wolf recovery program.
“We recognized during the planning process that we would need to have consideration and plans to protect the genetic integrity of the Mexican wolf recovery program, while also establishing a gray wolf population in Colorado,” said CPW’s Wolf Conservation Program Manager Eric Odell, according to the release.
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