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Federal lawmakers from Colorado, New Mexico outline priorities for spending to address Colorado River water crisis

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Federal lawmakers from Colorado, New Mexico outline priorities for spending to address Colorado River water crisis


Democratic members of Congress from New Mexico and Colorado despatched a letter to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation urging the company to prioritize funding for long-term options to the Colorado River Basin water disaster.

This comes because the Bureau has $4 billion in funding allotted by the Inflation Discount Act to deal with drought within the west.

“The [Colorado] River is the lifeblood of the American Southwest, with almost 40 million folks reliant on the water sources throughout seven states and 30 Tribes,” the letter states.

U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Luján, each from New Mexico, and U.S. Reps. Teresa Leger Fernández and Melanie Stansbury, additionally from New Mexico, joined Colorado’s Sen. Michael Bennet and Reps. Joe Neguse, Diana DeGette, Jason Crow and Ed Perlmutter in signing the letter.

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The letter outlines their 4 priorities for implementing the federal funding in addressing the states’ Colorado River Basin wants. Each states are a part of the Higher Colorado River Basin.

The lawmakers urged the Bureau to direct sources by way of state governments, native governments, Tribes and public entities just like the Higher Colorado River Fee. The letter additional states that the funds needs to be deployed by way of aggressive applications which can be designed to stop value gouging.

Moreover, the federal lawmakers wrote that sources ought to give attention to everlasting options for the Colorado River, which is dealing with declining reservoir ranges. 

In June, Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Camille Calimlim Touton stated that the seven states that depend on the Colorado River wanted to chop utilization by two to 4 million acre toes and she or he stated the Bureau may take unilateral motion if the state’s didn’t develop a plan to satisfy that aim by mid-August. When the states didn’t attain an settlement, although, the Bureau didn’t implement drastic cuts.

Division of the Inside proclaims actions to deal with Colorado River water provides

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“In the midst of a 22-year drought with a warmer, drier future on the horizon, it’s crucial for the BOR to focus efforts on a long-term technique that features funding alternatives for tasks on each a brief and long-term timeline,” the lawmakers wrote within the letter this week. “Nevertheless, regardless of the timeframe of a mission, the BOR must fund efforts that present actual, significant long-term reductions in water use from the River.”

They additional said that measurements of water loss must be constant. Presently, a distinct technique is used to measure water utilization within the Higher Basin than within the Decrease Basin. Six of the seven states have requested the Bureau to develop a system-wide technique for accounting for water loss.

Lastly, the letter requests that the Bureau search for “new or revolutionary strategies for lowering water use.”





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New Mexico

Rep. Hembree resigns of New Mexico Legislature

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Rep. Hembree resigns of New Mexico Legislature


SANTA FE, N.M. (KRQE) – The New Mexico State Legislature announced the resignation of Representative Jared Hembree on Saturday. A press release states the Chaves County lawmaker is stepping down due to unforeseen health-related circumstances that need immediate attention.

“It is with a heavy heart that I step down from the State Legislature,” Rep. Hembree said in a statement. “Serving the people of my district has been a profound honor. My family and I believe in Chaves County, and we must prioritize my health to ensure that we can serve in good faith in the future.”

Opening day for the 2025 New Mexico Legislative Session is January 21.

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New Mexico

NM Gameday: Jan. 10

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NM Gameday: Jan. 10


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New Mexico

Advocates want New Mexico to track climate change’s impact on public health • Source New Mexico

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Advocates want New Mexico to track climate change’s impact on public health • Source New Mexico


Health care advocates and officials will renew efforts to track harm to New Mexicans’ health from climate disasters in the forthcoming legislative session.

Healthy Climate New Mexico, a nonprofit collective of health care professionals concerned about climate change, and nine other groups back two proposals to improve preparedness and adaptation to extreme weather driven by human-caused climate change.

The first would beef up a climate health program at New Mexico Department of Health to track health impacts from heat, wildfire smoke, drought, flooding, dust and severe storms. The second is a proposal to offer grant funds for local and tribal governments to better respond to weather disasters.

“Our bills are focused on adaptation and resilience, preparedness and collecting data, which is  essential in really knowing who’s at highest risk and where the solutions need to be applied, said Shelley Mann-Lev, the nonprofit’s executive director, who has decades of public health experience in New Mexico.

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Both require state funds. First, there’s $1.1 million for a climate health program to fund additional staff for the Department of Health; implement more warning systems; and increase communication between the department, the public and other state agencies.

The request for the Extreme Weather Resilience Fund would be $12 million. Advocates have said they’ll introduce two bills with sponsors in both the House and Senate, but neither was filed as of Friday, Jan. 10.

This would be the third time similar proposals have been brought before lawmakers, and Mann-Lev said there’s been increased support from both the governor’s office and members of the legislature.

A spokesperson from the New Mexico Department of Health declined to comment, saying it’s  policy to not speak about legislation proposed by outside groups. A spokesperson from the governor’s office declined to comment since the bills have not been formally introduced.

Sen. Liz Stefanics (D-Cerillos), who plans to sponsor the Senate legislation, and has introduced it before, said there seems to be more momentum and concern around the issues.

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‘Beyond the body counts’ 

Other groups supporting the bill include Albuquerque Health Care for the Homeless, New Mexico Voices for children, four public health groups, including the American Lung Association, and two climate organizations.

Advocates note that climate disasters already harm and kill New Mexicans. Deaths and injuries from extreme heat are rising; floods across the state, including Roswell, raise concerns for mold development; smoke from wildfires harms lungs, especially for children and the elderly.

Preventable heat injuries and deaths rising in New Mexico

Stephanie Moraga-McHaley ran the environment health tracking program at the New Mexico Department of Health until her retirement in 2024.  She supports the bill because it could expand the current program, which tracks the raw numbers of deaths and injuries.

“There’s just so much that needs to be done besides the body counts,” said Stephanie Moraga-McHaley, who retired from the health agency in March. “We need to get some action in place, some coordination with other departments and communities in need.”

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Current numbers of impacted people are an undercount, said Nathaniel Matthews-Trigg, a Healthy Climate New Mexico board member and public health researcher.

Matthews-Trigg said New Mexico health officials have made improvements in tracking the number of heat injuries and deaths – which are difficult numbers to pin down – but there needs to be more funding and staff on board.

“We know from emergency department visits that they’re increasing dramatically due to extreme heat,” Matthews-Trigg said. “But, we also know how we’re tracking these is really just giving us a sliver of the actual impact of heat on our communities and on health.”

He said climate disasters pose the “greatest public health threat in our lifetimes,” and warned that impacts will only worsen if heating from fossil fuel emissions doesn’t slow.

“It’s not going to go away,” he said. “And we’re flying blind, without the surveillance.”

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