New Mexico
News and Brews talks water, climate change – NM Political Report
One of the biggest and most important challenges for New Mexico in the upcoming years will be dealing with how climate change impacts water availability in the state. That was one of the key messages at a panel discussion hosted by NM Political Report on Thursday as part of its News and Brew live event […]
One of the biggest and most important challenges for New Mexico in the upcoming years will be dealing with how climate change impacts water availability in the state.
That was one of the key messages at a panel discussion hosted by NM Political Report on Thursday as part of its News and Brew live event series.
NM Political Report Environment Reporter Hannah Grover moderated a discussion with Daniel Timmons, the Wild Rivers Program Director with Wild Earth Guardians, and Page Pegram, the Rio Grande Bureau Chief with the New Mexico Interstate Stream Commission.
“One way or another we need to reduce the amount of water in irrigated agriculture,” Timmons said, of the annual deficit of water in New Mexico. He said the current process of “trying to do this on an annual basis” was not going to solve the problem.
He said this needs to be done in a “smart” and “equitable” way, including finding more low-water-use crops for farmers.
Pegram said there are a few different tools to address this, some that could be done immediately and others that would take other action.
“We can manage our reservoirs differently,” she said.
She noted that reservoirs in the higher elevation and cooler northern New Mexico are more efficient than Elephant Butte, which has high levels of evaporation. And storing water underground in aquifers was another option.
“There’s no evaporation underground,” she said.
Changing what water can be stored in which aquifer would take an act of Congress.
She said that the state is committed to working with all stakeholders to reduce water use in New Mexico.
“If that means developing water shortage agreements… we’re committed to doing that in a fair and equitable way,” she said.
The federal government is heavily involved in water issues throughout the western United States, including New Mexico. The largest part of thai is the Rio Grande Compact, which the federal government ratified in 1939 as an agreement on how to allocate Rio Grande water between Colorado, New Mexico and Texas.
In recent years, this has become a bone of contention, with Texas filing a lawsuit against New Mexico.
“The complaint in the lawsuit wasn’t even about the compact itself, it was what happens beyond the compact,” Pegram said. The issue related to groundwater pumping south of Elephant Butte; water stored in Elephant Butte is considered Texas’ water.
The three states came to an agreement, but the federal government stepped in and said they needed to be involved in the process. Earlier this year, the U.S. Supreme Court backed the federal government.
“Now we’re almost back to square one. It’s kind of ridiculous. It’s a ridiculous catch-22 situation,” Pegram said.
She noted that the state is currently 128,000 acre-feet in debt to Texas, and that debt continues to grow. Once that debt hits 200,000 acre-feet, New Mexico would find itself in more hot water.
Timmons said one problem is that New Mexico does not manage water in the same way as other Western states.
“The State Engineer has never enforced water rights in the middle Rio Grande,” Timmons said, saying that the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District has never proven how much water it is entitled to.
Pegram agreed, but said, “Just wait.”
The panel discussed other issues, including the Rio Grande running dry, the role of sedimentation in the Rio Grande ecosystem and the role of snowpack versus that of monsoons in water issues.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A successful University of New Mexico Lobo athletics season and the athletics director’s departure has culminated in players and coaches making moves.
The moves follow a successful 2025 season and the departure of athletics director Fernando Lovo.
Running back coach John Johnson, special teams coordinator Daniel Da Prato and wide receiver coach Colin Lockett are all leaving the Lobos after just one season. Johnson is headed to Iowa State while Da Prato is expected to join Minnesota and Lockett is headed to UCLA, all for the same jobs.
Johnson’s Lobo running backs ran for more than 1,400 yards. Da Prato’s special teams finished top-five nationally in kickoff returns.
Running back D.J. McKinney entered the portal, he confirmed on social media the day the portal officially opened. McKinney rushed for 464 yards and seven touchdowns with the Lobos.
Two players who received all-Mountain West Conference recognition also made moves. All-Mountain West tight-end Dorian Thomas, who caught for touchdowns for the Lobos, entered the portal. Meanwhile, all-Mountain West honorable mention punter Daniel Hughes is set to leave.
Others set to leave include:
- Cole Welliver, backup quarterback who played in one game
- Landon Williams, defensive end who graduated from La Cueva High School
- Randolph Kpai, senior linebacker who is at the end of his college football career without a waiver
After Lance St. Louis served as the starting long snapper for the Texas Longhorns for four seasons, special teams coordinator Jeff Banks landed an experienced replacement when New Mexico Lobos transfer Trey Dubuc pledged while on a visit to the Forty Acres.
The pledge from Dubuc ensures that Texas has experienced replacements for three specialists despite signing high school prospects at each position — with the SEC expanding to 105 scholarships in 2026, Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian can afford to develop high school recruits at those positions behind experienced transfers like Dubuc.
The Fort Lauderdale product started his career at USF after playing on two state championship teams at Cardinal Gibbons. A 6’1, 209-pounder, Dubuc redshirted during his freshman season in 2023 before appearing in one game as the backup long snapper the following year.
After transferring to New Mexico, Dubuc served as the starting long snapper while making two tackles for the Lobos.
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