A regulatory fight underway about cleanup (or lack thereof) of groundwater contamination from nuclear weapons design and manufacturing at Los Alamos: #nmwater https://sourcenm.com/2023/08/22/lawmakers-request-third-party-in-chromium-plume-fight/

From the morning bike ride….

We’re in a crazy flash drought in New Mexico, but the Rio Grande (dwindling surface flow but enduring shallow aquifer) is still maintaining the ribbon of green down Albuquerque’s river valley floor. #nmwater #nmwx

The Rio Grande could go dry through my city again this year #nmwater #nmwx https://www.inkstain.net/2023/08/rio-grande-through-albuquerque-could-dry-again-this-year/

The Great Banana Heist of 1943 and other tales of bananas in Albuquerque history: https://www.inkstain.net/2023/07/bananas-in-albuquerque-history/ (trust me, it really is #nmwater - click!)

Last February, Texas and New Mexico announced a proposed agreement for sharing Rio Grande water, which *could* end Supreme Court litigation. But it will require significant water use reductions in southern New Mexico. People down there seem unhappy. #nmwater via Dani Prokop: https://sourcenm.com/2023/06/28/lawmakers-voice-discontent-on-rio-grande-scotus-issue/

Colorado has $30 million to “ to permanently retire irrigated acres in the San Luis Valley,” on Rio Grande’s headwaters valley. It’s about managing groundwater and Rio Grande compact compliance. #cowater #nmwater https://mailchi.mp/3b7f9c77baa2/water-issues-everywhere-plus-more-news

The Rio Grande through Albuquerque should begin dropping in the next few days as the Corps of Engineers reduces releases from Cochiti Dam #nmwater https://www.inkstain.net/2023/06/after-a-high-flow-spring-albuquerques-rio-grande-is-about-to-drop-in-a-hurry/

Pretty cool repurposing of infrastructure from a retired coal plant - using systems built to pump cooling water from the San Juan River to pump the same water to Navajo communities that lack clean, safe, reliable drinking water https://www.usbr.gov/newsroom/news-release/4549 #nmwater

@NoraReed Important research ahead of visit to overbanked Rio Grande: #nmwater

Cochiti Reservoir, on the Rio Grande north of Albuquerque, is at its highest elevation for this date in the year since its completion in the 1970s. Complicated set of factors driving this - big snowpack/runoff, but also downstream infrastructure risks that have the Corps of Engineers throttling back releases. #nmwater

Watching high flows this year on New Mexico's Rio Grande and trying to unpack the semiotic baggage of the word "flood": https://www.inkstain.net/2023/05/on-cochiti-dam-and-the-notion-of-flooding/ #nmwater

#NMwx In the last two weeks 19 people have been rescued out of the Rio Grande in Corrales. The banks by the river are extremely unstable and trees are falling in. This water is also COLD. Exercise extreme caution near the river! #nmwx #nmwater

"I’m still wondering when New Mexico’s leaders will sustainably fund the (Interstate Stream Commission) and the Office of the State Engineer in a way that will attract and retain the brightest and most innovative people working on water in the western United States." Laura Paskus #nmwater https://www.newmexicopbs.org/productions/newmexicoinfocus/our-land/#gsc.tab=0

From the morning bike ride, the Alameda Lateral, an irrigation ditch dug down the eastern edge of Albuquerque’s middle Rio Grande Valley in the 1930s: #nmwater

#nmwater
Last year’s low Rio Grande flows were bad for the Rio Grande silvery minnow (Fish need water? Who knew?) This year should be better. Via Dani Prokop https://sourcenm.com/briefs/2022-bad-year-for-silvery-minnow-officials-optimistic-for-upcoming-season/

#nmwater My local water authority is trying to poke the Air Force into action cleaning up a jet fuel spill that is fouling Albuquerque groundwater (disclosure: I work on this as a member of one of the utility’s advisory committees): https://www.abqjournal.com/2594300/abq-water-authority-seeks-congressional-help-to-quicken-jet-fuel-cleanup.html

#nmwater

After a setback caused by a couple of dry years, Albuquerque's groundwater is on the rise again: https://www.inkstain.net/2023/04/albuquerques-aquifer-recovery-seems-to-be-returning/

#nmwater

New Mexico's Rio Grande indigenous communities are asking for a seat at the Rio Grande Compact Commission table. Via Dani Prokop, SourceNM: https://sourcenm.com/2023/04/26/money-streams-and-higher-river-flows-the-focus-at-rio-grande-business-meeting/

With the recent warmup, flows on the Rio Grande through Albuquerque are way up. For those not from here, this is great news. Risk of flooding low, environmental benefits and Fleck joy high! #nmwater

Rio Grande forecast looks better than 2019, when we had big, long-lasting "overbank" flows through Albuquerque. #nmwater