Water Planning

State Water Plan

The New Mexico Office of the State Engineer and Interstate Stream Commission have prepared two State Water Plans, in 2003 and 2018, and several interim updates and progress reports. In accordance with the State Water Plan Act, the state water plan shall be periodically reviewed, updates and amended in response to changing conditions. At a minimum a review shall be undertaken every five years.

New Mexico State Water Plan 5-Year Update

This 2023 New Mexico State Water Plan 5-Year Review is a product of the statewide water planning program at the New Mexico Interstate Stream Commission. Statewide water planning in New Mexico has been underway since 2003, at which point regional water planning – which had passed into law in 1987 – was ongoing. The most recent round of regional water planning was completed in 2017, and the most recent update to the state water plan followed in 2018.

One of the most notable changes since the last State Water Plan is the completion of Climate Change in New Mexico Over the Next 50 Years: Impacts on Water Resources, aka the Leap Ahead report, in 2022. That report was compiled by a panel of New Mexico’s experts, including hydrologists and climatologists, and projects reductions in available surface water of 25% or more in the coming decades along with increasing flood severity, longer summers, earlier snowmelt, reduced recharge to aquifers and increasing aridification.

In response to the projected reductions in available water, the urgent needs of rural water systems, and the availability of new funding opportunities, the Water Security Planning Act was passed unanimously by the 2023 Legislature. The intent of the Water Security Planning Act is to reinvigorate regional water planning across New Mexico so that shared challenges and values can assist communities in identifying and prioritizing water project needs.

The 2023 New Mexico State Water Plan

New Mexico State Water Plan 5-Year Review New Mexico Office of the State Engineer Interstate Stream Commission NMSA § 72-14-3.1 (2003)

New Mexico State Water Plans

2018 New Mexico State Water Plan	2013 State Water Plan Review	2009 State Water Plan Public Outreach	Updates and Progress Reports	2003 State Water Plan Review
Cover Letter and Preface Page	2013 New Mexico State Water Plan Review	2009 State Water Plan Update Public Outreach	2008 State Water Plan Review and Proposed Update - June	2003 State Water Plan
2018 New Mexico State Water Plan Part I		New Mexico State Water Plan: Public Input Process - Public Comment Synthesis	2006 - Progress Report: New Mexico State Water Plan - June	Appendices
2018 New Mexico State Water Plan Part II			2004 - New Mexico State Water Plan Implementation Report	Index
2018 New Mexico State Water Plan Part III				ISC New Mexico First Town Hall
				Public Comments from 29 Public Listening Meetings
				Framework for Public Input to a State Water Plan
				New Mexico Water Resource Atlas