Forum to discuss how requirements of the Rio Grande Compact will affect life in the Middle Rio Grande in water-short year
The Rio Grande Compact, an interstate agreement that determines the amount of river water Colorado, New Mexico and Texas receives in the coming months, will be the topic of discussion during a free public forum on Wednesday, April 26, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. in the Science and Technology Park Rotunda located at 801 University Blvd., N.E.
The forum is co-sponsored by the Middle Rio Grande Water Assembly, the University of New Mexico Water Resources Program and the New Mexico Water Dialogue.
Featured speakers include Estevan López, director, Interstate Stream Commission, who will offer an overall outline of Compact issues and ISC Rio Grande Basin Manager Rolf Schmidt Petersen, will address the specific requirements for 2006.
Through questions and public discussion, learn why the Rio Grande Compact is important and how this year's drought-driven decisions affect all basin residents.
New Mexico is party to eight interstate compacts that govern surface water flowing across its borders. One of those agreements, the Rio Grande Compact, guarantees a portion of the annual flow of the Rio Grande to Colorado, New Mexico and Texas, and establishes a limit on the amount of water we may use in the middle basin.
The Interstate Stream Commission, which oversees New Mexico's compact compliance, is ultimately responsible for the distribution of a very limited water supply to a myriad of middle basin water users, with consideration for a host of federal, state and local mandates.
The winter of 2005-06 was one of the driest on record in the desert Southwest. With little or no snowpack in the watersheds of the Rio Grande, a seriously inadequate runoff is expected. How will New Mexico's most populated region fare in the year ahead? What governs the sharing of scarce water in a time of crippling drought? These questions and many others will be discussed during the forum.
The event is free and open to the public. For further information contact Ed Payne at: (505) 797-4306 or visit the Water Assembly's Web site at: WaterAssembly.org.
Media Contact: Steve Carr, (505) 277-1821; e-mail: scarr@unm.edu
Posted by scarr at April 24, 2006 04:34 PM