NMOSE/ISC News:

SANTA FE — The Office of the State Engineer and Interstate Stream Commission (NMOSE/ISC) has presented its FY24 budget request to the Legislative Finance Committee.

Priorities for the NMOSE/ISC FY24 budget include bolstering staff to process water rights applications for cannabis production, investing in robust water planning, and creating a new Lower Rio Grande Bureau to prepare New Mexicans for a secure water future amid ongoing drought and aridification.

The NMOSE/ISC’s budget request includes:

• Recurring $750,000 to build on the success of the Lower Rio Grande Pilot Project over the last two years and support five new employees to create a Lower Rio Grande Bureau and Groundwater Depletion Reduction Program. The new bureau will focus on meeting obligations related to the outcome of United States Supreme Court Original Action No. 141, TX v. NM & CO. The additional employees will work to ensure a continued healthy and sustainable agricultural economy in the Lower Rio Grande region, a safe and secure water supply for further economic and population growth, and to protect against the risk of violating potential settlement or litigation requirements;
• Recurring $750,000 to advance the Water Planning Program and implement state water planning objectives. The funding will allow the program to increase public outreach and coordination with Tribes, Pueblos, Nations and acequias; collaborate in the New Mexico Water Data Initiative; and develop and deploy enhanced resilience assessment tools water users can use to evaluate and improve their water use resilience and identify additional strategies for improvement; and
• Recurring $300,000 to support two new employees in the Water Resources Allocation Program to process water rights applications for cannabis production. Since the passage of the Cannabis Control Act, the Agency has received 205 water rights applications to increase or reconfigure a water right associated with cannabis production. Our goal is to be able to process more cannabis-related water rights applications more rapidly and support our counterparts at the Regulation and Licensing Department and the emerging industry in New Mexico.

The NMOSE/ISC’s capital funding request includes:

• $2.1 million for surface water and groundwater measurement and metering sites statewide;
• $10 million to maintain rivers, restore habitat and flood control;
• $1 million for Elephant Butte delta channel improvements;
• $10 million for Lower Rio Grande aquifer sustainability projects and infrastructure;
• $500,000 for Ute Reservoir improvements; and
• $1 million for Strategic Water Reserve acquisitions.

“NMOSE/ISC’s budget request directly addresses the need for our agency to maintain interstate compact compliance, prepare New Mexicans for a secure water future amid ongoing drought and aridification, and increase our service level and capacity to support cannabis licensing,” State Engineer Mike Hamman said. 

State agency budgets for FY24 will be finalized during the 2023 legislative session.