Copy

New Mexico Water eNews

 

November 2021


UNM Law Student Awarded NM WRRI Student Research Grant for a Comparative Analysis of the Nile and Rio Grande Basins
by Marcus Gay, NM WRRI Student Program Coordinator

Egypt, like New Mexico, is in a precarious situation. Roughly 97 percent of Egypt’s irrigation and drinking water comes from the Nile River1, which means any upriver changes to water quantity and timing caused by the recently completed Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, future water control by Sudan, and/or climate change could ignite a multi-state crisis. Stephen D. Earsom and his faculty sponsor, Adrian Oglesby of The Utton Transboundary Resources Center and University of New Mexico (UNM) School of Law, believe this situation could inform future management of the Rio Grande Basin in the decades to come.

Earsom, a graduate student working toward his Juris Doctor at the UNM School of Law, has been awarded an NM WRRI Student Water Research Grant for a project titled, A Comparative Legal and Policy Analysis of the Nile and Rio Grande Basins. This project addresses the question: How resilient are existing transboundary compacts between the U.S. and Mexico, and between Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, and tribal sovereigns? The Nile and the Rio Grande both begin in temperate, mountainous areas and flow into arid regions where water is scarce. According to Earsom, an even more important similarity is that both basins involve multiple sovereigns, legal regimes, and social norms, all of which can form the basis of conflict.

Read entire article by clicking here.


Upcoming Conversation on Water Quality in the Mesilla/Conejos-Médanos and Hueco Bolson
By Holly Brause, NM WRRI Research Scientist

NM WRRI is pleased to announce the upcoming meeting on water quality in the Mesilla/Conejos-Médanos and Hueco Bolson groundwater sources shared by New Mexico, Texas, and Chihuahua, Mexico. The virtual meeting will be held over Zoom on December 9, 2021, at 10:00 am – 11:00 am MST.
Please register for the event by
clicking here.

The event is an opportunity for scientists and others interested in water quality to meet together informally to discuss current research, share new findings, identify data needs, and consider opportunities to work together. We invite participants from both sides of the U.S./Mexico border, and will provide simultaneous translation during the meeting.

This meeting kicks off the Hueco and Mesilla Bolson/Conejos-Médanos Virtual Science Conversation Series as a follow-up to the exchange of ideas started at the Two Nations One Water conference held this year on September 28-30. Each Virtual Science Conversation will take on a new science topic related to the Hueco and Mesilla/Conejos-Médanos binational aquifers.


Meet the Researcher

Greg Torell, Assistant Professor, New Mexico
State University

by Jeanette Torres, NM WRRI Program Coordinator

This month for Meet the Researcher, we had the opportunity to spotlight Greg Torell, an assistant professor for the Department of Agricultural Economics at New Mexico State University (NMSU) since 2019. Torell is currently teaching Introduction to Regional Economic Development for the Doctorate of Economic Development program, and in the spring semester he will teach an undergraduate course in case studies, an MS course in production economics, and Microeconomics II for the doctoral students in the Doctorate of Economic Development program. He is mentoring a PhD Water Science and Management student (Chibuzo Chilaka) and an Agricultural Economics MS student (Isaac Appiah). According to Torell, one of his most important roles as an instructor is to “lift up students, give them confidence in their abilities, and help them understand their place in the world.” Due to the collaborative nature of the work within his department, he is able to spend quality time with his students, understand their needs, and become a bigger part of their lives. He feels this is unique to working in such a close-knit department; Torell appreciates the time he is able to dedicate to the needs of his students.

Torell’s main research interests center around different aspects of economics, including rangeland, resource and environment, water, energy, and applied economics. The New Mexico Water Resources Research Institute (NM WRRI) is collaborating on a project titled, SWIM: Securing a Climate Resilient Water Future for Agriculture and Ecosystems Through Innovations in Measurement, Management, and Markets (SWIM). This research effort will focus on creating more advanced and robust data-driven information systems for stakeholders and other decision-makers by improving how information is shared. This will improve the accuracy of water-based judgments, measurements, and evaluations leading to more secure, sustainable surface and groundwater use. Torell is looking forward to being a part of SWIM, and believes the team has developed innovative methods for incorporating stakeholder input into their current modeling efforts. He states that “this has always been a challenge, because it’s difficult to have a replicable method for incorporating stakeholder input.” Still, he is confident the method developed by his team will push this area of science forward. Further information will be provided as the SWIM project matures.

Read entire article by clicking here.

An illustration of the main research efforts and approaches of the new USDA project, Securing a Climate Resilient Water Future for Agriculture and Ecosystems Through Innovations in Measurement, Management, and Markets (SWIM).

NM WRRI Receives Funding to Investigate Improvements
to Agricultural and Environmental Water Resilience

by Robert Sabie, Jr., NM WRRI Research Scientist

The New Mexico Water Resources Research Institute is partnering with a transdisciplinary team of experts to secure a climate-resilient water future. NM WRRI is part of a winning proposal team for a new USDA Sustainable Agricultural Systems project titled, SWIM: Securing a Climate Resilient Water Future for Agriculture and Ecosystems Through Innovations in Measurement, Management, and Markets. The project brings together stakeholders, educators, and scientists to find solutions for the changing water future of the western United States with the goal of enabling innovative water management strategies that produce thriving agriculture, healthy ecosystems and community resilience. The project research team is led by UC Merced and includes researchers from UC Berkeley, UC Davis, New Mexico State University, Utah State University, the Public Policy Institute of California, the Environmental Defense Fund, and the USDA Southwest Climate Hub. Researchers will focus on three testbeds that exemplify agriculture in water-limited regions (Mesilla Valley, New Mexico; Cache Valley, Utah; and San Joaquin Valley, California).

The specific project goal is aimed at using an integrated framework of multiscale measurements and data-driven management decisions for enabling water trading. Each study site will use emerging technology and methods to improve the accuracy of localized measurements and examine the measured long-term impacts of crop choices, managed aquifer recharge, and water banking. These measurements are needed to make management decisions, each having different effects on the local and regional resiliency to climate change. Evaluation of measurements and management decisions at the farm and district scales will lead to an understanding of how differing institutional characteristics affect the viability of water markets as a strategy for climate resilience for agriculture and ecosystems.

Read entire article by clicking here.


Recordings and Other Materials from NM WRRI 66th Annual New Mexico Water Conference Now Available
by Mark Sheely, NM WRRI Program Coordinator

Video recordings, slide presentations, and other materials from the 66th Annual New Mexico Water Conference are now publicly available on the event website.

Those who missed the conference or parts of the conference can find video recordings from each of the three days of the conference proceedings as well as the pre-conference virtual field trip presentations. Also available are PDFs of all approved-to-post slide presentations by conference presenters.

Be sure to also check out poster PDFs and abstracts from this year’s virtual poster session.

Today on Giving Tuesday (November 30, 2021), please consider giving to:

Albert E. Utton Memorial Water Lecture Endowed Fund which supports the water lecture given at NM WRRI annual water conferences.

Bobby J. Creel Endowed Scholarship in Water Science and Education which provides graduate student support for water-related research

Learn more about these opportunities by visiting the institute’s website:
The Albert E. Utton Memorial Water Lecture Endowed Fund
Bobby J. Creel Endowed Scholarship

Thank you for your support!
New Mexico Water Resources Research Institute

Tweet Tweet
Forward Forward
Follow us on Twitter! Follow us on Twitter!
NM WRRI website NM WRRI website
Copyright © 2021 New Mexico Water Resources Research Institute, All rights reserved.
eNews design by Peggy S. Risner



subscribe  unsubscribe from this list

Email Marketing Powered by Mailchimp






This email was sent to <<Email Address>>
why did I get this?    unsubscribe from this list    update subscription preferences
New Mexico Water Resources Research Institute · PO Box 30001 · Msc 3167 · Las Cruces, NM 88003-8001 · USA