The New Mexico Environment Department (NMED), in partnership with the Office of the State Engineer, recently awarded more than $25.9M to support brackish water exploration, production, and treatment projects across the state. The funding is provided through the Governor’s Strategic Water Supply Program that seeks to expand New Mexico’s alternative water resources while safeguarding the state’s freshwater supply.
NMED selected seven projects from a pool of 13 applicants to receive the funding. The treatment projects allow New Mexico to tap into an otherwise unusable resource – an estimated 1.3 trillion gallons of brackish water stored underground – to support activities such as manufacturing, cooling, dust control, and cement-making. Such projects illustrate that investments in long-term water security can occur alongside economic growth.
The Strategic Water Supply Program is one component of the state’s broader 50-Year Water Action Plan, which prioritizes water infrastructure modernization, aquifer mapping, and watershed protection enhancement projects, with a total allotment of $40M.
