Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Nm Stat § 7-36-20: Disconnected Land And Water Policy In A Climate-Altered Peri-Urban Fringe, Annalise Porter

Water Resources Professional Project Reports

New Mexico (NM) passed a land use law in 1967 that offers tax subsidies to agricultural landowners and is implemented at the county level. This law illustrates a stark disconnect between land and water policy: there are water policy implications because of it, but it has never been discussed accordingly. With a focus on New Mexico’s primary urban county, this study estimates that in 2020, Rio Grande surface flows were used to irrigate 4,388 acres of Bernalillo County land that received the special tax valuation offered through the law. This represents a potential use of nearly 11,000 acre-feet of water, …