Water conservation incentives for New Mexico: Policy and legislative alternatives

A broad range of options for encouraging municipal, industrial and agricult ural water conservation are proposed for water-short New Mexico. Of particu lar interest are feasible options within the existing institutional and leg al framework,focusing on measures that could be implemented without statuto ry changes by the Office of the State Engineer and the Interstate Stream Co mmission. Definitions of water conservation and beneficial use should be ad opted, with emphasis on efficiency and economic feasibility. A "water conse rvation policy handbook" should be developed, with guidelines for preparing conservation plans and information on available conservation grants and wa ter banking opportunities. Additional funding for water conservation activi ties should be pursued through the establishment of a "water conservation g rants" program, following examples in Colorado, Texas, and Arizona. Project s currently funded by the Interstate Stream Commission should document the amount of water conserved. Return flow policies should encourage groundwate r reuse and recharge, should account for lower quality water in assigning c redits, and should recognize that a water right includes a diversion amount ,farm delivery amount, a consumptive irrigation requirement, a return flow amount, conveyance losses, and on-farm incidental depletions. A policy stat ement should be prepared stating that conserved or banked water depletions can be sold or leased by acequia associations, conservation districts or mu nicipalities. Policy statements need to be prepared and publicized that rec ognize the conservation advantages of protecting water from quality degrada tion: and the potential for using and reusing poor quality water for approp riate uses. In cooperation with the Environment Department, a system of wat er credits for using poor quality water and other reuse procedures should b e established. A system of withdrawal fees should be adopted to pay for adm inistering the water conservation program, which would include water conser vation grants. Methodologies for calculating the economic benefits of water conservation should be included in a "water conservation handbook," and an economist should be hired to analyze potential projects. All water right a pplicants should be required to prepare a conservation plan, with guideline s for preparation published in a "water conservation handbook. Metering sho uld be mandatory. The office of the State Engineer should recognize in a po licy statement that integrated resource management plans for watersheds pro vide rational bases for statewide water planning.