Hey, hey, I'm back!

Let's dive into NM environmental news and forecasts

Hi friends,

Sorry for the radio silence. I’m on the mend from a ruptured appendix and surgery. Boy, did that suck, and I have a lengthy recovery ahead. But I’m thankful for a thousand things, including my daughter (who dismissed my assertions the pain would pass and got me to the ER) and the surgical team who saved my onions.

The whole debacle took place on the East Coast, and as my stay kept extending, I wasn’t just homesick — desperate to be in my own home — I was also irritated by how hard it was to find real news about New Mexico. Of course, I regularly rely on Source NM, KUNM, the Santa Fe New Mexican, and Searchlight New Mexico for environmental news and feature stories.

But each day as I tapped onto the webpages of the commercial TV stations and the state’s biggest newspaper, I continually found stories regurgitated from press release (the same press releases I could read in my own inbox) or sensationalized crime reports.

I don’t know about you, but I love reading local news. News about the community where I live. News I need to navigate my daily life, make good decisions for the future, and connect with people around me. So, here’s some of the news I was looking for…

Will monsoon season be a boom or bust?

U.S. Drought Monitor - West

The rains around Albuquerque this week are wonderful — I can practically hear the tree roots slurping up the moisture — but of course, they aren’t enough to pull us out of drought or have a long-term impact.

The most recent Southwest Climate Outlook notes:

Drought remains widespread across the region; effectively all of Arizona, and all of New Mexico except for portions of the eastern part of the state, are affected by drought conditions. Drought is considered Exceptional (D4) for southwestern New Mexico and far-southeastern Arizona, and Extreme (D3) drought conditions extend across western Arizona, southern Arizona and New Mexico, and areas surrounding the Rio Grande valley throughout New Mexico.

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham declared a “drought emergency” on May 22 and convened the drought task force, which is supposed to recommend short-term actions to the governor and state agencies by July 31.

Seeing as how most of the state has been experiencing drought conditions for a while — and the Rio Grande started drying in April¹ — I don’t understand the timing of the executive order or the recommendations. But hey, I’m just a reporter.

If you’re wondering about the monsoon outlook, it’s not great. This is also from the Southwest Climate Outlook:

The April sea-surface temperature (SST) pattern in the equatorial Pacific broadly reflects ENSO-neutral conditions—SSTs near normal along the equator, some discontinuous regions of cooler-than-normal SSTs in the central Pacific left over from this past winter’s La Niña, a region of warmer-than-normal SSTs at the eastern margin that is not at this time extensive enough to suggest a developing El Niño.

You can read more about all of this in the Southwest Climate Outlook; scroll down to the section titled “ENSO Tracker.”

And if you want to read more about the Middle Rio Grande — and the deepening crisis when it comes to New Mexico’s ability to comply with the Rio Grande Compact, visit Norm Gaume’s recent piece on the New Mexico Water Advocates page.

As Gaume notes:

In 2025 through May, the Middle Rio Grande was entitled to 43% of the 239,900 acre-feet this year’s native Rio Grande water supply, as measured at the Otowi Bridge gage—adjusted for upstream storage changes and San Juan-Chama imported water. The Middle Rio Grande consumed much more, including 38,400 acre-feet of the Lower Rio Grande’s water. The Lower Rio Grande is entitled to 57%. It got 39%.

The Middle Rio Grande’s spiraling water debt is out-of-control. New Mexico is on track to violate the compact soon. Texas undoubtedly will sue.

More Reviews:

NRCS’s May 1-May 31 precipitation map for the Rio Grande Basin

NRCS’s May 1-May 31 observed streamflow map

News:

Is the oil and gas boom harming New Mexico’s students? (Ed Williams and Susan Montoya Bryan, Searchlight New Mexico)

The boots on Buck Jackson Road (Molly Montgomery, Searchlight New Mexico)

NM wildfire dispatch centers no longer face threat of closure, Heinrich says (Patrick Lohmann, Source NM)

As temperatures rise, New Mexico heat-rule champions push back against delay (Danielle Prokop, Source NM)

Pecos-born water advocate remembered as force of nature (Alaina Mencinger, Santa Fe New Mexican)

Mexican gray wolf Asha gives birth to litter of pups (Fallon Fischer, KRQE)

NM Appeals Court Tosses Constitutional Case

In 1971, New Mexico voters added a provision to the New Mexico State Constitution, declaring that the protection of our “beautiful and healthful environment is hereby declared to be of fundamental importance to the public interest, health, safety and the general welfare.”

Voters also directed the legislature to provide for “control of pollution and control of despoilment of the air, water and other natural resources of this state, consistent with the use and development of these resources for the maximum benefit of the people.”

Last year, environmental and Indigenous groups sued the State of New Mexico for not abiding by that constitutional amendment. Yesterday, New Mexico’s Court of Appeals dismissed the pollution control case against the state — and Gail Evans, an attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity, emailed this statement to the press:

New Mexicans amended our constitution 50 years ago to protect our residents from pollution. With this terrible ruling, the court has eviscerated our constitutionally protected rights. This will lead to more air pollution, more contaminated land and water, and more sickness in our communities. We'll continue our fight against the filthy oil and gas industry on behalf of all New Mexicans and will be appealing this decision to the state Supreme Court.

Lastly, for the book nerds:

Currently reading: In the Distance, by Hernán Díaz

Can’t wait to read: Is a River Alive?² by Robert MacFarlane

Just read, and loved: The Wild Dark: Finding the Night Sky in the Age of Light, by Craig Childs

Thanks again for subscribing — and for your patience as I dropped out of contact the past few weeks. I hope you’re all doing kind things for your neighbors and friends, spending time outside, and doing your best to counter the horrors of the world with grace and good work.

At one point in the hospital, I realized no one else around me was thinking about environmental issues. I felt ashamed to realize how obsessively and incessantly I think about rivers and wildlife and climate change and public lands.

I was surrounded by other people in pain and distress, and by medical professionals rushing to help them.

Then I dismissed that shaming voice. It’s the voice of an unhelpful family member, of paid industry flacks, of Republican politicians and pundits dividing people from their neighbors while profiting from the things we need most — water, breathable air, protected lands and watersheds, wildlife, and one another.

The fight to protect the environment, communities, and the future is more important than ever. I thought about so many of you — who have dedicated your lives to protecting New Mexico’s environment and communities — and felt great affection and gratitude for what you do. Keep it up. Please. ❤️

1. On Monday morning — before the afternoon storm — a total of 30.5 miles of the Middle Rio Grande were dry in the San Acacia reach.

2. Clearly, I think the answer is “yes.” And you can read more about that in Water Bodies from Torrey House Press.