| Water has always been an important commodity in the desert southwest, from the survival of prehistoric cultures to the requirements of modern society. As might be expected at a land grant university, a tremendous amount of research at New Mexico State University has been and continues to be directed toward water – where it originates, how it is used and how it is delivered.
New Mexico’s water sources are limited and must be shared with Texas and Mexico, flows naturally fluctuate with precipitation swings and water availability will no doubt be affected by global climate changes. Growth in the Mesilla Valley and continued water-use improvement must therefore progress together, strolling hand-in-hand in a tight-knit relationship.
Local rainfall is minimal and so the key supplier of water to Las Cruces is the Rio Grande. Research hydrologist Al Rango oversees NMSU’s participation in a study to track water supplies over a period of several years to determine how climate change might affect our water supply. Most of the water that keeps Rio Grande aquifers supplied originates from mountain snow pack in the northern half of New Mexico and Southern Colorado. Grant money awarded by the National Science Foundation and the Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research is shared by University of New Mexico, New Mexico Tech and New Mexico State University for the project titled “Climate Change Impacts on New Mexico’s Mountain Sources of Water.”
The universities are “looking at the effects on the water supply, based on what we think is going to happen to the climate in the future,” Rango said. Professor Sam Fernald added that the project is “looking at how climate change might affect snowmelt runoff and how that affects the way acequias distribute that runoff.”
Acequias, by the way, are canals that have been used for centuries to irrigate fields in New Mexico by early Pueblo cultures and later Spanish colonizers. Still in use today, modern hydrologists have suggested lining the ditches to make them more efficient. For generations, however, people have believed that the seepage from the acequias into the shallow groundwater has a positive impact on groundwater quality and helps to maintain aquifer levels. A recent NMSU study confirmed those beliefs and highlights the fact that changes in water handling and usage require careful study to reduce the potential for negative consequences.
The universities are relying on satellite images to map snow cover in the 26 snowmelt basins that line the Rio Grande, as well as remote sensing equipment to measure snow covered area and vegetation conditions.
Other potential sources of water in surrounding areas include large underground reservoirs of brackish water. El Paso, in fact, recently constructed the world’s largest inland desalination plant, which will place that city in an enviable position with regard to growing water requirements.
Typical designs for desalination plants currently include heavy electricity requirements. Dr. Nirmala Khandan, however, was granted “genius” status by Esquire Magazine in its December 2008 issue, for his intuitive desalination project. The NMSU civil engineering professor, with help from then graduate student, Dr. Veera Gnaneswar Gude, developed a system that can be used in remote areas where there are quantities of brackish water, but no local source of power. A vacuum is created that allows the water to boil at a lower temperature and the fresh, distilled vapor condenses in a tank at the base of the columns. The minimal requirements for electricity are supplied by a solar generator and battery system. Worldwide Water, a Seattle company, is licensed to develop a prototype that will supply as many as 50 people. The system can no doubt make a difference in several New Mexico locations and in desert regions around the world.
New Mexico has been one of the fastest growing dairy states in the country and dairy animal density in West Texas has doubled in the last two years. To sustain the fast-growing animal feeding operations in the region, new crops and cropping systems are needed to maintain quality forage production with less water use. Dr. Sangu Angadi has initiated a project to evaluate integrated forage systems (sorghum as a dominant crop and legume as a companion crop) for their ability to improve water use efficiency while producing high quality forage for the ever-expanding dairy and beef industries in the Southern High Plains.
The above projects are looking at the very important big picture. Grey water usage, desert landscaping and numerous other options are all critical, on-going issues that require our attention. My contribution…drinking bottled water from someone else’s aquifer.
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