Water conservation program officials ask New Mexico lawmakers to boost funding amid drought

State funding aimed at helping farmers and ranchers implement water conservation techniques is helping address a variety of drought-related problems, administrators, scientists and farmers told New Mexico lawmakers on Monday. They asked legislators to double the program’s funding next year as the state continues to suffer from record low snowpack and drought conditions.

A presentation in front of the Water and Natural Resources Committee during its meeting in Taos noted that 80% of New Mexico’s water benefits agriculture, and this year’s record low snowpack and ongoing drought conditions have negatively impacted farmers’ and ranchers’ ability to produce crops and raise livestock. 

In addition, much of the water that can be reused from rainfall and flooding becomes “essentially wasted” without the proper collection and irrigation systems, Jon Hupp, owner of Goat Tree Orchard in Taos County, told lawmakers.

To address these issues, the Agricultural Water Resilience Program, administered by the New Mexico Water Resources Research Institute at New Mexico State University, provides grants — up to $300,000 each — for farmers and ranchers to upgrade their infrastructure to collect and save water for agricultural production. The state Legislature appropriated $5 million in fiscal year 2026 for the program and doubled funding to $10 million in FY27. 

The New Mexico Water Research Institute projects more than 938,000,000 gallons of water will be saved as a result of the projects funded in the 2026 cycle.

Hupp received $123,600 from the program to upgrade his irrigation system in order to reuse water,along with flow meters to measure water use and fertilization process. 

“Frankly, it is hard to overstate how important this is,” Hupp said. “Without it, we would probably be wiped out by decreasing water availability which drastically limits our operations,” Hupp said.

Conservation officials said Monday they would like to see the funding for the program increase again in next year’s session. Debbie Hughes, executive director of the New Mexico Association of Conservation Districts, which oversees the 47 soil and water districts in the state, said she hopes to see funding doubled to $20 million to meet demand — a sentiment echoed by Hupp.

“We have to continue to improve the infrastructure so that water can be delivered and collected in a more efficient way,” Hupp said. “I think that if we don’t start doing that now, with the aridification and drought, a lot of people like me are going to disappear.”