EBTAG Annual Workshop and Field Trip
October 12-13, 2017

¹New Mexico Water Resources Research Institute, 3170 S. Espina St., Stucky Hall, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM, 88003, ahanson@nmsu.edu

²Tetra Tech Inc.

The New Mexico Dynamic Statewide Water Budget (NMDSWB) is a multiyear effort to account for the origin and fate of New Mexico’s water supply. The NMDSWB model uses a mass balance approach to aggregate monthly water stocks (i.e., storages) and fluxes (i.e., flows) for four mass balance accounting units (MBAUs): counties, water planning regions, river basins, and statewide. The model estimates how much water moves through the stocks and fluxes within the MBAUs for a historical period and into the future. The historical period of the model is based on data and modeled estimates from 1975 – 2011. The future period of the model, which is currently being revised, spans from 2012 – 2100, where many of the future water stock and flux estimates are calibrated from the historical model. To compliment the model, an interactive visualization tool is currently being designed, which will provide researchers, policymakers, and water users easy access to the modeled data. By incorporating multiple MBAUs into the model, end users can find results that are relevant to areas of interest. For example, the Jemez y Sangre water planning region (WPR) corresponds well with the Espanola basin, which provides water to a significant portion of New Mexico residents. Historical results from the NMDSWB model show that the cumulative groundwater storage change for the Jemez y Sangre WPR has been negative and generally declining since 1997 despite a transition from increasing to decreasing groundwater depletions in 2001. Results also suggest a strong relationship between runoff, recharge, and groundwater storage change. Furthermore, the results show that on average, for the time period of 2000 – 2011, the peak of runoff occurred a month earlier than it had from 1975 – 2000. These results express how the NMDSWB model can be used to better understand New Mexico’s water resources. The NMDSWB has been highly collaborative, and future efforts will be made to continually include new research and to keep the model and the interactive visualization tool up to date.