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New Mexico Water Leaders Workshop provides education and connection in the Rio Chama watershed

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Workshop participants float the Rio Chama.
(click for a larger version)
Photo by Frank Sholedice
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Heather Himmelberger, Southwest Environmental Finance Center, gives a talk at the Ohkay Owingeh Yungeh Farmlands.
(click for a larger version)
Photo by Frank Sholedice
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New Mexico State Senator Leo Jaramillo joins the discussion during one of the classroom sessions.
(click for a larger version)
Photo by Frank Sholedice

Ghost Ranch, New Mexico
May 30, 2024

The New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources (NMBGMR) hosted the 2024 New Mexico Water Leaders Workshop May 22 to 24 in the Rio Chama watershed at Ghost Ranch. During the workshop, attendees heard 40 talks from subject matter experts, participated in panel discussions, and visited several locations in the field to view water infrastructure, river and bosque restoration projects, and farmlands.

The workshop was also an opportunity for networking, discussion, and collaboration. “The Water Leaders Workshops are based on the old Decision Makers Conferences hosted by the Bureau of Geology from 2001 to 2009,” says Kate Leary, NMBGMR Water Education Program manager and event organizer. “These conferences emphasized the importance of outdoor learning and incorporated field trips in addition to more traditional, classroom-style talks. The new Water Leaders Workshops continue this effort by soliciting talks from experts both in a classroom setting and outside at various water infrastructure field trip stops and overlooks.”

The 2024 workshop brought together over 120 participants, including 21 legislators, 2 federal delegation representatives, 16 agency leaders and decision makers, and 14 individuals from Tribes, Pueblos, and Nations. Other attendees hailed from New Mexico state agencies, federal agencies, and other non-governmental entities.

Some of the workshop’s themes included wildfires and watershed health, climate change, tribal water rights settlements, the San Juan–Chama Project, and regional and local river restoration and management strategies. The workshop concluded with a daylong river trip down the Rio Chama.

“The nearby Indios fire provided an apt backdrop for the workshop,” says Leary, “with smoke wafting into Ghost Ranch daily. It served as a reminder that fire risk is integral to water planning, especially as our climate changes and wildfires are expected to become more prevalent.”

Attendees gained a greater understanding of water use and management issues facing the Rio Chama—a major tributary of the Rio Grande—and cultivated connections with water researchers and decision makers from across New Mexico. The next Water Leaders Workshop is slated for spring 2025, with the location to be determined.

The agenda and presentations from the 2024 workshop are available online.