Middle Rio Grande Basin (MRG)
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Water Management in the Middle Rio Grande Basin
The last years of severe drought, low snowpack, rising annual temperatures, and increased demand have made it more challenging for New Mexico to comply with interstate water compacts. New Mexico is legally required to meet these compact obligations. In the Middle Rio Grande, long-term water scarcity means meeting those obligations requires intensive, consistent, and transparent water management. Increased administration is not optional, temporary, or punitive — it is a durable response to real conditions
Water Management Pillars
Predictability
Compact compliance and enforcement of authorized water use are legal obligations — consistent administration helps avoid surprises and disruption.
Fairness
Rules apply across sectors; fairness comes from consistent criteria and transparent application.
Measurement
You can't manage what you don't measure. Measuring water use across the system replaces assumptions with facts. It ensures we have the information needed for water systems to continue working for everyone.
Important Information
Links
Additional resources and information.
- Active Water Resource ManagementLocal Administration o Grande Compact and Administration
- #Rio Grande Compact
Frequently Asked Questions
The Rio Grande Compact is an agreement that governs how Rio Grande water is shared among states.
We are managing a system that no longer has slack. Past approaches relied on assumptions that water would rebound, but those assumptions no longer hold. The river, the aquifer, and our legal obligations are all tighter than they used to be making more intensive administration a necessity.
Compact compliance is not optional. It is a legal requirement for New Mexico. Delaying action increases legal, financial, and operational risk for the state and for water users.
Action: We will communicate requirements in writing and through official OSE/ISC communications channels so people can plan.
Increased administration means clear expectations, better measurement, and more predictability. It does not mean arbitrary enforcement. In step with changing conditions, we expect expanded measurement, clarified accounting, and more active administration of water rights.
Action: Any new requirements will be published with scope, timelines, reporting methods, and points of contact.
Administration applies across sectors and across the state. Agricultural, municipal, commercial, and industrial users are all part of the system and all subject to administration. No single group is being singled out to solve a system‑wide problem.
Action: We will provide plain‑language guidance tailored to directly affected water users.
Your water right is yours, but it exists within a system that’s connected, and the Rio Grande Compact is part of that picture. It affects the system your water right depends on.
Action: We will communicate what this means for water users in practical, step‑by‑step terms.