New Mexico and Rio Grande Water Journalism Project
We've expanded our support for water journalism in the Southwest.
Supported by the Thornburg Foundation, Water Funder Initiative, and Santa Fe Communit Foundation.
Project announcements
Apply now for The Water Desk’s Rio Grande journalist training and workshop
The Water Desk is excited to announce an in-person training and workshop for journalists interested in covering the Rio Grande watershed.
The Rio Grande faces significant challenges: climate change, aridification,...
Water Desk supports journalism in New Mexico and Rio Grande Basin
The Water Desk is excited to announce the recipients of new grants to support water journalism connected to New Mexico and the Rio Grande Basin.
Stories and reports
Holding out hope on the drying Rio Grande
Reporting supported with a grant from The Water Desk at the University of Colorado Boulder's Center for Environmental Journalism. Aerial photography support provided by LightHawk.
FAR WEST TEXAS—The year was...
Can New Mexico’s Ancient Water System Survive Climate Change?
Traditional irrigation canals, or acequias, could help balance the water supply during droughts — if they are protected.
In “Water Bodies,” Western writers tap into intimate connections to their local waterways
In the arid West, water verbs are often bureaucratic. Rivers, streams and lakes are allocated, decreed, diverted, divided and used. Droplets are distributed to serve human needs. Scarcity drives...
Unanswered questions: New Mexico looks to fossil fuel byproduct to ease pressure on freshwater...
Mario Atencio’s family never received a notification that 1,100 barrels of produced water—a byproduct of oil and gas extraction—had spilled on their allotment in February 2019 near Counselor, New...
Grantee stories
Can New Mexico’s Ancient Water System Survive Climate Change?
Traditional irrigation canals, or acequias, could help balance the water supply during droughts — if they are protected.
Unanswered questions: New Mexico looks to fossil fuel byproduct to ease pressure on freshwater...
Mario Atencio’s family never received a notification that 1,100 barrels of produced water—a byproduct of oil and gas extraction—had spilled on their allotment in...
Searching for solutions: In New Mexico, researchers seek to make brackish water a viable...
Heading through eastern New Mexico, dairy cattle can be seen in farms beside the highway while flashing lights illuminate the wind farms at night....
The Other Border Dispute Is Over an 80-Year-Old Water Treaty
With another hot summer looming, Mexico is behind on its water deliveries to the United States, leading to water cutbacks in South Texas. A little-known federal agency has hit a roadblock in its efforts to get Mexico to comply.
Once ‘paradise,’ parched Colorado valley grapples with arsenic in water
Decades of climate change-driven drought, combined with the overpumping of aquifers, is making the valley desperately dry — and appears to be intensifying the levels of heavy metals in drinking water.
Data viz: Elephant Butte Reservoir levels
Last update: September 21, 2022
Percent of total capacity
Source: US Bureau of Reclamation
Data viz: Navajo Lake levels
Last update: September 21, 2022
Percent of total capacity
Source: US Bureau of Reclamation
Map: Rio Grande drought tracker
This map depicts data from the National Drought Mitigation Center. Drought intensity categories are based on numerous indicators and local reports from more than 350 expert observers around the...
Map: New Mexico drought tracker
This map depicts data from the National Drought Mitigation Center. Drought intensity categories are based on numerous indicators and local reports from more than 350 expert observers around the...
Map: New Mexico monthly precipitation
This map shows total rain and snowfall in the New Mexico every month from 1981 to the present. The map's color scale runs from white (no precipitation), to blue (significant precipitation) to red (intense precipitation)....
Related multimedia
Videos: Taos Box rafting on Rio Grande, June 2023
This page in our free multimedia library features GoPro video of a rafting trip through the Taos Box on the Rio Grande in northern New Mexico. This entry also...
Photos: Rio Grande near Albuquerque, June 2024
This page in our free multimedia library features aerial photos of the Rio Grande near Albuquerque, N.M.
Albuquerque relies on pumped groundwater and surface water from the Colorado River Basin...
Photos: Rio Grande Gorge aerials, May-June 2024
This page in our free multimedia library features aerial photos of the Rio Grande Gorge, near Taos, N.M.
The Rio Grande Gorge, a striking canyon of volcanic basalt up to...
Photos: Rio Grande Gorge, June 2024
This page in our free multimedia library features photos of the Rio Grande Gorge, near Taos, N.M.
The Rio Grande Gorge, a striking canyon of volcanic basalt up to 800...
Photos: Rio Grande and Cochiti Lake aerials, June 2024
This page in our free multimedia library features aerial photos of the Rio Grande and Cochiti Dam and Lake in New Mexico.
This portion of the flight covers the area...