Securing New Mexico's Water Legacy

Securing New Mexico's Water Legacy: A Journey Through Innovative Strategies for Water Use in the Land of Enchantment is an interactive story map that presents a comprehensive overview of New Mexico's water management challenges and solutions through an engaging digital story map experience. The application explores how the state, with over 2.1 million residents and a total water withdrawal of 3.8 million acre-feet in 2020, navigates its unique water sustainability challenges across diverse geographic regions and usage sectors. Through detailed maps, data visualizations, and compelling imagery, users can discover how irrigated agriculture accounts for the largest share of water withdrawals while supporting 786,192 acres of farmland, examine the critical role of groundwater in urban public water systems (accounting for 76.54% of public water supply), and understand regional variations across New Mexico's six major river basins including the Rio Grande, Pecos, and Arkansas-White-Red basins. The application highlights innovative conservation efforts, collaborative management strategies between state agencies and local communities, and forward-looking adaptive management approaches including the 2023 Water Security Planning Act. Users can explore interactive maps showing water use patterns from 2015 to 2020, learn about efficient irrigation technologies like sprinkler and drip systems that now cover 62.91% of irrigated land, and discover how predictive climate models and community partnerships are shaping New Mexico's water future for coming generations.