We Need Your Voice to Help Protect New Mexico’s Waters. Here’s How You Can Help.

New Mexico’s rivers, streams, and wetlands are at a crossroads. Federal rollbacks have stripped clean water protections from most of the state’s waterways, and the rules that replace those protections are being written right now at the state level. 

Senate Bill 21 (SB 21) established the framework for a state permitting program to protect New Mexico’s surface waters from pollution. But whether those protections are real or hollow depends on the rules the Water Quality Control Commission (WQCC) adopts. Public hearings are underway June 8–18, and your 3 minute comment could make a lasting difference. 

• Click HERE to sign up to make public comment
• Click HERE to sign our petition that will be delivered to the WQCC
• Click HERE for a downloadable toolkit with everything you need to make a public comment

What’s at Stake

This isn’t just an environmental issue. It’s about public health, Tribal sovereignty, wildlife habitat, and whether future generations of New Mexicans will have access to clean, reliable water in an already water-scarce state. The rules being considered right now will govern dredging and filling in wetlands and waterways, mitigation requirements when waters are damaged, public participation rights, and Tribal water protections.

Weak rules would leave communities, ecosystems, and vulnerable waters at risk for years to come.

What Strong Rules Look Like

New Mexico Wild is calling on the Commission to adopt rules that:

• Protect all surface waters including rivers, streams, wetlands, and the smaller tributaries that feed them
• Meet or exceed lost federal protections, including the 404(b)(1) guidelines requiring avoidance, minimization, and compensation for impacts
• Require avoidance first, ensuring that applicants demonstrate that they’ve chosen the least environmentally damaging option before permits are issued
• Establish a 2:1 mitigation ratio, requiring that twice the size of the area be restored or created when wetlands are destroyed
• Meaningfully involve the NM Department of Wildlife in the permitting process
• Protect Tribal waters and deny permits that would violate downstream Tribal water quality standards
• Ensure public participation on all general permit notices of intent

How to Comment

Public comments are being heard every day June 8–18 at 1 PM.

• In person: New Mexico State Capitol, 490 Old Santa Fe Trail, Santa Fe, Room 309
• Virtually: Via Webex (link available at the NM Environment Department Events Calendar)

You don’t need to be an expert. You just need to show up and say why clean water matters to you, your family, and your community.

Download our toolkit here! It includes sample comments, talking points, and more. 

Want more background? Read the recently published op-ed, “Commission must adopt strong water quality rules” by Senate Majority Leader Peter Wirth and Representative Kristina Ortez in the Santa Fe New Mexican.