The New Mexico Interstate Stream Commission is hosting a series of events to provide irrigators with property in the Lower Rio Grande corridor with information about a groundwater conservation program.
The program provides grants to compensate irrigators to voluntarily not irrigate previously irrigated land for two years. The application period opens on Monday and goes through Oct. 16.
The information meetings will be:
- 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Friday as well as 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Friday at the Village of Hatch Community Center, 837 Highway 187 in Hatch
- 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Saturday as well as 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturday at Doña Ana Community College’s Gadsden Campus, 1700 Ohara Road in Anthony.
- 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday as well as 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Saturday in Suite 317 on the third floor of the Corbett Center Student Union at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces
According to a press release, the LRG Groundwater Conservation Program is a result of a pilot program that operated from 2020 to 2023. The new program builds upon the successes of the pilot program as well as the lessons that the Interstate Stream Commission learned.
During the pilot program, the Interstate Stream Commission awarded more than 70 grants to voluntary participants who chose not to irrigate their parcels for a year. This resulted in 2,500 acres of land temporarily being fallowed and the Interstate Stream Commission paid the participants a cumulative total of $3.6 million in grant payments.
People wishing to attend one of the events can register online here. If anyone has problems with registration, they can contact Lilly Irvin-Vitela with Community Connects Consulting by calling 505-234-0694 or emailing [email protected].
More information about the program can be found here.
