Water managers, business owners and residents debate future of NM’s last free …

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Stemming from America’s first wilderness area, the Gila River flows through the mountains of southwestern New Mexico, across the high desert and through the heart of Arizona, providing water to farmers and communities along the way. The last free-flowing river in New Mexico and one of the few in the Southwest to hold on to so many of its native fish communities, changes could be in store for the Gila. New Mexico is finally on the verge of accessing billions of gallons of river water through a series of settlements that stretch back to the late 1960s. Along with access to the water comes millions of dollars in federal funding to help develop that water. The question state water managers and residents throughout southwestern New Mexico are grappling with is how to best accomplish that. With much of New Mexico in the clutches of a persistent drought, few want to turn down the opportunity for a new source of water. However, diverting any water from the river will cost money and no one wants to upset the balance of the river’s already fragile ecology. “This is all very serious and I think it will have far-reaching, long-lasting […]