Yet despite dire predictions, Whitney, Stomp and others believe some potential solutions are available to New Mexico. So, for some, it is an easy jump to think that agriculture is the logical place to save water and a place from which to take water to support new uses. Hydrogeologist Bill Turner, the state's natural resources trustee, said the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District and other irrigators must become more efficient. But chile farmer Marty Franzoy, who works 620 acres in the Hatch area, between the big cities of Albuquerque and Las Cruces, is at the forefront of a movement that could create huge water savings without drying up farms. Franzoy has converted a 26-acre field of Sonora chiles from flood to drip irrigation.
Drip offers water savings, higher harvests and less tillage.
I can do all the irrigating myself. I'll never plow this again. Conservation, education Enough water exists for everyone if people in cities would just be more careful about how they use it, said Jerry Rivera, a manager for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation in Socorro. Right now, people expect to use water from the river whenever they see the need for it. They don't give much consideration to the need to use water more efficiently.