This briefing sets out three objectives for water literacy (be informed, understand the data behind water management, and stay engaged) and answers nine questions in the order a reader is likely to ask them. It draws on the published research on water literacy, on forecast and operating documents from federal and state agencies, and on figures reported on Lake Level Watch and New Mexico Outdoor Water Education, which carry their own dates and sources. Items marked “In development” are planned and not built yet. Nothing here is a policy recommendation.
Purpose — Three Objectives
Water literacy on this site has three objectives. Each one is something you can do, and each has its own section in this briefing.
Know where your water comes from, how much there is, who holds rights to it, and what the current conditions are. Keep that knowledge current, because the numbers, the rules, and the conditions change.
Water managers plan from forecasting models and historical trends, and they publish forecasts as ranges, not single numbers. Once you can read a forecast and a historical record, you can follow why a reservoir is run or an allotment is set the way it is.
Stay informed, and show up to public meetings and presentations. Water decisions are made in open meetings, and the agenda, the data, and the discussion are available before anything is announced. The aim is that nothing about water is a mystery or a surprise, and that you know how it affects you and your family.
Definition — What Water Literacy Is
The research definition
In the research literature, water literacy is the combined result of what a person knows about water, how they regard it, and what they do about it: water-related knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors. The term is used in many ways. A 2020 systematic review in the journal Water by McCarroll and Hamann collected the definitions in use, found them varied and often inconsistent, and proposed one framework to organize them. The framework has seven parts, shown below with a plain-language question for each and the place on this site where that part is practiced.
| Part of the framework | Plain-language question | Where it is practiced here |
|---|---|---|
| Science and systems knowledge | How does water move from snow to tap, field, and factory? | The Water Thread; Lake Level Watch, “From snowpack to storage” |
| Hydrosocial knowledge | Who owns water, who decides how it is shared, and how are those decisions made? | Lake Level Watch, Water Release Explainer and Compact position. A plain explainer on water ownership in New Mexico: In development |
| Local knowledge | What is true about this valley’s water, and how do we know? | New Mexico Outdoor Water Education, the six reaches and the “local lore” label |
| Functional knowledge | Can I read a gauge, a unit, a graph, a bill? | Lake Level Watch, acre-foot and cfs explainers and the trend windows |
| Individual action | What can my household do? | Lake Level Watch, “What you can do” |
| Collective action | How do I take part in a decision that is not mine alone? | Briefings such as the Brackish Water briefing. Section 6 of this briefing; a fuller guide to boards and public comment: In development |
| Attitudes and values | Why does this matter to me and to my community? | Section 4 of this briefing |
Water literacy is not the same as water conservation. Conservation is one of the individual actions in the framework. The framework also covers knowing how the system works, understanding who decides, reading the data, and taking part in public decisions. A household can conserve carefully and still be unable to say where its water comes from.
Working definition for this site
Water literacy is knowing where your water comes from and how it is measured, who owns it and who decides how it is shared, how to check a claim about it, and what you can do about it as a household and as a citizen. It also means keeping that knowledge current.
The review also notes that water is a local resource: what matters to a rural resident differs from what matters to an urban one. Local knowledge is one part of the framework, and this site anchors the subject in one river and one lake.
Water Stakeholders
Water in New Mexico has many stakeholders. Each one looks at the same river and the same lake from a different role, asks a different question of it, and makes decisions from that position. A farmer reads a reservoir release as an allotment. A ratepayer reads it as part of a bill and a source of supply. A visitor reads the lake level as a question of whether the boat ramp reaches the water.
| Stakeholder | The question they bring to water | Decisions they make |
|---|---|---|
| Parent or guardian | What should a child learn about water, and where? | Chooses the school and programs a child attends; sets household water habits |
| Student | What will the water supply look like when I am an adult? | Not yet a decision-maker; inherits the outcomes of the decisions in this table |
| Household and ratepayer | Is the supply secure, and what will it cost? | Pays the water bill; decides indoor and outdoor use, including landscape irrigation |
| Farmer, rancher, landowner | How many inches of water will I receive, and do my land and rights allow me to use it? | Plants, stocks, and invests each season; buys, sells, and works land that may or may not carry water rights |
| Employer or business owner | Will supply and quality support the business and its workforce? | Hires, locates, and invests where water supply and quality matter |
| Visitor, recreationist, outfitter | Is there water at the ramp, the trailhead, and the campsite this season? | Chooses where and when to fish, boat, hike, and camp; guides and outfitters decide where to operate |
| Voter and elected official | What does a proposal cost, and what does it deliver? | Voters weigh ballot measures and candidates; legislators pass water law and funding |
| Municipal utility and local government | Can we deliver safe water and cover the cost of doing so? | Sets rates, maintains systems, and chooses supply projects |
| Water managers and agencies | What does the forecast say, and what are our obligations? | Operate reservoirs and canals, set allotments, administer the Compact, and plan regionally (EBID, Bureau of Reclamation, Interstate Stream Commission, NRCS, USGS) |
| Tribal and Pueblo governments | Questions that each government states for itself | Manage water and water rights under their own authority; see the note below the table |
| Fish, wildlife, and the river | What flow and habitat does the river need to remain a living system? | Not a decision-maker; represented through agencies, flow requirements for species such as the Rio Grande silvery minnow, and conservation groups |
| Neighboring states | Is our share of the river delivered under the Compact? | Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas administer and dispute deliveries, as in Texas v. New Mexico |
Stakeholders often start from the same data and reach different conclusions, because the questions they bring are different. Knowing what the other stakeholders are asking makes it easier to see why a decision lands where it does, and to find the data each one relies on.
The table describes the question each role typically brings and does not speak for any group. Where a perspective belongs to a specific government or community, such as a Pueblo, the source for it is that government’s own office and published materials.
Why the Knowledge Needs Updating
Water information goes out of date. The numbers move, the rules change by vote or ruling, and the conditions underneath shift over years. The cases below are current examples from the Rio Grande in New Mexico, each reported with its date and source on Lake Level Watch or New Mexico Outdoor Water Education.
On October 5, 2026, the lake held 72,039 acre-feet, 3.6 percent of its 1,960,900 acre-foot capacity. Over the previous month it gained 44,326 acre-feet. When storage is low, the reservoir sits in the narrow bottom of a river canyon, so a small volume of water moves the surface by several feet. If you last checked the level a few months ago, your picture is out of date.
The Elephant Butte Irrigation District serves roughly 90,640 water-righted acres in the Rincon and Mesilla Valleys. Its board sets the start of the irrigation season and that year’s allotment at a meeting each spring, based on reservoir storage and snowpack. Start date, season length, and inches of water per acre are voted on, not triggered automatically.
The board meets monthly, generally on the second Wednesday at 9:00 AM at the district office, 530 S. Melendres, Las Cruces, and the district follows the Open Meetings Act. EBID posts each meeting’s notice, agenda, minutes, and video recording on its 2026 Board Meeting Dates page, and posts district news on its News page, Facebook, and YouTube. EBID’s published agendas state that a final agenda is emailed on request from the district office, 575-993-2429.
In May 2026 the U.S. Supreme Court adopted a final decree ending Texas v. New Mexico. New Mexico ended 2025 owing 132,000 acre-feet under the Compact. Debt of that kind can mean upstream water is passed through to meet the obligation instead of being stored, so a wet winter in Colorado does not automatically mean more water banked at Elephant Butte.
The 2025 Strategic Water Supply Act created state support for brackish-groundwater treatment. State-backed work to date is a Middle Rio Grande Basin mapping study, a mobile pilot treatment unit, and a cattle-operation pilot in southeastern New Mexico. No plant has been sited in Sierra County. The details, costs, and case histories are in the Brackish Water briefing.
Soil moisture in September 2026 was below normal after a below-normal monsoon, and more than 80 miles of the Middle Rio Grande channel were dry, including about 13 miles through Albuquerque. Dry ground and a dry channel absorb water before it moves downstream. Decades of pumping have also lowered the water table along much of the Middle Valley. These effects carry from one year to the next, which is why one good winter does not erase them.
Three kinds of change run through every case: numbers that move daily, rules that change by vote or ruling, and conditions that change slowly and carry multi-year effects. What you learned once is a snapshot of one season. Staying informed means knowing which kind of change a fact belongs to and how often to check it.
How Water Managers Use Forecasts and History
Reservoir operators, irrigation districts, and cities plan ahead from forecasts built on measurements and the historical record. The table lists the main tools that apply to the Rio Grande in New Mexico, what each one uses, and where the output can be seen.
| Tool | What it uses | What it produces | Where to see it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seasonal streamflow forecast (NRCS) | Snow water equivalent at manual snow courses and automated SNOTEL sites, plus precipitation, run through statistical and simulation models | Forecast streamflow volumes at stated probabilities, published monthly during the snow season in the New Mexico Water Supply Outlook Report | NRCS New Mexico Snow Survey |
| Annual operating plan (Bureau of Reclamation) | The NRCS volume forecast and the expected timing of deliveries | Several planning runs, each displayed by a band of probability, for how Rio Grande water is stored and delivered | Reclamation, Rio Grande Annual Operating Plans; public presentations are held in spring |
| Compact accounting | Annual river flows and deliveries under the Rio Grande Compact | Each state’s credit or debit. Colorado delivers a larger share of the flow in wet years and a smaller share in dry years | Lake Level Watch, Watershed conditions (New Mexico owed 132,000 acre-feet at the end of 2025) |
| District allotment (EBID) | Reservoir storage and snowpack | A board vote each spring on the start of the season and inches of water per acre | Lake Level Watch, Water Release Explainer |
| Historical record | Stream gauges, snow stations, and reservoir records kept over decades | The baseline against which a forecast and a current reading are compared | USGS gauge records; NM Outdoor Water Education, “How We Know” |
The historical record is long. The first USGS stream gauge was installed at Embudo, New Mexico, in 1889 and is still on the river. NRCS and other agencies have monitored snowpack and forecast water supplies in the Rio Grande Basin since 1935.
How to read a forecast
A streamflow forecast is a range. NRCS publishes it at several probability levels, called exceedance probabilities: 90, 70, 50, 30, and 10 percent. The 50 percent forecast is the middle of the range, with equal chances of more or less water. The 90 percent forecast is a volume that has a 90 percent chance of being exceeded, so it is a cautious planning number. The 10 percent forecast is a volume that has only a 10 percent chance of being exceeded, so it describes a wet outcome. Water users who need to be sure of a supply can plan from the lower levels.
The probability level. A single number without a stated level hides how wide the range is.
The forecast point and the period. A forecast covers a named location on the river and a named stretch of months.
The comparison to the historical median. A forecast is usually read as a percent of a long-term median, which is how a dry or wet year is identified.
The lake level. Streamflow forecasts describe the mountains and the river. What reaches the lake also depends on soil, upstream commitments, and channel losses.
Revisions. Forecasts are updated as the season goes on and new measurements come in.
The past. The historical relationship between snowpack and streamflow has shifted as forest and climate conditions have changed, and agencies have added forecasting tools in response. NRCS began using a new multi-model forecast system in 2024.
Lake Level Watch shows the projected days to reach a capacity milestone under three different trend windows: one day, a seven-day average, and a thirty-day average. The page describes those dates as a pace indicator and not a forecast. Reading three windows side by side is like reading a range of forecasts instead of one number.
Staying Engaged — Attending and Following
The third objective is to stay informed and show up. Public bodies in New Mexico are required to give notice of their meetings and hold them in the open, and agendas are published ahead of time. If you read the agenda and the data beforehand, you will know what is being decided, what it rests on, and how it reaches your household.
Where water decisions are made
| Body | What it does | How to follow it |
|---|---|---|
| New Mexico Interstate Stream Commission | Oversees the state’s interstate stream obligations and water planning, including regional water security planning under the Water Security Planning Act of 2023 | Regular meetings are normally held on the third Thursday of each month. The agenda is available ten days ahead and may be revised up to 72 hours before. Confirm dates on the Commission’s meeting page. The Commission considered the proposed regional planning rule in January 2026, and its current status is on the Commission’s site. |
| Elephant Butte Irrigation District board | Sets the start of the irrigation season and each year’s allotment, based on storage and snowpack | Regular meetings are generally held on the second Wednesday of each month at 9:00 AM. Notices, agendas, minutes, and recordings are posted on EBID’s Board Meeting Dates page, and meeting dates can change, so confirm there. Main office: 575-526-6671. |
| Bureau of Reclamation, Albuquerque Area Office | Operates federal dams and reservoirs on the Rio Grande and its tributaries, issues the annual operating plans, and runs environmental reviews of its projects | Reclamation does not publish a standing meeting calendar. Public meetings are announced by news release: the annual operating plan presentations, held in spring, and comment meetings for individual projects. Follow the Albuquerque Area Office page (news releases and a list of current environmental reviews) or subscribe to Reclamation’s RSS news feeds. Office: 505-462-3655. |
| Rio Grande Compact Commission | Administers the Rio Grande Compact among Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas; hears each state’s report and the federal agencies’ reports, including Reclamation’s | One annual meeting each spring, hosted by a different state in turn. The 2026 meeting was held April 17 in Santa Fe. Meeting dates and agendas are posted on the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality’s Rio Grande Compact Commission page. Agendas include a public comment item. |
| Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District board | Manages irrigation water in the Middle Valley, upstream of Elephant Butte, and sets its water charges | Regular meetings are held on the second Monday of each month at 3:00 PM at 1931 Second Street SW, Albuquerque, with a Zoom link on the agenda. Agendas and minutes are at mrgcd.com. Board liaison: 505-247-0234. |
| New Mexico Legislature, Water and Natural Resources Committee | Hears water and natural resource issues between sessions; the full Legislature passes water law and funding, such as the 2025 Strategic Water Supply Act | The interim committee meets at locations around the state, and its agendas, handouts, and recorded webcasts are on the committee page. Agendas describe how to make virtual public comments. Session and committee schedules are posted at nmlegis.gov. |
| County commission and municipal utility | Set local water rates and local water policy | Sierra County’s commission holds regular monthly meetings at 10:00 AM, recently on Tuesdays, and the date can vary. Agendas are posted at sierraco.org, and meetings are broadcast on the county’s Facebook page and YouTube channel. County manager’s office: 575-894-6215. For other counties and for a city utility, the clerk posts meeting schedules and agendas. |
The water year at a glance
The calendar shows when each body normally meets or acts, and when the river and weather move. Monthly meetings come first, then seasonal items, then the river and weather patterns behind them. The current month is outlined.
| Body or event | January | February | March | April | May | June | July | August | September | October | November | December |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Meets every month | ||||||||||||
| EBID boardsecond Wednesday | January: yes | February: yes | March: yes | April: yes | May: yes | June: yes | July: yes | August: yes | September: yes | October: yes | November: yes | December: yes |
| Interstate Stream Commissionnormally third Thursday | January: yes | February: yes | March: yes | April: yes | May: yes | June: yes | July: yes | August: yes | September: yes | October: yes | November: yes | December: yes |
| MRGCD boardsecond Monday | January: yes | February: yes | March: yes | April: yes | May: yes | June: yes | July: yes | August: yes | September: yes | October: yes | November: yes | December: yes |
| Sierra County Commissionmonthly; date varies | January: yes | February: yes | March: yes | April: yes | May: yes | June: yes | July: yes | August: yes | September: yes | October: yes | November: yes | December: yes |
| Seasonal meetings and announcements | ||||||||||||
| Legislature, regular session60 days in odd years, 30 in even years | January: yes | February: yes | March: yes | |||||||||
| NRCS Water Supply Outlookmonthly in the snow season | January: yes | February: yes | March: yes | April: yes | May: yes | |||||||
| EBID allotment decisionset at a spring board meeting | March: yes | April: yes | ||||||||||
| Reclamation operating plan presentationsannounced by news release | April: yes | |||||||||||
| Rio Grande Compact Commission annual meetingdate and host state vary | April: yes | |||||||||||
| EBID growers’ meetingsannounced by the district | May: yes | |||||||||||
| Legislature, interim committeesincluding Water and Natural Resources; begin in May or June | May: yes | June: yes | July: yes | August: yes | September: yes | October: yes | November: yes | |||||
| River and weather | ||||||||||||
| Snowpack buildstypically October through June | January: yes | February: yes | March: yes | April: yes | May: yes | June: yes | October: yes | November: yes | December: yes | |||
| Snowmelt runofftypical timing; earlier in recent dry years | April: yes | May: yes | June: yes | |||||||||
| Irrigation seasontypical window; the board sets the start | March: partly | April: yes | May: yes | June: yes | July: yes | August: yes | September: yes | October: partly | ||||
| Monsoon rainsroughly late June through September | June: partly | July: yes | August: yes | September: yes | ||||||||
The seasonal rows show typical timing drawn from recent years’ published dates and agency materials. They are not a schedule. The Compact Commission and Reclamation presentations are announced each year, EBID’s board sets the irrigation season start at a spring meeting, and in recent years the first releases came in late May or June. Confirm any date on the body’s own page, linked in the table above.
How a decision can reach a household
| Type of decision | How it can reach a household or family |
|---|---|
| Irrigation allotment | Farm and ranch income, local food supply, and the jobs that depend on them |
| Reservoir operations and Compact accounting | How much water is stored or passed downstream, which affects lake recreation and the businesses around it |
| Utility rates and supply projects | The water bill and the long-term source of a community’s supply |
| Regional water planning | How a region plans for growth, land use, and future supply |
| State funding and law | Which projects are built, such as brackish treatment, and who pays |
Five questions to bring to any water meeting
- What data or forecast does this proposal rely on, and where can it be read?
- Which probability level is the plan built on: the 50 percent case, the 90 percent case, or another?
- Who receives the water or the benefit, and who pays the cost?
- What is the schedule for the decision, and when is the next opportunity to review it?
- How can a resident submit a comment, and by what date?
Speaking during public comment is optional. Attending, reading the agenda, and reading the minutes afterward are each a way of staying informed. Lake Level Watch’s “What you can do” section lists the other forms of participation, including drought condition reports.
What the Research Shows
Water literacy research is recent, and most of the figures come from student samples. They show where measurement started, not what people are able to learn.
In one U.S. survey of 457 college students, 19.9 percent did not know their local water source. A review of the research reports that most students do not know where their drinking water comes from or how it is treated.
A study cited in a 2021 paper found that 11 percent of participants reached the highest level of water literacy.
McCarroll and Hamann examined surveys of both student and adult populations around the world and summarized the knowledge gaps. Their suggested approaches include better visuals, place-based learning, interdisciplinary teaching, and building programs through repeated cycles of review. Lake Level Watch, the Water Thread, and the Evidence Ladder follow the first two of these directly.
Most of the figures above come from surveys of students, and none are specific to New Mexico. Research on water literacy is still young, so they are a starting point. The self-check in Section 8 lets a reader see where they stand. For students, New Mexico Outdoor Water Education is building a similar check, “Where are you starting?”, with a version for each age (in development).
Self-Check — Twelve Questions
Use these questions to see where you stand. Each one points to where on this site the answer is covered. The ones you can’t answer are a good place to start reading.
- Where does the water at your tap come from: a river, a well, or both, and who is your supplier?Where to look: Your utility’s annual water quality report; Water Thread, Arc 1
- How large is an acre-foot, and why do reservoirs report in it?Where to look: Lake Level Watch, “Water in the lake”
- What does cfs measure, and where do you find the reading for the river above Elephant Butte?Where to look: Lake Level Watch, “What’s a cfs?”; USGS gauge 08358400
- Why can a large snowpack still produce a low lake?Where to look: Lake Level Watch, “From snowpack to storage”
- Who decides when the irrigation season starts, and what does the decision depend on?Where to look: Lake Level Watch, Water Release Explainer
- What is the Rio Grande Compact, and what happened in Texas v. New Mexico in 2026?Where to look: Lake Level Watch, Watershed conditions; NM Outdoor Water Education
- What is the difference between brackish groundwater, ocean water, and produced water?Where to look: Brackish Water briefing, Section 1
- About how much of a household’s water goes to outdoor use in a dry climate?Where to look: NM Outdoor Water Education, “A distinction worth holding onto” (EPA WaterSense)
- If someone says “the lake is up five feet,” what instrument could confirm it, and how would you label the claim on the Evidence Ladder?Where to look: NM Outdoor Water Education, Section 7; Lake Level Watch, “Does it match what you’ve heard?”
- Where would you attend a meeting or submit a comment on a water decision in your county?Where to look: Section 6 of this briefing; Lake Level Watch, “What you can do”
- What does it mean when a streamflow forecast is given at the 90 percent exceedance level instead of the 50 percent level?Where to look: Section 5 of this briefing; NRCS New Mexico Water Supply Outlook Report
- When does the state Interstate Stream Commission normally meet, and how do you find the agenda?Where to look: Section 6 of this briefing; Interstate Stream Commission meetings
Where to Go Next
Each page below covers a different part of the framework or a different objective. They can be read in any order.
- Use it for
- Today’s lake level, river inflow, snowpack, and watershed conditions, with the explainers that make the numbers readable.
- Page
- lake-level-watch.html
- Use it for
- The path of water from snowfall to the dinner table, in five arcs, with sample questions for younger and older students.
- Page
- water-thread.html
- Use it for
- The kindergarten-through-graduation track for families, the three trails, and the Evidence Ladder.
- Page
- nm-outdoor-water-education.html
- Use it for
- A worked example of a live water decision: costs, case histories, and the regulatory landscape.
- Page
- brackish-water-briefing.html
- Use it for
- The monthly snowpack and streamflow outlook and the state commission’s meeting schedule, so the data and the agenda can be read directly.
- Pages
- NRCS New Mexico Snow Survey
Interstate Stream Commission meetings
Common Questions
Each answer is grounded in a specific fact from this briefing or from the pages it links to, so it can be checked.
No. Conservation is one individual action within the research framework. Water literacy also covers how the system works, who decides how water is shared, how to read the data, and how to take part in public decisions.
It depends on the community. Some draw from the river, others from wells, and some from both. The utility’s annual water quality report names the source. Lake Level Watch tracks one reservoir and does not describe every community’s supply.
Not necessarily. Meltwater first soaks into the soil, then passes through four upstream reservoirs (Heron, El Vado, Abiquiu, and Cochiti) that carry their own obligations, then crosses a channel that loses water to the ground. Only what remains arrives at Elephant Butte.
It can be. At very low storage the water sits in the narrow bottom of the canyon, so a modest volume produces a large change in height. The check is to compare the claim with the gauge reading in feet, in acre-feet, and in percent full.
A forecast is a range with stated probabilities, not a promise. NRCS publishes streamflow forecasts at 90, 70, 50, 30, and 10 percent exceedance levels and revises them through the season. Agencies have also added forecasting tools because the historical link between snowpack and streamflow has shifted.
No. Attending, reading the agenda, and reading the minutes are each a form of participation. Many meetings include a public comment period, and speaking during it is optional.
No. It is background material. It describes what the research means by water literacy and where to find the data. Policy examples, such as brackish desalination, are presented with their costs, case histories, and open questions.