County planning staff describe watershed‑level collaboration with WPAC, Pueblos and acequias
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Summary
County planning staff said the water program is focusing on whole‑watershed collaboration through the Water Policy Advisory Committee and partnerships with Pueblos, acequias and mutual domestic water associations to design restoration pilot projects and capacity‑building activities.
Andrew Harden, a water planner in the county’s Growth Management Department, told the commission the county’s water planning work emphasizes watershed‑scale collaboration across stakeholders — including the Water Policy Advisory Committee (WPAC), Pueblos, acequias, mutual domestic community water associations (MDCWAs), and state and federal agencies.
Harden said the WPAC provides a multi‑stakeholder forum and working groups on drinking and wastewater, stormwater and outreach, and that county staff are coordinating trainings (including financial trainings for small water systems) and planning a Next‑Generation Water Summit to continue outreach. He described outreach to multiple mutual domestic associations in southern Santa Fe County to explore voluntary coordination and an “umbrella” organizational model that would let small systems pool resources while retaining local control.
Harden also summarized plans to work with the Santa Fe Watershed Association and Bureau of Reclamation for a watershed restoration plan and pilot site designs, and noted NMED’s Watershed Protection Assistance Program (WPAP) grants (up to $75,000, no cash match required) as a flexible funding tool to support collaborative watershed projects.
Commission discussion centered on the importance of engaging acequias, supporting agricultural water efficiency and ensuring the water planning work produces tangible, locally useful outcomes; Harden and commissioners agreed to pursue targeted community outreach and to continue WPAC’s prioritized work program.