Santa Fe County schedules Oct. 27 forum to explain water supply, stormwater and green infrastructure

Santa Fe County will host a public forum titled “Santa Fe Water: Today and Tomorrow” on Oct. 27 at the Santa Fe County Chambers to explain where county water comes from, how officials assess allocations for new developments, and how the county manages stormwater and resilience measures.

Travis Soderquist, the county’s utilities division director, said the county’s primary water source is the Rio Grande and that the county also relies on agreements with the City of Santa Fe that permit limited use of city groundwater and provide contingencies if deliveries through the Buckman direct diversion are curtailed. “It comes from the Rio Grande for the county, but there are agreements that we have with the city of Santa Fe where we can utilize some of their groundwater,” Soderquist said, describing the topics officials plan to explain at the forum.

Why it matters: rapid growth in and around Santa Fe County has raised questions about whether enough water exists to serve current residents and planned subdivisions. Soderquist told the podcast the county intends the meeting to show the public that allocation decisions are not made lightly: “There’s a lot of care and consideration that goes into determining how much water should be allocated to these developments,” he said.

Stormwater and regulation: Michael Carr, the county’s environmental compliance officer, said stormwater—rainfall runoff that moves through arroyos into rivers and groundwater—can be both a resource and a pollutant pathway. “Stormwater is definitely in kind of an unconsidered field of water,” Carr said. He explained the county participates in an MS4 (municipal separate storm sewer system) program and submits an annual report currently overseen by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Carr said recent state legislative action aims to give the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) primacy over Clean Water Act enforcement, a shift that would change which agency handles some stormwater oversight.

Green infrastructure and climate risks: Jacqueline Beam, Santa Fe County’s sustainability manager, said the county will highlight nature-based solutions at the forum—particularly green stormwater infrastructure such as rain gardens that retain water, improve soil infiltration and reduce irrigation needs. “Green stormwater infrastructure is just a fancy way to say rain gardens,” Beam said, adding that such measures can also support wildfire mitigation by creating “spongier soils” and healthier vegetation. Beam said that, based on the county’s risk assessments, many county facilities face heightened wildfire risk over the coming decades; she characterized this future exposure as affecting “over 90%” of county facilities within about 25 years, a figure she framed as an assessment rather than a precise forecast.

Partnerships and local projects: Andrew Hardin, a water planner in the county’s growth management division, described how growth management is coordinating departments and community stakeholders to provide clearer well and water-source information during development review. He also previewed a cooperative watershed management effort by the Santa Fe Watershed Association that will engage residents and stakeholders in pilot restoration and green infrastructure demonstration projects.

Public access and next steps: Speakers said the Oct. 27 event will offer resources, presentations from county experts and an opportunity to ask questions. Carr said the county has submitted its MS4 annual report to federal regulators and that resources discussed in the forum will be posted online and made available through county outreach after the meeting. The forum is designed as an informational session; no formal policy actions were announced on the podcast.

The county will present the forum on Oct. 27 at Santa Fe County Chambers; organizers said outreach materials and recordings will be shared online after the event.