Collaborative Modeling to Support the 2004 Arizona Water Settlements Act

In 2004 the Arizona Water Settlements Act was signed into law, which provides New Mexico and additional 140,000 acre feet of water from the Gila Basin in any ten year period. In addition, the State of New Mexico will receive $66M for "paying costs of water utilization alternatives to meet water supply demands in the Southwest Water Planning Region of New Mexico". Funds may be used to cover costs of an actual water supply project, environmental mitigation, or restoration activities associated with or necessary for the project. Further, if New Mexico decides to build a project to divert Gila basin water, the state will have access to an additional $34–$62 million. To help capitalize on this opportunity in the Gila Basin, Sandia National Laboratories, working with the New Mexico Interstate Stream Commission and the Southwest Water Planning Group has convened a collaborative modeling team. The objective of this team is to develop decision tools to support implementation of the articles of the 2004 Arizona Water Settlements Act. Specifically, an interactive water supply model will be developed to engage stakeholders and decision makers in developing plans for utilizing the water and funds made available through the 2004 Act.