The Trials and Tribulations of Developing a County-Wide Water Level Monitoring Program

Bernalillo County, located in central New Mexico, encompasses 1160 mi² and has a population of 662,564 (2010 census). The majority of the population resides in Albuquerque and adjacent unincorporated areas in the Rio Grande Valley (RGV). Much of that population is served by the local utility, which utilizes surface water and groundwater. To the east are the Sandia and Manzano Mountains, referred to locally as the East Mountain Area (EMA). The population in the EMA relies solely on groundwater, with roughly 53% of the population relying on domestic wells.

Water rights in New Mexico are governed by the Office of the State Engineer (OSE), which provides only limited monitoring in the EMA. County personnel began to hear anecdotes from residents and to notice rapid declines in water levels in county wells. In 2010 the county responded by implementing a voluntary domestic water level monitoring program, which increased the number of monitoring points, allowed for better water level tracking, and has saved the county thousands of dollars in monitoring well costs. Ongoing issues include methodology, clustering of volunteer sites, jurisdictional boundaries, and determining the appropriate scope of the program.

Since 2010 the program has grown to over 200 wells that are monitored biannually or quarterly. The program has helped educate residents about the complex hydrologic conditions, the limited groundwater supply, the effect of drought on water levels, and the necessity of ongoing interaction with the OSE. The program is still growing through word of mouth, public awareness, and the media. An internal database has been created to manage the dataset and the county is working towards a publicly accessible e-portal.