SB 111 PROTECT STATE WATERS

Sen Siah Correa Hemphill

Actions: [1] SCC/SCONC/SFC-SCC [2]germane-SCONC- DP-SFC

Scheduled: Not Scheduled

  Senate Bill 111 (SB 111) appropriates eight hundred forty thousand dollars ($840,000) to the Department of Environment to provide additional resources to protect water in the state
 

 Senate Bill 111 (SB 111) appropriates eight hundred forty thousand dollars ($840,000) from the General Fund (GF) to the Department of Environment (NMED) for expenditure in Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 to provide resources to protect water through additional monitoring and enforcement of existing regulations and through conducting additional mapping to better understand how changes to the federal Clean Water Act of 1977 affect water in the state.

Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of FY 2025 reverts to the GF. 

 According to NMED website, one of the steps to identify surface water quality issues is to collect water quality data and information through organized, quality-controlled monitoring. The Surface Water Quality Bureau in the NMED uses robust scientific methods in a way that is transparent to water quality agencies and the public. Its Monitoring Program tests surface water quality for such bodies as streams, rivers, lakes, and reservoirs and focuses primarily on chemical, physical, and biological conditions in these perennial waters, and includes sampling for most pollutants that have numeric or narrative water quality criteria in New Mexico. To meet federal and state requirements and expectations, the Surface Water Quality Bureau of the NMED developed and occasionally updates a monitoring strategy (2016, revisions pending 2023).  It assesses the data collected during these water quality surveys to determine if they meet state water quality standards. These data assessments are then used to develop the State of New Mexico Clean Water Act §303(d)/305(b) Integrated Report and Total Maximum Daily Load planning documents.
https://www.env.nm.gov/surface-water-quality/water-quality-monitoring/