Forty Posters to be Displayed at NM WRRI Annual Water Conference (continued)

By Catherine Ortega Klett, Program Manager

Post-doc María Milanés-Murcia will present a description of the Transboundary Aquifer Assessment Program (TAAP), one of several projects on which she is working. The U.S.-Mexico Transboundary Aquifer Assessment Act was enacted in 2006 to conduct binational scientific research to assess priority transboundary aquifers and to address water information needs of border communities. TAAP is a unique federal agency-university-binational partnership and includes the U.S. Geological Survey, New Mexico Water Resources Research Institute, Arizona Water Resources Research Center, Texas Water Resources Institute, International Boundary and Water Commission, stakeholders, and Mexican counterparts to map and characterize the hydrogeology of priority transboundary aquifers along the border region. María’s poster will illustrate the achievements and future objectives of the program in the Hueco Bolson and Mesilla Aquifers.

Connie Maxwell, a PhD student in NMSU’s Water Science and Management (WSM) program, will present a poster on her research using integrated models to demonstrate that a scenario of increasing use of agriculture as a system for recharge can both increase water storage and mitigate catastrophic flooding as compared to current conditions. The anticipated results will map pilot study areas that indicate zones of the most potential water storage benefits from optimized management. Assessing generalizable parameters will then also contribute to regional scenarios analyses in WRRI’s dynamic statewide water balance model. Her work intends to reveal how a system of increased agricultural recharge has the potential to align social investment with sustainable management goals.

Another NMSU student in the WSM program, Aracely Tellez, studied the use of produced water – a byproduct of oil and gas drilling – as a potential source of water to offset freshwater use in agriculture in Southeast New Mexico. Aracely, a master’s student, presents in her poster soil and water quality considerations that would be expected and required from treated, produced water in order to meet acceptable use in terms of crop tolerance.

To register for the conference, go to: https://nmwaterconference.nmwrri.nmsu.edu/register/.