SOCORRO, N.M. – The opportunity to see, hear, and learn firsthand about New Mexico’s increasing concerns with water quality, availability, and planning efforts is the aim of a two-day workshop hosted by the New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources. “Water Leaders Workshop: A Decision Makers Retreat and Field Trip,” scheduled for Nov. 30 to Dec. 2 at New Mexico Tech, will take 50 invited participants including legislators, state agency staff, and others on a field trip to the Rio Grande and will also have presentations and facilitated discussions on water issues and next steps.

Keynote speaker Phoebe Suina, a member of San Felipe and Cochiti pueblos, is the founder and owner of High Water Mark, LLC, which works with tribes and pueblos on environmental policy, land acquisition, planning, infrastructure, and how governmental policies, laws, and priorities affect tribal communities.

Funded by the Thornburg Foundation, the workshop is designed as an abbreviated version of the Decision Makers Conference the Bureau hosted in the early 2000s. According to Stacy Timmons, associate director of hydrology programs at the Bureau and implementation lead for the New Mexico Water Data Act, this workshop is a pilot program to gauge interest in participating in future water-centric education programs.

“We’ve heard from them that it was really educational for legislators,” she said. “It helped some of  them get a foothold in the natural resources.”

The Thornburg Foundation is underwriting the effort to help legislators and decision makers become more informed and make better decisions, especially on critical water issues, Timmons said.

“We’re trying to build something that helps them a) get up to speed on some of the really complex water issues, and b) gives them an opportunity to get out and see it and have that experience of building connections,” she said.

Important water issues like the drought’s effects on the Rio Grande, water movement challenges, and technical issues for rural water systems will be explored in the workshop.