ABCWUA has accomplished this by an education campaign combined with the promotion of low flow shower heads and low flush toilets. Rebates were offered which are now phased out.

At the same time, ABCWUA has aimed to decrease outdoor use of water. ABCWUA began publishing a colorful 50-page guide called “Xeriscaping: The Complete How-To Guide.” The free guide covers drip irrigation, mulching, and more xeric types of trees, shrubs, vines, flowers, and groundcovers. Rebates for certain types of trees are still being offered. Currently, 62% of the water processed by ABCWUA goes to indoor use and 38% to outdoor uses.

In 2016, ABCWUA wrote a 100-year plan, ‘Securing our Water Future,’ also known as the 2120 Plan. A new goal was set of 110 gpp, pd by 2037. In order to accomplish this, they have been emphasizing ways to decrease outdoor usage. ABCWUA now has a monthly garden newsletter, Water Smart workshops online, and efficiency initiatives, including promotion of organic groundcovers. Some of these approaches have rebates. The Water Action Plan (https://www.abcwua.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/wqppap.pdf) is reviewed annually and updated every 10 years and is probably the best source of any current information.

ABCWUA is also using new technology to recharge the aquifer. Thirty percent of the groundwater pumped from the aquifer is being returned as treated wastewater. A pilot project is underway using treated wastewater on some landscaping in parks and a golf course.

ABCWUA has a Governing Board made up of elected members from the city council and county commission that meets monthly. There is no requirement for members to have knowledge about climate or hydrology. The Governing Board has two advisory boards: the Water Protection Advisory Board is tasked with issues around the quality of our water; the Technical Customer Advisory Committee solicits advice and recommendations from customers.

The Governing Board has the responsibility to declare various levels of drought which will then initiate changes in ABCWUA policies. So far, no declaration of drought has been made.

The ABCWUA publishes updates to its 2120 Water Conservation Plan. The updates are required every 10 years and reviewed annually. On the same webpage, you can sign up for the Water Conservation monthly newsletter.

The City of Albuquerque is running a pilot using recycled water on certain golf courses and parks in the South Valley. This mitigates use of potable water. This raises the question of whether city and county zoning could require grey water for landscaping on all future building permits, as Tuscon does.

In Sandoval county many agencies have come together to build the Harvey Jones Bioswale Demonstration Project as a Green Infrastructure Initiative (GSI). They have basically constructed a curving path for stormwater runoff into a wetland so there will be aquifer recharge rather than the water going straight into the river. No concrete is being used for channels. Where else can concrete be removed from diversion channels to permit stormwater to permeate into the aquifer?

The ABCWUA 2120 plan sets a goal to decrease water usage from the current 127 gallons per person/day to 110 by 2036. Could this be moved up by ABCWUA, or at least by individual households? And could there be free audits to help the homeowner comply, or fines to convince them? And what about the number of trees a property has in place to sequester carbon and provide cooling shade…can their watering be credited in the calculation of household water use?

Could less effective dams be shut down? Up to 30% of stored surface water evaporates annually, so shutting down dams such as the 110-year-old Elephant Butte dam might help New Mexico meet its surface water obligations to Texas. But…how would shutting the dam down affect recreation and irrigation of chili and pecans?

The cities of Rio Rancho, Albuquerque, Bernalillo, Los Lunas, and Socorro and the tribes of Cochiti, Kewa, San Felipe, Tamaya, Sandia, Laguna, and Isleta all have a voice in decisions about the mid Rio Grande watershed. State agencies as the NM Environmental Department and the Interstate Stream Commission, regional agencies as the Mid Rio Grande Conservancy District and the Soil and Water and Conservation District, and the acequia societies all have important roles. Federal agencies as the EPA (mainly water quality), USGS (mainly gauges for measurements of water flow), and Bureau of Reclamation (mainly dam construction and management) have critical roles. And then there is the Rio Grande Compact, an interstate treaty between Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas, approved by Congress in 1938. The Compact determines how much water each of the three states will be allotted according to certain water flow gauges along the river.

Melanie Stansbury has currently introduced a bill in the US House, with a companion bill in the Senate, to get all these entities at the same table to study the issues of the Rio Grande and its basin as it flows through the three states and into the Gulf of Mexico. Hearings on this bi-partisan bill are expected to begin this summer and fall.

What are some other ideas you have heard of or thought of to better address the problem of drought and potential water shortages in the mid Rio Grande?

 by Paul Hawken, Penguin Books, 2021.  Reviewed by Esther Jantzen

This is a book you can safely (without much pushback) give to almost anyone with almost any opinion about climate change. Ask them to pick a topic from the table of contents and read two pages. On its own, Regeneration will persuade them that the climate crisis is real, that there’s plenty we can do collectively and individually to address the issues, that all over the world people are taking actions that make a difference, and that they, too, can take heart and take action.

That’s the value of this book: its power to quickly inform, shock, and inspire actions toward climate solutions.

Regeneration addresses the main domains in which we—the people on earth at this time—must make change: oceans, forests, wilding, land, people, cities, food, energy, and industry. With each domain, there are two-to-three page essays on subtopics, with photos, definitions, descriptions, facts, numbers, statistics, and dates. I doubt if there’s a better resource of talking points for a lay-person.

Who knew the small azolla fern can sequester carbon, replace fertilizers, and provide animal feed? Who knew bamboo could be food and fuel for people, as well as used for buildings, motorcycle helmets, fabrics, and toilet paper? Who knew beavers were a keystone species for water restoration? That worm vermiculture can lead to a 25% increase in crop yield? That a forest is already a farm? That, by design, buildings can generate more clean water and clean energy than they use? That humans use 59% of crop land to grow food for livestock? That a platform in the sea can generate energy from waves, sun, and the wind simultaneously? That democracies can be regenerated by local and state voter action?

Best of all for me is that Hawken and his extensive staff have researched places around the globe where ordinary people have successfully innovated and implemented surprising, often simple, solutions. The focus of most of these, of course, is related to how to draw down the extremely dangerous excess carbon in the atmosphere, sequester it, educate people, and prevent more release of carbon through persuading the oil and gas industry to keep fossil fuels in the ground.

While almost all of the essays would get an A from me, I did find some unevenness, with a few less clear, less satisfying. And the binding on this oversize book, published by Penguin, didn’t hold well. But I’m willing to forgive on both counts, for the good in this book far outweighs its defects.

For most readers, the rub in all these ideas comes when we consider our own responsibility to take action. What can little old me do, an urban apartment renter who doesn’t own a farm where I can implement innovation and build up the soil?

To push ourselves, my Elder Activist Readers book group responded to the prompt: “Out of having read this book, I will…” Here are some of the ideas which emerged:

—review my financial portfolio to make sure I’m not invested in fossil fuel companies
—create more conversations with people about climate issues.
—change my diet to be more plant-based
—order bamboo toilet paper rather than tree-logged products
—rethink the donations I make
—investigate getting a heat pump
—convert our house to all electric appliances
—renew my commitment to simplify my life
—get rid of stuff, perhaps including our third car
—use less heat
—think about what I can do with my land and property
—research ideas for sustainable gardening
—research trees whose leaves you can eat
—learn and talk about Big Food, Big Pharma, Big Medicine, and Big Poverty
—take my own containers to restaurants for left-overs
—think about how to live without so much plastic
—get an electric car
—buy fewer clothes, and when I do, buy used clothing
—transfer my investment to Green Century funds
—plant more trees, especially fruit trees, in our back yard
—give copies of Regeneration to the managers of grocery stores I use, to my political representatives, to a neighbor, to the local adult education organization, and to a library.

I’m sure you will have more ideas when you read this book. !Si, se puede! Yes, you can!