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Experts: New Mexico in for hotter, drier weather in 50 years
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Copyright © 2021 Albuquerque Journal
New Mexico temperatures will likely continue to climb over the next 50 years, state geologist Nelia Dunbar said this week – a change with major consequences for regional water supplies and landscapes.
Dunbar, the New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources director, serves on the eight-member advisory panel crafting a “leap-ahead climate analysis” for the Interstate Stream Commission of what water supplies could look like in 2070.
The Chama River below Abiquiu Lake Tuesday June 22, 2021. (Eddie Moore/Albuquerque Journal)
“The question is not so much will (temperatures) increase, but by how much,” Dunbar said during a video update on the state’s long-term water plan.
A warmer climate could impact nearly every aspect of New Mexico’s water and land.
Dunbar listed likely impacts, including:
• Decreased aquifer recharge, more common and hotter drought periods, earlier winter runoff, greater groundwater demands and stress on plant life.
• Dry vegetation and catastrophic wildfires that could affect runoff and floodplain ecosystems.
• Warmer streams and rivers that could mean changing oxygen levels, which can disturb fish habitat.
“Likely the dominant impact on water quality going forward is going to be related to temperature increase,” Dunbar said.
State law requires that the Office of the State Engineer update a water plan every five years.