Agencies list 'terrifying' N.M. water facts

Tongue firmly in cheek but serious about the facts, a nonprofit environmental group and the state Environment Department said Thursday that issues facing New Mexico water are "terrifying" and won't disappear after Halloween. Environment New Mexico and the Surface Water Quality Bureau of the state Environment Department presented a list of the state's "Top Ten Frightening Facts." "Agricultural runoff, sloppy development, and industrial pollution are all haunting the health of our rivers and streams, as well as us and our children," said Sanders Moore, advocate for Environment New Mexico. Here's the list: 1. Eerie ephemerals: Currently, 88 percent of streams in New Mexico are seasonal and at risk of losing their Clean Water Act protections due to U.S. Supreme Court rulings. The justices in 2006 decided the decades-old law applied only to navigable waters, ones boats can travel. That definition doesn't protect seasonal streams and ponds. Congress is considering legislation to restore protection of all waters under the Clean Water Act. 2. Shrinking water sources: More than 200,000 New Mexicans get their drinking water from sources fed by streams that may no longer be protected by the Clean Water Act. These are New Mexicans living within 15 miles of non-navigable streams from which they get their drinking water...more