What is the NM WRRI?
by
Dr. Karl Wood, Director
2000 - 2010
Radio Station?
Federal Agency?
Environmental Group?
Law Firm?
Something to do with
water?
The NM Water Resources Research Institute
is located in Las Cruces, New Mexico at
New Mexico State University,
but serves all of
New Mexico and the
Borderlands Region
State of New Mexico Statute 21-8-40. Water Resources Research Institute created; purpose.
A. The “Water Resources Research Institute” is created and shall be a division of New Mexico State University.
B. Participating institutions associated with the Water Resources Research Institute shall be New Mexico State
University, the University of New Mexico, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, New Mexico Highlands
University, Eastern New Mexico University, and Western New Mexico University. The purposes of the Institute are
to:
(1) Provide research training in water conservation, planning, and management; atmospheric-surface-groundwater
relations; and water quality;
(2) Transfer water information through the use of technical and miscellaneous publications, newsletters, conferences, and
presentations;
(3) Provide expertise, specialized assistance, and information to address water problems: and
(4) Cooperate with local, state, and federal water agencies
C. The Board of Regents of New Mexico State University shall prepare reports showing the progress and condition of the
Water Resources Research Institute as the Board deems necessary. The reports of the Institute may be printed and
distributed by the Board as appropriate, and revenue from the sale of the reports shall be paid into the account of
New Mexico State University.
D. The Water Resources Research Institute may receive appropriations from the legislature through the Board of Regents
of New Mexico State University and may receive any other items of value from public and private sources.
NMHU
WRRI serves all
Of the State’s
universities
UNM
NMT
ENMU
U of A
WNMU
NMSU (85 water researchers,
teachers, and outreachers)
UTEP
TAMU
and has close association with several others
Is located at the University of New Mexico appropriate because it is associated with
UNM’s law school
Is located at New Mexico Tech appropriate because it is associated with mining
and technology
Is located at New Mexico State University,
appropriate because NMSU is the land
grant university and has the majority of
New Mexico’s water researchers and
educators
Established in 1963 by the
New Mexico State Legislature
one of 54 state institutes approved nationwide
under the federal Water Resources Research Act
of 1964
WRRI’s Program Development and Review Board
Phil King, Professor
Department of Civil and Geological Engineering
New Mexico State University
Bruce Thomson, Director
Water Resources Program
University of New Mexico
Jan M.H. Hendrickx, Professor
Department of Earth and Environmental Science
New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology
John T. Romero P.E.
Director of Water Resources Allocation Program
New Mexico Office of the State Engineer
Brian McPherson
Department of Earth and Environmental Science
New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology
Cindy Padilla
New Mexico Environment Department
José Padilla
School of Public Administration
University of New Mexico
Tom Schmugge
Physical Science Laboratory
New Mexico State University
Linda Weiss, District Chief
U.S. Geological Survey/WRD
Water Conference Advisory Committee
Cecilia Abeyta
Farm Bureau
Fidel Lorenzo
Acoma Pueblo
Hilary Brinegar
New Mexico Department of Agriculture
Julie Maitland
New Mexico Department of Agriculture
Aaron Balok
Pecos Valley Artesian Conservancy District
Nathan Myers
U.S. Geological Survey
Wayne Cunningham
Retired, New Mexico Department of Agriculture
Craig Runyan
New Mexico State University
John D'Antonio
Office of the State Engineer
Blane Sanchez
Interstate Stream Commission
Gary L. Esslinger
Elephant Butte Irrigation District
John Shomaker
Shomaker and Associates
Lt. Col. Kimberly Colloton
Army Corps of Engineers
John Stomp
Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority
Susan Fry Martin
Los Alamos National Laboratory
Bruce Thomson
University of New Mexico
Chris Gorbach
Bureau of Reclamation
John C. Tysseling
e3c, Inc.
John Hawley
Hawley Geomatters
Stephanie Moore
D. B. Stephens & Associates
Matt Holmes
New Mexico Rural Water Association
Linda Weiss
U.S. Geological Survey
Marcy Leavitt
New Mexico Environment Department
April Fitzner
Army Corps of Engineers
Water Research Symposium Planning Committee
Laura Bexfield
U.S. Geological Survey
Nabil Shafike
Interstate Stream Commission
Jan M.H. Hendrickx
New Mexico Tech
Jeri Sullivan
Los Alamos National Laboratory
Dagmar Llewellyn
American Water Resources Association,
New Mexico Section
Bruce Thomson
University of New Mexico
Stephanie Moore
Daniel B. Stephens and Associates
Howard D. Passell
Sandia National Laboratory
Karl Wood
WRRI/New Mexico State University
- A member of the National Institutes for Water Resources (NIWR)
- Rated in the top 5 during review in 2000
- Rated in the top 10 during last review in 2005
- Member of the Powell Consortium
(the Director serves as Chair)
Arizona Water Resources Research Center
California Water Resources Center
Colorado Water Resources Research Institute
Nevada Water Resources Center
NM Water Resources Research Institute
Oklahoma Water Research Institute
Texas Water Research Institute
Utah Water Research Laboratory
Wyoming Water Research Program
The
Mission
To develop and disseminate knowledge that will
assist the state, region, and the nation in solving
water resources problems
Specifically: WRRI
1. Encourages university faculty statewide
to pursue critical areas of water
resources research
2. Provides training opportunities for
students who will become our future
water resources scientists, technicians,
and managers
Specifically: WRRI continued . . .
3. Provides an outlet for transferring research
findings and other related information to
keep water managers and the general public
apprised of new technology and research
advances.
Our mailing list contains 2,013 names
Specifically: WRRI continued . . .
4. Maintains a unique infrastructure
that links it with many federal, state,
regional, and local entities to provide
expertise and specialized assistance
Our Web Site receives about 1,000 hits
each month
The WRRI Director represents NMSU and serves
New Mexico’s water community as:
• New Mexico – Texas Water Commission Co-Chair
• Lower Rio Grande Water Users’ Organization Chair
• Paso del Norte Water Task Force founder and Past-Chair
• Lower Rio Grande Stormwater and Watershed Infrastructure
Management (SWIM) Task Force member
•
Dona Ana County’s Vision 2040 Advisory Committee member
Areas of Specialty
1. Water Conservation
2. Planning and Management
3. Atmospheric-surface-groundwater
relationships
4. Water Quality
Facilities
WRRI is housed in Stucky Hall on the NMSU Campus.
Facilities
A reference room is located at WRRI that houses
nearly 10,000 books, technical reports, periodicals
and maps
A Geographic Information System (GIS) laboratory
is the focal database of water resources in
New Mexico
A web page (http://wrri.nmsu.edu/index.html)
provides extensive information to accomplish
WRRI’s mission
Successes
During the last three decades, WRRI has:
1.
Administered over 350 research and
educational projects, funded from federal,
state, local and privates sources, led by
approximately 250 investigators statewide
Every project requires a report to be peer-reviewed and
published by WRRI
2. Trained more than 2,000 graduate and
undergraduate students
Successes
Continued . . .
3. Conducts the New Mexico Water Conference, which has been held annually for
55 years in different cities throughout the state as a popular public forum for state
water issues (200 – 300 participants)
4.
Conducted a New Mexico Water Research Symposium in August since 2005 (150200 participants)
5.
WRRI is considered to be the statewide and regional nucleus for coordinating
water resources research
6.
WRRI coordinated assembling NMSU’s 40 year water plan that led to NMSU
acquiring permanent adjudicated water rights valued at over $40 million
7.
Obtained funding for the Transboundary
Aquifer Assessment Program
8.
Hosted planning of the Brackish Groundwater National
Desalination Research Facility in Alamogordo
9.
Obtain federal funding for desalination research
10. Administers the Afghanistan Water,
Agriculture and Technology Transfer Project
11. Administers the Iraq Water, Agriculture and
Technology Transfer Project
12. Houses The Southwest Consortium for
•
•
•
•
•
Environmental Research and Policy (SCERP)
Founded in 1990
Annual funding $1-3 million
Partnership of NMSU, Ariz St, U of Utah, UTEP, & San Diego St
$9.5 million to NMSU to 44 researchers and 80 students
13.
Houses the U.S. Geological Survey program at NMSU
14.
Houses the U.S. Park Service program at NMSU
15. Provides leadership for NMSU’s:
16. Water Science and Education Center
http://research.nmsu.edu/water.html
a. Robust strategic plan
b. Steering Committee:
Karl Wood, Director, Water Resources Research Institute
Frank Ward, Agricultural Economics & Business
James Peach, Economics & Int'l Business
Abbas Ghassemi, Institute for Energy and Environment
Jacob Urquidi, Physics
Susan Brown, Educational Research Center
Hugo Vilchis, Health Science
c.
85 researchers and educators
Water Science and Education Center
Continued . . .
d. 112 undergraduate and 85 graduate courses
e. Journal of Transboundary Water Resources
f.
Over $11 million in water research in 2009
g. Proposed M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Water Science
and Management
WRRI Staff
Dr. Karl Wood
Director
Peggy Risner
Administrative Secretary
Cathy Ortega-Klett
Conference coordinator,
Editor of newsletter,
conference proceedings,
& scientific reports
Erin Ward
Director of Southwest Consortium
For Environmental Research & Policy
Deborah Allen
Administrator of research projects
activities and financial operations
Susanna Glaze
GIS Lab Coordinator
Annette McConnell
Posts & Reconciles Accounts
Maintains library
Assists conferences
Receptionist
Will Keener
Volunteer News Writer
Students
Gustavo Rodriquez
Masters student in applied statistics
from Chile
Leopoldo Perea
Masters student in industrial engineering
from Mexico
Jennifer Fletcher
Senior in mathematics from Las Cruces
Edgar Barrantes
Ph.D. student in technical writing from Costa Rica
Adjunct Staff at WRRI
Dr. John Hernandez
Retired Dean of Engineering at NMSU
Former Director of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Surface hydrologist working with municipalities and irrigation district contracts
Presently co-editing and writing book on “100 years of water wars in New Mexico”
Dr. John Hawley
Father of New Mexico Geology
Emeritus Senior Environmental Geologist, New Mexico Tech
Conducts hydrogeology surveys
Presently working on Transboundary Aquifer Assessment Program
Dr. Tom Maddock
Sabbatical from University of Arizona starting Sep 1, 2010
Premier groundwater modeler in Southwest
Working on Transboundary Aquifer Assessment Program
Immediate
Needs of the Institute
1.
No more infrastructure
2.
Continue extensive present programs
3. Need restoration funds for WRRI to
(1) keep present positions
(2) fill position of associate director and program leader
(3) continue seed grants for faculty and student grants
$700,000.00
$600,000.00
$500,000.00
$400,000.00
$300,000.00
$200,000.00
$100,000.00
$0.00
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Is this a sunrise or a sunset?
(Hopefully it is a sunrise!)
Questions?
Contact:
Office:
Fax:
Email:
Dr. Karl Wood, Director
575 646-4337
575 646-6418
kwood@wrri.nmsu.edu