New Mexico is exploring its underground brackish water reserves as part of efforts to address water shortages, with plans for desalination technology and waste management under development.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. —
New Mexico is surveying its underground brackish water reserves, estimated to hold 1.3 trillion gallons, as part of efforts to address the state’s water crisis caused by persistent drought.
Jeffrey Samson, a water resources engineer with WSP, a firm contracted by the state, said surveying is underway on the West Mesa to locate brackish water. “Drill two deep wells here on the Quail Ranch. The target depths are 7,600 feet,” Samson said.
Brackish water, which is less salty than seawater, requires desalination to make it safe for drinking or agricultural use. A report from the New Mexico Environment Department estimates the reserves could amount to nearly 4 million acre-feet of water. For comparison, Elephant Butte Lake, the state’s largest reservoir, holds about 2.2 million acre-feet when full.
In 2025, the New Mexico Legislature passed the Strategic Water Supply Act, co-sponsored by Sen. George Muñoz, to explore brackish water as a supplemental resource. “You still see this crisis happening throughout New Mexico. We live in the arid Southwest, we’ve chosen that. And so we got to figure out how to manage that,” Muñoz said.
One goal is to establish large-scale desalination plants in the state, similar to the Kay Bailey Hutchison Desalination Plant in El Paso, Texas. Scott Reinert, resources manager for El Paso Water, said the plant converts nearly 30 million gallons of brackish water daily, serving about 100,000 people. “We love the Rio Grande. We use it as a water supply here, but it’s been subject to drought for many years. And our ways of dealing with drought is building a plant like this,” Reinert said.
The plant uses reverse osmosis to filter salt from brackish water. “This here is your actual membrane. This is what’s doing all the work of the separating on a molecular level,” said Sal Morales, the plant’s superintendent.
Zach Stoll of the New Mexico Desalination Association said the Strategic Water Supply Act marks a significant step forward. “The strategic water supply is probably that, uh, shotgun going off where it really, it really was official,” Stoll said.
More than $40 million in grants and contracts have been allocated for surveying and development, but Muñoz expressed concerns about the pace of progress. “New Mexico’s been slow, they haven’t met the challenge yet. The money that has been going out has been slowly. And I don’t think it really targets where we need to be,” he said.
One challenge is managing the salty byproduct, known as concentrate, which can be costly to handle. Samson said engineers are exploring options such as deep injection wells or evaporation ponds. “We’ve started conversation with New Mexico on potentially looking into a deep injection well in this area or potentially constructing evaporation ponds to evaporate that water and manage that waste stream,” Samson said.
Despite the challenges, those involved remain optimistic. “I think everybody’s marching and rowing in the same direction, which is really promising to see,” Samson said.
Samson added that a brine management plan has been submitted to the state’s Environment Department and is expected to be finalized within the next month.
