This survey is intended to collect feedback on the draft guidelines developed to complement the new rule promulgated under the Water Security Planning Act (WSPA) and inform refinements ahead of the guideline adoption this fall. The WSPA is New Mexico's guiding legislation for regional water planning and management to secure a resilient future. Read the Act at
this link.
The WSPA calls for both a rule and guidelines. The WSPA rule was adopted by the Commission, became effective in April 2026, and can be found at
this link. Now the New Mexico Interstate Stream Commission (NMISC) is seeking your feedback on the draft guidelines, which provide a practical roadmap that prioritizes the unique needs of local communities, makes use of the best available science and data, and will be updated as we learn through implementation.
The draft guidelines lay out a five-stage process, Organize, Explore, Prioritize, Plan and Action, that each region will follow to build and implement its own water security plan, and the points along the way where residents, region-specific stakeholders, and Nations, Pueblos and Tribes are asked to weigh in. The guidelines describe how New Mexicans can join their region's planning process as a self-identified region-specific stakeholder through an online portal at
mainstreamnm.org and they detail funding NMISC plans to make available: up to $50,000 per council for planning activities, and $50,000 more once a plan is approved to help move early-stage local projects forward. Ideally this funding would be increased depending on legislative appropriations. The draft guidelines also describe tools and resources that will be available to support regional water security planning which are summarized
in this document.
Please review each of the guidelines' sections and indicate your level of support for, and feedback on, the language as currently written. To complete the survey, responses indicating level of support for each section of the guidelines is required. So that NMISC can quickly compile feedback, the survey is our preferred method for input on the guidelines -
please be as specific as possible when explaining your selection and include your preferred wording in your response to facilitate the integration of edits into a final draft for Commission consideration.
Download the draft guidelines at this link.
