When the water runs out, the party’s over

Creating the systems to deliver fresh water where and when it’s needed is one problem humans have solved, and when those systems fail, it reminds us why the hydrological infrastructure many people take for granted for keeping their gardens growing, animals watered and thirsts quenched is so vital. But the next challenge humans will face on this subject — not having enough of that resource to go around — is a different problem, one which we have yet to figure out.

The World Health Organization estimates that 55 million people globally are affected by drought every year. And while only the eastern third of New Mexico is currently in moderate to severe drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor, studies have determined that the last 20 years have been the driest in the Southwest in at least 1,200 years. Longlasting

droughts like this contribute to ground and surface water scarcity, and rising temperatures due to climate change are expected to make these problems worse because heat evaporates water more quickly. The World Meteorological Organization released the results of another study in November that examined river flows, floods and droughts on every continent, finding that while humans won’t run out of fresh water any time soon, two-thirds of the world’s population will face at least one month of water shortages by 2050. The study further found that roughly 3.6 billion people lack adequate access to fresh water at least one month out of every year.

Some of the areas most vulnerable to this predicted water shortage can attribute their risk level to the arid nature of where they live, combined with the global effects of climate change. But many places in the world have greater control over how scarce their fresh water will become due to existing use of water resources. In recent years, the Colorado River’s steadily falling water level has become the archetypal example of the problem of overuse on a massive scale. Reasons for the river’s depletion are multifaceted, and include rising populations in major municipal areas, increasing agricultural water use and electricity generation (the Colorado River generates more than 25,000 gigawatt-hours of hydroelectric power).

Here in Taos County, water use has been the source of cogitation among local residents for centuries, but in more recent years the issue has focused tightly on Taos Ski Valley Inc.’s rapid development of what was once, by comparison, considered a smalltown ski resort. And people are right to be concerned, not only because of the ways in which the resort’s new ownership has in meaningful ways shifted the look and feel of the resort, making it into a premium resort experience that is often too costly for local working people to share in, but because the ski valley does appear to be putting the cart before the horse where it comes to development on the village’s aging water infrastructure.

On the other side of that coin, the ski valley has committed funding for water infrastructure improvements that will begin this summer in the Village of Taos Ski Valley, and many other of its improvements are elevating the village itself. But driving forward with continued development before that potentially yearslong project to fix the village’s infrastructure is completed seems like it will only lead to more problems for the resort itself and exacerbate concerns for all water users who rely on the Rio Hondo.