Groundwater wells fill an irrigation ditch for pecan orchards outside of Rincon, New Mexico. Diana Cervantes for Source NM
Groundwater wells fill an irrigation ditch for pecan orchards outside of Rincon, New Mexico. Diana Cervantes for Source NMcca

The New Mexico Environment Department and Office of the State Engineer on Wednesday announced nearly $26 million in grant funding for seven projects across the state to research and implement treatment of brackish water.

Brackish water is often found deep underground and is too salty to drink or to water many crops. New Mexico is estimated to have more than 1 trillion gallons of water underground, according to the state environment department. In early 2024, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham unveiled a 50-year water action plan amid projections that the state’s water supplies will decrease by as much as 25% in the coming decades.

State officials said the nearly $26 million in grants aligns with the governor’s plans. The grants will fund projects in New Mexico’s largest cities and some of its smallest communities and will focus on developing the technology to introduce new water supplies into the state’s portfolio as well as growing local economies.

“New Mexico doesn’t have to choose between water security and economic growth,” Lujan Grisham said in a statement.

The grants announced Wednesday are:

$11.7 million for the village of Cuba for a “first-of-its-kind zero-waste desalination facility” expected to generate 518,000 gallons of drinkable water per day. Desalination refers to a treatment process that removes salty brine from brackish water – state leaders said officials at the Cuba plant plan to use that brine in fertilizer as a way to generate revenue for the tiny community$6 million for the Pueblo of Laguna for a feasibility study on brackish water resources$3 million for the Arrowhead Center at New Mexico State University for a “Brine Valorization Accelerator Hub” that will extract valuable materials, such as lithium, from brine waste and explore ways to sell those materials$1.83 million for the Alamo Navajo School Board in Socorro County for a small-scale brackish water treatment plant$1.58 million for the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology for “advanced membrane research” to reduce brine waste$1.41 million for the city of Anthony for an environmental analysis and testing for a brackish water pilot program that will offer recommendations for statewide brackish water treatment$400,000 for the University of New Mexico for a statewide evaluation of economic and environmental tradeoffs for using brackish water

Jonas Armstrong, director of NMED’s Water Protection Division, told Source NM that the grants mark an exciting step forward for New Mexico’s small and rural communities. Not only will they hopefully find innovative ways to bolster their local water supplies, he said, but they’ll explore how to bring in revenue by extracting valuable materials from brine that would otherwise go to waste.

“For us water people, we have an inverse perspective of folks in extractive industries who think ‘Oh, I can get this lithium out and the water’s the byproduct,’” Armstrong said. “We’re excited because we’re getting clean water, and lithium is the byproduct.”

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