SENATE BILL 138
51st legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2014
INTRODUCED BY
William P. Soules
AN ACT
MAKING AN APPROPRIATION TO ESTABLISH A WORKING GROUP TO STUDY AND REPORT ON LIKELY SCENARIOS FOR WATER DEMAND AND SUPPLY, CLIMATE VARIABILITY AND CONSEQUENT ECONOMIC IMPACTS TO THE STATE AND TO DEVELOP A LIST OF VULNERABILITIES FACING THE STATE IN THE NEXT TWENTY YEARS.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:
SECTION 1. APPROPRIATION.--
A. Two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000) is appropriated from the general fund to the boards of regents of New Mexico institute of mining and technology, New Mexico state university and the university of New Mexico for expenditure in fiscal year 2015 to establish a working group of climatologists, hydrogeologists, demographers and economists to conduct a study and develop a report specific to New Mexico on water demand and supply and related issues as outlined in Subsections B and C of this section and report to the first session of the fifty-second legislature on its findings. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of fiscal year 2015 shall revert to the general fund.
B. The working group shall:
(1) develop a projection of the most likely scenarios for the state of water demand and supply, climate variability and consequent economic impacts for the next twenty years; and
(2) develop a prioritized list of the greatest five to ten vulnerabilities facing the state in the next twenty years.
C. Members of the working group shall include representatives from the department of earth and planetary sciences, the bureau of business and economic research and the department of economics at the university of New Mexico; the bureau of geology and mineral resources at New Mexico institute of mining and technology; and the department of civil engineering at New Mexico state university. The appropriation shall be distributed to the participating institutions on a pro rata basis.
- 2 -