LibGuides: Southwest Water Resources: Water Quality

New Mexico State Resources

The New Mexico State Documents collection contains publications about water issues from

New Mexico Water Resources Research Institute
New Mexico State University
the New Mexico Water Conference proceedings

Below you will find an example of the type of information these institutions produce.

Possible search terms for this subject area:

WRRI report, water quality, water pollution, water contaminants

Assessment of water table and water quality variations with respect to river flow along the Rio Grande between Garfield, N.M. and the New Mexico - Texas border by Blair Stringam, Manoj Shukla, Benjamin Nana O. Kuffour.
Call Number: Online Resource
Publication Date: 2016
WRRI report -- The monitoring wells are located between Hatch, New Mexico down to the New Mexico-Texas border and situated within the shallow alluvium of the Rio Grande floodplain in the area. In addition, select water quality attributes to include electrical conductivity (EC), salts (sodium, calcium, potassium and magnesium), and sodium adsorption ratio (SAR) were measured and recorded for water samples collected from monitoring wells both during times of flow in the river and times of no-flow. The measurements further validate that there is an interaction between the Rio Grande and the shallow groundwater aquifer.
Water quality for livestock and poultry by Rossana Sallenave
Call Number: NM X 313.43:M-112/2016
Publication Date: 2016
New Mexico State University - Cooperative Extension Service - College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences

There are also many online resources produced by New Mexico agencies that deal with drought in New Mexico.

New Mexico Department of Health --Water Quality

This state resource provides information about safe drinking water, provides access to free private well testing, fact sheets on water contaminants, and other helpful information to keep you informed and safe.

New Mexico Environment Department - Water Resources & Management

NMED has many programs that focus on protecting the quality of our waters and assuring safe and effective infrastructure for delivering clean water to our communities. They coordinate much of their work with federal agencies, other state agencies, local governments, and citizen groups.

You will find information on water quality program relating to drinking water, ground water, surface water, wastewater, and cleanups. You will also find the Drinking Water Watch search system.

Ground Water Quality Bureau

The Good Water Quality Bureau strives to increase industry and public understanding and awareness of the importance of safe groundwater supplies in sustaining the quality of life in New Mexico for this and future generations, and the importance of protecting groundwater quality through pollution prevention initiatives.

From Our Southwest Collection

Sacred waters : the life-blood of mother earth: four case studies of high-tech water resource exploitation and corporate welfare in the Southwest
Call Number: SW 628.161 S123
Publication Date: 1997
A work by the Electronics Industry Good Neighbor Campaign, the Southwest Network for Environmental and Economic Justice, and the Campaign for Responsible Technology.
Plutonium and the Rio Grande: environmental change and contamination in the nuclear age by William L. Graf
Call Number: SW 628.1685 G736
ISBN: 0195089332
Publication Date: 1994-12-29
The first atomic bombs were constructed at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, where lab workers disposed of waste plutonium in nearby canyons leading to the Rio Grande. Today, the environmental consequences are just beginning to be understood as scientists examine the effects created by pastmishandling of one of the most toxic chemical wastes known. Written in an engaging, accessible style, Plutonium and the Rio Grande is the first book to offer a complete exploration of this environmental history. It includes an explanation of what plutonium is, how much of it was released by the LosAlamos workers, and how much entered the river system directly from waste disposal and indirectly, as a result of atomic bomb fallout. The book includes extensive appendices, maps, diagrams, and photographs. Environmental managers, ecologists, hydrologists and other river specialists, as well asconcerned general readers will find the book readable and informative.

National Resources

Drinking Water System Improvement Act of 2017 : report together with additional views (to accompany H.R. 3387) (including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office). by United States. Congress. House. Committee on Energy and Commerce,
Call Number: Y 1.1/8:115-380
Publication Date: 2017
Groundwater quality in the Rio Grande aquifer system, southwestern United states by Musgrove, MaryLynn
Call Number: Online Resource
Publication Date: 2017

Maps of Estimated Nitrate and Arsenic Concentrations for Basin-Fill Aquifers of the Southwestern United States
Statistical models were developed by using the random forest classifier algorithm to predict concentrations of nitrate and arsenic across a model grid representing about 190,600 square miles of basin-fill aquifers in parts of Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah. The statistical models, referred to as classifiers, reflect natural and human-related factors that affect aquifer vulnerability to contamination and relate nitrate and arsenic concentrations to explanatory variables representing local- and basin-scale measures of source and aquifer susceptibility conditions.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

The EPA enforces federal clean water and safe drinking water laws, provides support for municipal wastewater treatment plants, and takes part in pollution prevention efforts aimed at protecting watersheds and sources of drinking water. There website has a tremendous amount of regulatory information regarding drinking water, ground water, watersheds. They also maintain a searchable database (EPA's Enforcement and Compliance History Online) of facilities by state, city, and tribal land to help assess their compliance with environmental regulations. Data available includes: pollution sources and EPA criminal and civil enforcement cases.