Water Resources Professional Project Reports

Document Type

Report

Publication Date

Spring 2023

Abstract

New Mexico poses a valuable set of circumstances to study the challenges faced by drinking water systems. A general lack of resources for small systems, be it personnel and funding issues, lack of community engagement, lack or loss of institutional knowledge, ability to meet regulations, and aging managers were found to be very common and widespread. Rural water manager positions that are unsupported financially do not assist in alleviating rural poverty or draw the workforce. Therefore, the negative state demographic statistics are reinforced, further complicating rural water management rather than helping the issues. To look at drinking water management comprehensively, I interviewed managers to grasp what their motivations and challenges were from their perspective. Manager motivations seemed ofttimes tied to challenges. Overall, helping rural water managers face the current challenges outlined in this study behooves asking what motivates them to meet those challenges. It also requires understanding their motivations to meet future challenges. Understanding that these two themes are intersecting is key to increasing resiliency in small and rural community water systems.

Keywords

drinking water systems, New Mexico, rural water, management

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