While
many people will try to blame New Mexico's Water problems on
domestic wells, the numbers just aren't there to prove it.
In a 2000 Office Of the State
Engineer Report; Water Use by Categories
in New Mexico Counties and River Basins and Irrigated Acreage,
domestic wells account for 1.89% of all ground water pumped in New
Mexico. Click
Here To Go To The Office of the State Engineer Technical Report Website
Incredibly this 1.89% ASSUMES
that ALL domestic well permits that have been issued have been
drilled, equipped and are pumping a whopping 3 Acre Feet of water each
year (977,554.2 Gallons). This number can only be an
assumption because metering water use is not required on the vast
majority of domestic wells.
We do know
that on average, Americans use 80 gallons of water per person, per day.
The State Engineer's figures put 34 people at the tap in each home
served by a domestic well in New Mexico!
Without metering and state wide
ground water modeling, no one will ever know the true
amount of water pumped by domestic
wells.
The NMGWA believes that
domestic wells pump far less than 1.89% of all ground water
pumped in New Mexico and restricting domestic wells is not going
to solve the problem -it is simply a tool to control growth.
The New Mexico Ground Water
Association is working hard to prevent drastic restrictions without true
use numbers to base decisions on. |
