SENATE MEMORIAL 83

51st legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2014

INTRODUCED BY

Joseph Cervantes

A MEMORIAL

REQUESTING NEW MEXICO STATE UNIVERSITY TO COLLABORATE IN THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION'S ENGINEERING RESEARCH CENTER'S RE-INVENTING THE NATION'S URBAN WATER INFRASTRUCTURE.

     WHEREAS, the climate in New Mexico is arid and subject to severe and sustained droughts; climate records dating back more than a century identify multi-decadal periods of frequent drought and research into the paleoclimate of the region show periods of drought in the past two thousand years far deeper and persistent than those in the modern record; and

     WHEREAS, New Mexico now finds itself more than a decade into a period of severe recurring drought, with the year 2013 being one of the worst in the modern record; and

     WHEREAS, New Mexico's development is limited by its water supply and by the way New Mexicans use this precious resource; and

     WHEREAS, New Mexico state university is a partner institution in the national science foundation's engineering research center's re-inventing the nation's urban water infrastructure, collaborating with Stanford university, the university of California at Berkeley and the Colorado school of mines; and

     WHEREAS, the goal of the center is to change the ways in which urban water is managed; its vision is of safe, sustainable urban water infrastructures enabled by technological advances in natural and engineered systems and informed by a deeper understanding of institutional frameworks; and

     WHEREAS, research faculty and students at New Mexico state university and their partner institutions are collaborating with New Mexico water users, managers and regulators to better enable productive, sustainable development through development and application of technology appropriate for New Mexico's unique environment; and

     WHEREAS, current projects in New Mexico include treatment and beneficial use of produced water from oil and gas production; establishment of sustainable riparian habitat in urban drainage systems; multi-objective management of flood water to improve water supply and water quality and to protect the environment and property; and energy-positive municipal wastewater treatment for recovery of energy, nutrients and water for beneficial use; and

     WHEREAS, New Mexico state university's participation in this inter-university collaborative is preparing the next generation of teachers and research engineers to address the pressing issues of sustainable and secure water supply, while improving the diversity and creativity of the science, technology, engineering and mathematics work force in the state of New Mexico;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that New Mexico state university be encouraged to collaborate in the national science foundation's engineering research center's re-inventing the nation's urban water infrastructure to address the increasingly critical water management and technology needs of the state of New Mexico; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the members of the board of regents and to the president of New Mexico state university.

- 3 -