Wastewater and Water Rights in NM

This week on New Mexico in Focus, we revisit several previously aired stories about water in New Mexico.  

Earlier this year, the Water Quality Control Commission decided to revisit how and where fracking wastewater can be used in New Mexico. We hear from advocates for and against the proposal. In June, Capital and Main journalist and In Focus correspondent Jerry Redfern sat down with Matthias Sayer, an attorney with the Water, Access, Treatment and Reuse Alliance (WATR Alliance), and asked whether there’s science to back up using it safely. Then in an interview that first aired in May, Tannis Fox, a senior attorney with the Western Environmental Law Centers, tells Host Nash Jones why she opposes letting the fracking wastewater genie out of the bottle and what’s to come in the rulemaking process. 

This summer, the U.S. Supreme Court settled a 13-year water rights dispute over access to the lower Rio Grande. Longtime reporter Danielle Prokop has spent years following the case for multiple news organizations. In a conversation that first ran in June, she stopped by the studio to break it down for Nash. 

On May 1, New Mexico Environment Secretary James Kenney dropped by to explain new state regulations on PFAS. Kenney spoke about the state’s efforts to demand the clean-up of — and accountability around — “forever chemicals.” 

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Host: Jeff Proctor 

Segments: 
WATR Alliance Argues Fracking Wastewater Could Be Used Safely 
Correspondent: Jerry Redfern 
Guest: Matthias Sayer, Vice President, WATR Alliance 

Environmentalists Oppose Reuse of Fracking Wastewater 
Correspondent: Nash Jones 
Guest: Tannis Fox, Senior Attorney, Western Environmental Law Center 

Supreme Court Approves Rio Grande Water Access Deal 
Correspondent: Nash Jones 
Guest: Danielle Prokop, Journalist 

New Regulations for Forever Chemicals in New Mexico 
Host: Nash Jones 
Guest: James Kenney, Cabinet Secretary, NM Environment Department