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Our drinking water comes from a relatively non renewable source in Luna County, the Mimbres Aquifer.
Based on information gleaned from publications posted below, at current consumption rates, with current extraction capability, we have 30 years of water left in our aquifer. The calculation: 120 county farm families are pulling out 100,000 acre feet a year. With satellite remote sensing of farms across the border, it is believed Mexican farmers are also pulling out 100,000 acre feet a year. NM Tech papers from the 1980s proposed we had accessible, with current technologies, about 6 million acre feet in the aquifer. With the ongoing drought there has been relatively little to no recharge of the aquifer in 20 years.
Do the math. 6,000,000af / 200,000af/year = 30 years - since the 1980s.
As the volume declines we will see more fissures, sink holes and subsidence affecting our wells and public infrastructure.
To be good stewards of our water we first must know where our water comes from and how much supply we have access to. Then the question is, who is consuming how much water? Finally, what other threats to our aquifer do we have to monitor?
The major recorded consumers of water in the Mimbres Basin include the following entities:*
Luna CountyAgriculture (92% or 100,000af, OSE Report, 2020)
Mining Companies
Municipalities
Luna Energy Facility (Power Plant)
Rural Domestic Wells (and septic systems)
Here is a good primer on the basics.
The power point slide deck from the September, 2025 Luna County Commissioners meeting.
We also have to take a good look at who is currently doing what to reduce water usage in all sectors. These include our 220 farm and ranch families, County, Cities, as well as the Deming Soil and Water Conservation District, NRCS, USDA, Deming OSE, New Mexico Interstate Stream Commission, (Others?).
In addition, we need to rigorously protect what is left in our aquifer from contaminants.
MINING. The Peru Mill is a remediated superfund site from intensive zinc mining operations in the late 1900s. The soil was scraped and piled onto the tailings and toxic sludge, then covered with soil to stop the ongoing aquifer contamination. Aquifer contamination was cleaned up and is being monitored today, tho' that process requires more research. (More info below)
The Freeport McMoRan mines (Chino, Cobre & Tyrone) in southern Grant County are under a monitoring plan by the New Mexico Office of Natural Resources Trustee (NMONRT) for long term Basin contaminant damages. Hazardous substances released from the mine facilities included sulfuric acid and metals/metalloids, including arsenic, beryllium, cadmium, chromium, cobalt, copper, lead, manganese, mercury, nickel, selenium, and zinc. Current impacts. (More info below.)
Last, we need to brainstorm how to ensure the long term sustainability of our water, a precious and limited resource.
Contact Mary Meade to join a Luna County Water Security Council. (850-890-6511) Marylmeade@yahoo.com.
*The numbers here are a minimum usage as many of the wells are legacy with paper filings that are not entered into the OSE data-base. Therefore think of this report as showing a minimum amount of consumption. Water Use Per County, Office of the State Engineer, 2020
Early History
History, Years 2000 Plus
The Brackish Ground Water (BGW) hope. USGS, 2017.
Here is a lesson from The Smithsonian about how intensive farming is rendering the bread basket of the US into a new dust bowl. When the water is gone what happens to the cities and towns?
Water In The News
New Mexico Groundwater Report (2026)
Looming Groundwater Crisis’ (2026)
Luna County Well Data
OSE POD Database. (Download August 13, 2025. Filtered on the Mimbres Basin with various pivot tables in the tabs at the bottom of the workbook.)
OSE POD Database Data Dictionary
Deming & Columbus OSE Well Guidelines
Artesian Planning Area and Wells
OSE Map, POD (Points of Diversion) Well Locations
ESRI Luna County Resources Map (Created by Mary Meade, Retired Data Analyst)
City of Deming (Needs more research)
Deming 40 Year Water Plan, 2009
City of Deming Water Conservation Plan, 2020
Deming Alternative Water Source (Audobon, 2018)
Deming Well Water Depth Measurements, 2024
City of Deming New Well Request, April 2025.
(1,000' w/20" casing 10 miles outside of town) (Why?)
Additional Resources:
Soil and Water Conservation District Mission
New Mexico Groundwater Alliance
COMMERCIAL USES OF OUR DRINKING WATER
The Luna Power Facility
This facility has used an average of two (2) million gallons (2,500acre feet/year) of our drinking water each day.
Meade Briefing presented to the Deming Land and Soil Conservation District April 2025,
Power plant profile: Luna Energy Facility, US
Power Plant Scope of Work, 2003
Plant Water Usage January 2025 (NOTE: The total diversion should be identified as Kgal.)
Water Usage 2006 - 2024 (Transcribed from records on file at the Deming OSE)
Luna Energy Facility 600 MW Combined Cycle Power Plant (2006 construction company marketing)
New Luna Energy Facility Now Delivering Power to TEP 2006 Announcement by Tucson Electric Power.
"Ownership of the new facility is split equally among TEP, Phelps Dodge Energy Services, a subsidiary of Phelps Dodge Corp. and PNM, a New Mexico utility and subsidiary of PNM Resources. The three companies paid a total of $40 million to purchase the unfinished plant from Duke Energy in November 2004. Together, they spent about $100 million to complete construction and purchase necessary inventory items. TEP met its $47 million share of those costs with internally generated cash, issuing no new debt or equity for the project. THE LIE: "The plant also relies on recycled wastewater to reduce its use of fresh water." Per Commissioner Harvey, they are NOT using any city recycled wastewater.
Mining (Needs More Research)
American Magnesium (AM), Proposed Mine in The Florida Mountains
Bureau of Land Management ordered to review plan for mine outside Deming, 2024
NOTE: Even though AM's lead, Carol Ness, said in a recent Deming Republican Party meeting that there are no road blocks to moving forward with mining operations, in September, 2004 a New Mexico federal district judge halted operations and ruled the BLM was "capricious"... The judge wrote that the federal government did not have a proposal for “storage, control or disposal” for more than 2,300 tons of magnesium sludge – one of the waste products from mining. The sludge contains toxic materials which pose a threat to surface water and underground aquifers, according to citations in the order.
"In an Aug. 27 order, Judge James Browning found the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) failed to determine how waste from a future magnesium milling operation might impact the area’s water quality... In sum, the BLM acted arbitrarily and capriciously in failing to take a hard look at the water quality impacts related to the Mining Project’s processing mill,” Browning wrote. "
Like US Magnesium, references below, American Magnesium has a history of ignoring the law. They have to be watched closely. We can't trust them to protect our water quality. Cited and fined for exploring outside of their approved operational boundary.
AM claims they will use the Peru Mill site for it's ore processing. There are two reasons why this threatens our water supply.
First, Peru Mill is a remediated Superfund Site that has capped tonnes of toxic sludge and tailings in a way that keeps those contaminates frozen in place. Second, Luna County is rife with geological faults that would easily and rapidly direct any contimination into our only water supply.
Ground faults and mining (ClaudeAI)
"Luna County has extensive faulting because it's in the Basin and Range Province - a region characterized by fault-block mountains. Here's what's relevant to your contamination concerns:
https://nmgs.nmt.edu/publications/guidebooks/downloads/59/59_p0189_p0198.pdf
Key geological facts:
The Florida Mountains (where American Magnesium wants to mine) are described as "an eastward-tilted Basin and Range fault block" New Mexico Tech with a major fault called the south Florida Mountains fault - a high-angle reverse fault.
The entire region is characterized by faults - The Basin and Range formation involved extensive faulting that created the valleys (basins) and mountains (ranges). These fault systems run predominantly north-south through the area.
The Mimbres Basin (where Deming sits and where the Peru Mill site is located) is itself a fault-bounded basin created by this tectonic activity.
Why this matters for groundwater contamination:
Faults act as conduits for groundwater flow. They can:
Create preferential pathways for contamination to spread
Connect different aquifer layers that wouldn't normally be connected
Allow contaminants to move faster and farther than through normal porous rock
Make contamination extremely difficult to predict or contain
This is CRITICAL for the American Magnesium proposal because:
The mining site (Florida Mountains) and the processing site (Peru Mill/Deming) are both in this heavily faulted terrain
Any spill or leak from the triple-layer ponds could follow fault lines directly into the Mimbres aquifer
The aquifer is already stressed - water levels have declined up to 75 feet from Deming to Columbus New Mexico Tech since 1980
The Mimbres River goes underground east of the Florida Mountains in what Darton (1916) called the "great sink" - meaning water (and any contamination) enters the aquifer system there
Even with triple-layer barriers, in a heavily faulted Basin and Range terrain with an already-stressed aquifer, the contamination risk is much higher than in geologically stable areas. Faults essentially create "superhighways" for contamination to spread unpredictably."
US Magnesium mine under EPA scrutiny
US Magnesium Air Pollution Release & EPA Notice of Violation, 2023
Freeport McMoRan mining operations.
Chino Mines Freeport/McMoRan 2024
Freeport/McMoRan groundwater contamination history in the northern reaches of the Mimbres Basin.
AGRICULTURE
FARM SUBSIDIES
Farm subsidies enable failing farms to keep going. In Luna County it's interesting to note that about 120 registered farms consume 92% of our water annually yet only contribute .3% in gross receipts taxes. In fact, instead of contributing to our tax base, from 1995 - 2024 they have accepted over $88 million of our tax dollars for "disaster" and other farm subsidies. Yes, they have a right to run a business but do they have a right to get our tax dollars year after year?
Luna County Farm Subsidies, by USDA Program
Luna County USDA Farm Subsidies, by Owner
Luna County Livestock Disaster Subsidies,
(Top 20 over 30 years.)
Trans-national Water Withdrawals. (MS CoPilot AI Summary)
While precise, up-to-date figures on Mexican agricultural withdrawals from the Mimbres Basin are hard to pin down publicly, here’s what we do know from regional studies and hydrologic modeling:
🇲🇽 Mexican Agricultural Use in the Mimbres Basin
🔍 Key Findings from Recent Studies
Groundwater withdrawals for irrigation are the primary source of aquifer discharge in the southern Mimbres Basin — including the portion that extends into Mexico.
Water-level declines of up to 80 feet have been observed south of Deming and into northern Chihuahua, especially in areas of intensive irrigation between Deming and Columbus.
These cones of depression have expanded into Mexico, suggesting significant agricultural pumping on the Mexican side.
📉 Trends Over Time
From 1980 to 2020, the closed depression near Columbus deepened and expanded southward, indicating increased withdrawals across the border.
The last 10 years have seen accelerated water-level declines near the U.S.–Mexico border, coinciding with increased irrigated acreage.
🧮 Estimated Magnitude (Contextual)
While exact volumes aren't published, we can infer:
If U.S. agricultural withdrawals in the Mimbres Basin are estimated at tens of thousands of acre-feet/year (~100,000 af - 2022), Mexican withdrawals in the southern portion may be comparable or slightly lower, depending on crop types, irrigation methods, and aquifer access.
🌎 Why It Matters
The Mimbres is a transboundary aquifer, but no formal binational agreement governs its use — unlike the Rio Grande or Colorado River.
This makes local monitoring, data sharing, and cooperative management essential for long-term sustainability.
GRT_FarmMultipliers_Water20260711.pdfBorder Wall Usage Estimates (view the tabs along the bottom)
by Mary Meade, Candidate County Commissioner, District 1.
BorderWall_water_usage_estimate_20260711.xlsxPage updated
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