WQCC 25-74 (R): Proposed Amendments to 20.6.2 NMAC and 20.6.5 NMAC

Comment From: New Mexico Chamber of Commerce (Leslie Hielema)

6/18/26 @ 5:23 PM

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Comment From: Food & Water Watch (Alexa Reynaud)

6/18/26 @ 11:14 AM

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Comment From: Christopher Toya

6/17/26 @ 5:16 PM

My name is Christopher Toya and I am a member of the Pueblo of Jemez tribal community. As a lifetime resident of the Pueblo, I work for the Pueblo of Jemez as the Tribal Historic Preservation Officer (THPO). I have been the THPO officer since 2015 w...↓hen the Pueblo received recognition from the National Park Service to manage our own cultural resources. Prior to that or since 2004, I was employed by the Pueblo as the Traditional Cultural Properties Project Manager. I would like to comment on why the quality of water is important to our Pueblo way of life.

I'm sure by now you've just about heard them all. New Mexicans from all walks of life, particularly from farmers and ranchers, Native Americans who use water in all aspects of their livelihoods. We as human beings are not naive, we know the importance of water, clean water. We know that all life depend on water. Without water, there is no life. We as New Mexicans have seen the changes in weather patterns that have occurred in the past 10 years. We remember the snow pack mountains in the late winter and early spring. We remember when the Rio Grande flowed all the way down to Elephant Butte. We remember how our rivers and creeks swelled with spring runoff. Our weather patterns are changing and this past year much of New Mexico did not get much snow. We are in June and the Rio Grande is drying up and barely flowing thru Albuquerque. Hatch, the Chili Capital of the World is hurting for water, because there isn't much flowing out of Elephant Butte because Elephant Butte Reservoir is at 8 percent water capacity. Our Farmers in Jemez Pueblo are worried that the water in our river will dry up and many of them did not plant this year. There is anxiety in New Mexico. Will we have enough water for our plants in our agricultural fields? Will there be enough water for the cows, sheep and horses, not to mention the mammals, the insects, the fishes, the birds and all the trees and plants that live on the surface of our great state. Now, more than ever, we really need to look at our water quality standards and set them to par to protect whatever water we have left to sustain all life in New Mexico.

In Jemez culture, water is life and without water there is no life. Water is a crucial element with all living creatures that live on the ground, in the water and in the air. Ancestral villages were built around water resources to protect them because they understood the importance of water resources. Our main body of surface water that we want to protect is the Jemez River. The headwaters of the Jemez River start within the Valles Caldera National Preserve. The Jemez River is fed by San Antonio Creek and the East Fork River. The Jemez River, the San Antonio Creek, and the East Fork River are fed by many seasonal springs and streams, both within the Pueblo and upstream of the Pueblo. The Rio Guadalupe is a major tributary to the Jemez River and joins the Jemez River approximately one mile north of the Pueblo boundary. The Jemez River flows year-round through the Pueblo.

Water brings life to the Jemez community in all the traditional ways life is lived and understood. Here are a few examples.

As Native American people, as Pueblo People living in the community of Jemez Pueblo, water is truly sacred. All ceremony in Jemez Pueblo begin with water. Water is a very crucial resource used in the mixing of our traditional medicines that are used in our healing and blessing ceremony. Clean water is collected at natural springs located on tribal lands and on the ancestral lands managed by the United States Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management and the Valles Caldera National Preserve. Special places that the Jemez People have collected water since time immemorial. The water needs to be clean and safe for drinking for the medicines to be consumed.

Jemez Pueblo is a farming community; a way of life taught to us by our ancestors. Our ancestors planted corn, beans and squash in the flood plains of the drainages on mesa tops, river valleys, and on the south aspect of the mountains in the ancestral homelands. Farming was practiced even in elevations as high as 8,000 feet above sea level in the Ponderosa and Conifer mixed forest in the Banco Bonito in the Valles Caldera National Preserve. Today we continue to engage in farming our agricultural fields growing crops that are used in our traditional cultural practices as well as for personal consumption. We depend on good quality water from the Jemez River to irrigate our agricultural fields. We have limited acreages of prime agricultural fields that should not be contaminated with pollutants put into the river from upstream users or inhabitants of the area.

Water sustains all life in the cultural landscape. Where there is water there is life. The Jemez River and the Vallecito Creek are abundant in wealth in the form of natural resources. They are jewals in the Southwest Desert. Jemez tribal members harvest medicinal plants, berries, birds, insects and mammals and other natural resources along the riparian areas of the Vallecito Creek and Jemez River. The main source of drinking water for the community of Jemez is the Jemez River. Water in the Jemez River is also used for cleansing, spiritual cleansing. Men and women have cleansed themselves with the water before ceremonial activities to help prepare them spiritually, mentally, and physically since time immemorial. For these particular water uses, the water must be of the utmost high quality.

On a recreational level, Jemez children love to swim in the waters of the Jemez River and the irrigation ditches in the summer time. There is nothing like the feeling of cold water all over your body on a hot summer day. It is a recreational activity we all enjoyed as children growing up on the Jemez Reservation.

In conclusion, water is a necessity in all aspects of life in Jemez Pueblo, whether it is used in ceremony, farming or recreation it is the reason why Jemez People still live in Jemez Pueblo today is because of the Jemez River.

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Comment From: UNM Law Clinic on behalf of th... (Alexander Guel-James)

6/17/26 @ 5:11 PM

Please see attached PDF of letter from Pueblo of Jemez to WQCC.

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Comment From: New Mexico Chamber of Commerce (Leslie Hielema)

6/17/26 @ 4:48 PM

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Comment From: Pueblo of Laguna (Harry Antonio, Jr. )

6/17/26 @ 4:35 PM

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Comment From: Angel Charley

6/17/26 @ 1:41 PM

Letter from legislators on definition of Tribal water quality standards, with signatures.

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Comment From: Nathan Small

6/17/26 @ 1:00 PM

Please find attached a letter from Representative Small, Senator Wirth, and Representative Ortez.

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Comment From: New Mexico Home Builders Assoc... (Miles Conway)

6/17/26 @ 12:36 PM

June 17, 2026

Members of New Mexico Home Builders Association (NMHBA) appreciate the significant work that went into creating the WQCC-25-74-NMED-Petition-to-Adopt-Amend-20.6.2-NMAC-and-New-Rule-20.6.5-NMAC. This petition is of utmost importance to...↓

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Comment From: Angel Charley

6/17/26 @ 11:18 AM

Please see attached letter from Native legislators related to the definition of Tribal water quality standards.

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Comment From: Sarah Wood

6/17/26 @ 10:20 AM

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Comment From: Marcy Leavitt

6/16/26 @ 3:40 PM

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Comment From: Ciudad Soil and Water Conserva... (Steven Glass)

6/16/26 @ 2:59 PM

The Ciudad Soil & Water Conservation District Land Use Plan includes the following provisions:

4.2-2 Water Resources (Availability and Quality)
Water is a significant resource under the District's jurisdiction, necessary for life as well as essenti...↓

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Comment From: L. Watchempino

6/13/26 @ 5:10 PM

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Comment From: Jana Gunnell

6/11/26 @ 11:36 AM

Thank you, Commissioners, for your work, your time, and for the opportunity to comment.

My name is Jana Gunnell. I am a medical doctor, and I have a Masters degree in Public Health. I worked for 30 years in Northeast Arizona and Northwest New Mexic...↓

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Comment From: Steven Glass

6/10/26 @ 5:46 PM

Members of the Commission:

I urge the Commission to adopt clear, strong, comprehensive and enforceable rules to fully implement Senate Bill 21 (2025), now codified primarily at NM Stat § 74-6-4 (2025) and NM Stat § 74-6-5 (2025). SB 21 provides a hi...↓storic opportunity for New Mexico to establish a strong state permitting system to safeguard rivers, streams, wetlands, and other essential surface waters. However, the success of SB 21 depends on effective rules for implementation.

Having represented local governments on the WQCC for ten years, I am acutely aware of the surface water discharge permitting complexities that arise when discharge permits are issued and enforced by USEPA Region 6. NMED staff better understand the unique realities of protecting waters of the state than do USEPA staff in Dallas. While it is, therefore, most appropriate for water quality permitting and enforcement responsibilities to lie with the NM Environment Department, I recognize that the necessary state permitting fees will place a financial burden on water systems and their clients. As suggested by Danielle Shuryn in her testimony, the permit fees burden may be somewhat ameliorated by fixing annual permit fees over a five-year period with caps on the amount of increase allowed every permit cycle.

I strongly encourage the Commission to adopt Surface Water Quality State Permitting Program rules that:

>protect all of New Mexico's surface waters - including rivers, streams, wetlands, and the smaller tributaries and drainages that sustain them - especially as climate change intensifies ongoing aridification in the southwest;

>are at least as protective as federal protections that were lost with the recent rollback of the Waters of the US rule (Revised Definition of 'Waters of the United States'; Conforming, 9/8/2023);

>require that the secretary, before issuing, renewing, or modifying any permit, make a written finding ensuring that permitted activities:
1.will have minimal individual or cumulative adverse effects on the water resource,
2. will not violate water quality standards including those meant to deter wetland and water quality degradation, and
3. will not cause or contribute to pollution that exceeds downstream Tribal water quality standards, as defined by NMED in the proposed rules;

>require that an applicant for either an individual permit or a general permit demonstrate their efforts to prevent damage or destruction to a wetland or waterway before minimization and mitigation is considered - applicants must be required to clearly define the project purpose and to select the least environmentally damaging practicable alternative before a permit is issued; and

>establish basic elements that should be included in department-developed compensatory mitigation guidance, including complete restoration of the original functionality of any destroyed wetland or waterway, as documented using criteria at 40 CFR Parts 230.95 and 230.96.

In addition to my comments above, I encourage the Commission to carefully consider constructive comments provided in testimony from the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority and Conservation Voters New Mexico.

New Mexicans have a right to safe and reliable natural waters. I urge the Commission to honor that right and pass strong surface water quality permitting rules that ensure protection of our unique and precious waterways for future generations.

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Comment From: Food & Water Watch (Emily Miller)

6/09/26 @ 10:56 AM

Please see attached comment, submitted on behalf of Food & Water Watch, Animal Protection New Mexico, and Animal Protection Voters.

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Comment From: Pattern Energy (Adam Cernea Clark)

5/08/26 @ 7:15 PM

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Comment From: Bernalillo County (Kali Bronson)

5/04/26 @ 9:47 AM

Notes and concerns regarding the rulemaking that may impact Bernalillo County for Petition for Regulatory Change to Adopt Amendments to 20.6.2 NMAC and New Rule 20.6.5 NMAC:
- It seems that a discharge permit is not required when covered by state or ...↓

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Comment From: Quay County (Angie Gonzales)

4/15/26 @ 10:22 AM

Public Comment on WQCC 25-74(R) – Proposed Surface Water Permitting Rules and Associated Discharge Fees
On behalf of the Quay County Board of County Commissioners, I write to express serious concerns regarding the proposed rulemaking in WQCC 25-74(R)...↓

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Comment From: Anonymous Anonymous

4/13/26 @ 3:52 PM

Your draft says the rule won't affect any "property rights" as to water. Please do not call NM water rights "property" rights! They are rights to use or interests in water. Per the constitution, the State owns all water. Period. When regs are no...↓

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Comment From: Anonymous Anonymous

3/31/26 @ 10:47 AM

The dredge and fill rule is basically blank, it's not ready for a public hearing because it's not yet written. Please consider holding off on this piece until after the NMPDES, which is much more well developed, because as currently written the publ...↓

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