The Rio made the list of the top ten most endangered rivers worldwide. The outflow is so low at the Gulf of Mexico that sea water is backing up into the estuary. This is threatening freshwater fish at the end of the river. According to the article, there are 69 species of fish (including the endangered silvery minnow) that are only found in the Rio.
I wish that the government here could enact legislation forcing water conservation. There's little to no grass in this state (unlike the incredible water sink Phoenix), but there's also whackloads of agriculture and (open, evaporating) canals running right through Socorro. But I also know that this kind of legislation won't happen, because people are comfortable and uninformed, and would rather jeopardize the water resources future of the desert than become interested in what is happening. This is the story in pretty much every environmental field today, not just water resources.
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I would like to make a few points as a water professional.
1) Albuquerque has the lowest per capita water use of any major western city, including Tucson.
2) People do care. They care about farming. And the farmers care about preventing new subdivisions from getting water.
3) Texas is a large chunk of the problem. Large. Very large. Just like the size asses they are.
4) There is no money for agricultural water conservation as everyone is poor, pretty much, including the government, and somebody's waste is the next farmer's water.
5) The RG is screwed. Water market anyone?
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