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Santa Fe County is a sponsor of this year’s Next Generation Water Summit, at the State Capitol Building, June 11 and 12. This year’s sessions will focus on bringing rural and traditional water usage into the conversations, and the first 300 Santa Fe County residents to register online will receive free online attendance.

Attendees can learn about stormwater management techniques, irrigation for agriculture, onsite wastewater treatment options, and related policy, with the Summit’s Rural agenda options, and at a free in-person workshop, June 13, at ReUnity Resources.

The Next Generation Water Summit is in its ninth year, and brings together the building and development community, water reuse professionals, and policymakers in a collaborative setting to inform and educate on best practices for water conservation.

This year’s theme, “Increasing Demand, Declining Realities,” reflects the interconnectedness of communities up and downstream from one another.

Speakers will share strategies to help restore ecosystems, integrate nature in and around populated areas, and sustainably manage rural and traditional water systems and lands.

Santa Fe County’s Sustainability, Public Works, and Growth Management teams will present a panel discussion on County water updates and best practices for water management on Friday, June 12, at 2:00 p.m.

The summit focuses on national, rural, and New Mexico topics that feature the City of Santa Fe, Bernalillo County, legislative updates, challenges to watch for with large water users (such as data centers), policies that are paving the way forward for wiser water usage, and more.

Friday’s Rural talks focus on reusing water outdoors for agriculture and a discussion on how healthy soils benefit the stored water supply.

Continuing the momentum from the summit, the County, along with the City of Santa Fe, will host free hands-on workshops on Saturday, June 13, from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., at ReUnity Resources Community Farm, located at 1829 San Ysidro Crossing, in Santa Fe.

These workshops will showcase examples from Santa Fe County’s soon-to-be-published 133-page guidebook, “Santa Fe County Green Stormwater Infrastructure,” authored by Raincatcher. The book shares practical, low-impact ways to construct nature-based water conservation projects tailored for this area. It provides step-by step instructions, with photos and diagrams, to use in livestock operations, agricultural practices, residential and commercial buildings, and roads and parking lots, such as Zuni bowls, one-rock dams, rain gardens, and media lunas. Homeowners and practitioners can incorporate these structures on their land or property with scalable techniques.

Find more information about the Next Generation Water Summit and register online at the event website.