Santa Fe County worked with community members in La Cienega and La Cieneguilla to develop a domestic well monitoring pilot program to ensure the sustainability of local water supplies. The project aimed to better understand local groundwater levels and trends, identify requirements that apply to different wells, estimate current water demand, and project future water demand. Depending on the project’s findings, water conservation goals, enforcement of existing requirements, new ordinances, and/or other programs may be recommended.

• 2022 La Cienega & La Cieneguilla Meeting Recording
• LCLC Existing Wells Map
• La Cienega East Map
• La Cienega Southeast Map
• La Cieneguilla Map
• La Cienega Waterlines Map
• New Mexico Aquifer Mapping Poster

The Santa Fe Watershed Association (SFWA) is a nonprofit organization with a mission to build a thriving, resilient Santa Fe River Watershed through collaboration, stewardship, and education that inspires us all to care for our land, water, and each other.

Resource Library
The SFWA hosts an assemblage of reports, studies, photos, and educational materials related to the Santa Fe watershed and supporting natural resource stewardship.

StoryMap: A timeline of community water work and advocacy
Learn about the history of the SFWA and their actions in stewarding community water resources.

Santa Fe County held a community forum focused on the past, present, and future of the County's water Resources. The event took place over two(2) days to bring together County staff, community partners, and the public for an open discussion on water use, management, and sustainability. Presentations covered:

• Santa Fe County's Water Resources: Where our water comes from and how it's used.
• Water Resource Administration: Domestic wells, groundwater, and stormwater management.
• Collaboration & Partnerships: Working with State, Tribal, and community partners.
• Land Use and Growth: How planning and development affect water use.
• Water Resilience & Sustainability: County programs and the 2026 Next Generation Water Summit.
• Closing Discussion: Building Santa Fe County's water future together.

Presentations are viewable on the Santa Fe County Water Landing page

The Aquifer Mapping and Monitoring Program (AMMP) collects and interprets earth science data in order to map, characterize, and monitor the state’s groundwater resources. Their website provides a vareity of data related to groundwater monitoring efforts through out the Santa Fe Basin.

Landing page
The New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources Aquifer Mapping and Monitoring Program webpage.

NMBGMR Statewide Groundwater Monitoring Dashboard
This comprehensive groundwater monitoring dashboard and well management system displays information from over 1,000 monitored wells and nearly 270,000 active permitted wells.

Healy Collaborative Groundwater Monitoring Network
The Healy Collaborative Groundwater Network, created in 2016 and funded by the Healy Foundation, provides support to install monitoring devices or manually measure groundwater levels in wells at no cost to well owners. Their primary focus is rural and under-monitored regions throughout the state.

The New Mexico Environment Department’s Drinking Water Bureau (NMED DWB) oversees public drinking water systems, those serving at least 15 connections or 25 people, private wells fall outside of this regulatory authority. If you own a private well, it’s up to you to test, maintain, and ensure the quality of your water. We’re here to help guide you through that process.

Landing Page
The New Mexico Environmental Department Private Well resource webpage.

Information and resources include:

• List of certified laboratories for private well water quality testing
• Guidance on when to test your well water
• Well contamination guidance
• Private well maintenance information
• NMED contact for well & septic issues

The Office of the State Engineer (OSE) has authority over the supervision, measurement, appropriation, and distribution of all surface and groundwater in New Mexico, including streams and rivers that cross state boundaries. For Any Assistance With Water Rights, Well Permits Or Metering Readings Please Contact Your Nearest Water Rights District Office. The majority of Santa Fe County falls within District 6 of the OSE (Edgewood, Stanley, and Cedar Grove communities are within District 1). Please review OSE website for additional information.

Regional water planning was restructured following the 2023 Water Security Planning Act. Santa Fe County communities are representes across 4 seperate regional planning councils: Middle Rio Grande, Upper Rio Grande, Central Basin, and Canadian Councils. These boundaries were established along watershed boundaries to better represent community water resource planning.

MrWeb - OSE Meter Reading Reporting
The OSE maintains a self-service tool for submitting meter readings. This service is seperate from Santa Fe County, but meter reading submission recepits from the application can be provided instead of submitting meter readings through the County reporting portal.

New Mexico Water Rights Reporting System (NMWRRS)
This application provides access to the State Engineer's water rights database, WATERS. Water rights, including private well information, are searchable via the vareity of options available on the home page and online mapping tool. 

State Water Plans
This landing page compiles the state water plans developed since 2003. Ground water resources are anticipated to become more impoartant with hotter, drier climate projected throughout state, despite decreased availability. The most recent plan was published in 2023.

Drought Plans
The New Mexico Drought Plan provides the state with an updated approach to address drought in order to protect its people and resources. It develops a drought response system that is adaptive to changing needs and conditions and capable of being continually upgraded through the incorporation of new information. The most recent plan was published in 2018.

Mainstream New Mexico
Main Stream is a campaign of the New Mexico Interstate Stream Commission (ISC) Water Planning Program. It is a resource for revitalized regional water planning under New Mexico’s Water Security Planning Act of 2023. Their website consolidates water planning efforts, community perspectives on water, and water resource data.

Dive into the data via their Dashboard

The Environmental Public Health Tracking Program summarizes air quality and water quality data as well as environmental health outcomes such as asthma, myocardial infarction (heart attack), birth defects, reproductive outcomes, thyroid cancer, and leukemia. It includes studies on the linkage of ozone in air with asthma, and arsenic in drinking water with bladder cancer. It also provides warning systems based on real-time satellite data for wildfires, dust, heat waves, and other weather events.

Landing Page
The New Mexico Department of Health (NMHealth) Environmental Public Health Tracking Program webpage.

Water Quality Resources
Landing page for water quality publications, guides, fact sheets, articles, and other resources managed by the Environmental Health Tracking Program.

2024 New Mexico Private Well Owners Handbook
The New Mexico Department of Health's Environmental Public Health Tracking Program recently issued a New Mexico Private Well Owners Handbook. It contains valuable information about water quality testing, what to do before and after floods and fires, how to protect well water quality, and more.