HB 137 New Mexico House · 2025 Regular Session

STRATEGIC WATER SUPPLY ACT

HB 137 creates the Strategic Water Supply Program to reduce New Mexico's reliance on fresh water by funding projects that reuse treated brackish groundwater (highly salty groundwater) or treated oil/gas "produced water" (a byproduct of drilling). It establishes a dedicated fund financed by a 5-cent fee per barrel on oil/gas produced water, which will support grants and contracts for eligible water reuse projects. To qualify, projects must meet environmental standards, provide financial guarantees, advance economic development goals, and include a community benefits plan detailing public engagement. The program directly affects oil/gas operators (via the fee), state water agencies (DE, EMNRD, State Engineer), and communities where water reuse projects are implemented.

Issues: ✓ Environment

Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2025

Committee Review

Mar 2025

House Passage

Mar 2025

Senate Passage

Mar 2025

Signed into Law

Apr 2025

Introduced Jan 17, 2025 Signed Apr 9, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 3 comparisons

What changed between versions

EN substitute → Final Version · 3 edits

MINOR

The bill was reformatted from a committee substitute version to a final version, with minor text corrections and reorganization of sections. The substantive policy content remains the same, establishing a program to use treated brackish water to enhance New Mexico's fresh water resources.

TECHNICAL

Header information was updated from 'Committee Substitute' to 'Final Version' with corrected committee assignments.

Section numbering and layout were standardized to match final legislative format, removing bracketed deletion markers and underscored insertion markers.

Page headers and footers were updated to reflect the final version with consistent formatting.

AA substitute → EN substitute · 8 edits

MODERATE

The bill was reorganized and simplified by removing references to the Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department, consolidating authority under the Department of Environment and Office of the State Engineer. The scope was narrowed from deep brackish and produced water to primarily brackish water, while adding new requirements for community benefits plans and greenhouse gas emission evaluations. Funding allocations were adjusted with new appropriations for aquifer monitoring and university research, and the fee on produced water was removed from the summary.

Scope change

The bill's scope was narrowed from covering deep brackish water and produced water to primarily brackish water, and the responsible agencies were consolidated from three departments to two.

DEFINITION

The definition of 'deep brackish water' was removed and replaced with a broader 'brackish water' definition that includes water from underground streams, channels, artesian basins, reservoirs, or lakes.

Definitions for 'treated deep brackish water' and 'treated produced water' were removed, replaced by a single 'treated brackish water' definition.

SCOPE

The bill's purpose was changed from reducing reliance on fresh water through deep brackish or produced water to reducing reliance on fresh water through brackish water projects.

REQUIREMENT

New requirements were added for projects to submit a community benefits plan with public engagement processes and to evaluate greenhouse gas emissions.

The three-cent fee on barrels of produced water from oil or gas wells was removed from the bill summary.

ELIGIBILITY

Grant eligibility was changed to require approval by the state engineer for brackish water exploration, production, or treatment projects.

FISCAL

Funding allocations were modified, adding $28.75 million for aquifer monitoring at the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology and $4 million for university research and development.

ENFORCEMENT

The bill was amended to remove references to the Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department, consolidating authority under the Department of Environment and Office of the State Engineer.

Floor votes · Senate Mar 21, 2025 · House Mar 7, 2025

How they voted

32–5

Passed · 3 other

Total votes 40

Mar 21, 2025

D Democratic24

17 Yea 5 Nay 2

70% Yea

R Republican16

15 Yea 1

93% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Apr 9, 2025

Signed into law

Signed

executive

Mar 21, 2025

Upper · Passed

passed Senate

upper

Mar 18, 2025

Upper · Passed

DO PASS committee report adopted

upper

Mar 15, 2025

Upper · Passed

DO PASS committee report adopted

upper

Mar 7, 2025

Introduced

Sent to Senate Conservation Committee & Senate Finance Committee

upper

Mar 7, 2025

Lower · Passed

passed House

lower

Mar 7, 2025

Lower · Passed

floor substitute adopted (1 amendment)

lower

Feb 27, 2025

Lower · Passed

DO PASS, as amended, committee report adopted

lower

Feb 22, 2025

Lower · Passed

DO NOT PASS, replaced with committee substitute

lower

Feb 12, 2025

Lower · Passed

DO NOT PASS, replaced with committee substitute

lower

Jan 27, 2025

Introduced

Sent to House Agriculture, Acequias & Water Resources Committee & House Energy, Environment and Natural Resources Committee & House Appropriations & Finance Committee

lower

Jan 17, 2025

Introduced

Sent to House Pre-file

lower

5 primary · 0 co-sponsors