State drought briefing: weather‑station network expand, $5 million agricultural resilience grants draw 61 applications

State climatologist Dave DuBois told the committee that long‑term drought remains in parts of New Mexico — particularly the northwest and the Far Southwest — despite a stronger monsoon in some areas. He described high wind and dust‑event frequency during spring, low headwater snow‑water equivalent this water year, and very low reservoir storage in parts of the Rio Grande system.

Zimet weather station network: DuBois said NMSU‑led Zimet towers collect five‑minute weather data (temperature, humidity, rainfall, wind, shallow soil moisture). He reported about 199 stations visible on the public site and that 136 stations had passed NOAA onboarding; the program is working toward 200 NOAA‑ready stations by November and NOAA compensation for data ingestion helps offset operating costs. DuBois said the network can support more accurate, localized drought monitoring and insurance/risk products, but inclusion in USDA RMA pasture‑range insurance programs remains under negotiation.

Agricultural Water Resilience Program: Sam Fernald of the New Mexico Water Resources Research Institute described the AGWIRP (HB2/section 5‑315) grant program: the legislature appropriated $5,000,000 for FY26; $4.5 million is available for on‑the‑ground projects (maximum award $250,000) and $500,000 for implementation, monitoring and water‑impact assessment. Applications (due July 28) numbered 61 with total requests of about $8.57 million and voluntary local matches of about $1.73 million. Projects propose gates and delivery upgrades, modern irrigation, shade‑ball and storage investments, acequia and watershed restoration, and solar pumping systems.

Committee follow‑up: Officials said they will panel and announce award decisions on Aug. 29 and that monitoring equipment (flow meters, pressure transducers) will be deployed at funded sites so grantees and researchers can quantify water savings and resilience outcomes.