Santa Fe’s Next 10-Year Water Conservation Plan
Santa Fe has long been known for its commitment to saving water. Our community understands that living in the high desert means every drop matters, and together we’ve built a culture of conservation that is recognized across the country.
Five years ago, when the City last developed its Water Conservation Plan, public outreach was extensive. Residents, businesses, and schools helped shape the programs that remain central today—rebates for efficient appliances and landscapes, water-saving education in classrooms, and neighborhood outreach. Just as importantly, the public asked for something more lasting: a way to keep track of how well these programs perform over time.
That request for accountability led to the creation of the City’s Conservation Scorecard. The Scorecard doesn’t simply tally gallons of water saved. Instead, it measures progress toward the goals we set and gives us a way to document why a program is successful—or why it may not be. It’s a transparent tool that helps us learn, adjust, and keep the community informed. The Scorecard is also being aligned with the City’s long-term water planning tools, so the goals we track are not in isolation. They connect directly to the Water Division’s broader supply and demand strategies, tying everyday conservation efforts to Santa Fe’s long-range water security.
This alignment is supported by new technology. Advanced Metering Infrastructure allows us to see near real-time water use, helping to spot leaks and design better programs. Demand and supply dashboards give us live views of how much water is being used and where it’s coming from. The STEWaRDS model projects supply and demand out to the year 2100, making sure our conservation goals are tied to realistic future scenarios. And the Water Resources Indicator, recalculated each spring, pulls together surface water storage, groundwater pumping, and drought conditions into a single score that guides drought response. These tools make conservation more data-driven, measurable, and transparent—exactly what the public asked for in the last planning cycle.
The new 10-Year Water Conservation and Drought Management Plan build on this foundation. Because the public outreach from the last cycle was so comprehensive, this plan is about honoring that input, continuing the community-driven programs that came from it, and aligning them with long-term planning models. For residents, that means continued updates through the Scorecard, clear communication about drought restrictions and why they’re triggered, and ongoing access to rebates, trainings, and education.
This work also connects to something bigger. The City is looking closely at how conservation fits into broader sustainability goals and how programs can be organized to work more efficiently and deliver greater impact. While more details will be coming, the direction is clear: water conservation will remain central, not only to meeting regulatory requirements and planning for drought, but also to how Santa Fe defines itself as a resilient, forward-thinking community.
Santa Fe’s water future depends on both the values of its residents and the data that guides our planning. The voices of the community from five years ago still shape our programs today. Now, with the help of new tools and alignment with Water Division goals, we can carry those values forward into a plan that keeps conservation strong, transparent, and essential to our future.
