New Mexico

A group of nonprofits is calling for reductions to water demand, changes at Glen Canyon Dam and more transparent negotiations.

The USDA projects a $47B agricultural trade deficit for 2025, sparking concerns about long-term trends and data transparency. Meanwhile, the Great Western Ranch sold in New Mexico, highlighting surging land values, and Congress remains stalled on passing a new Farm Bill.

New Mexico, the Land of Enchantment, has quietly become a blue refuge in the MAGA red West for Americans who are fleeing extreme conservative strongholds.

The spill was the largest release of radioactive material in United States history. Navajo families living in the Red Water Pond Road community say they’re still dealing with the implications of it 44 years later.

On Saturday, Navajo families held a walk in remembrance of the largest release of radioactive material in U.S. history. In July of 1979, a dam holding back uranium mill waste in Church Rock, New Mexico, broke and released millions of gallons of radioactive water and debris into the Puerco River. The Red Water Pond Road community is made up of Navajo families who live in the Church Rock mining area, where the uranium waste spill occurred. They say they’re still suffering from the impacts of the disaster 44 years later. And Governor Jared Polis will serve as vice-chair of the National Governors Association.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruling Thursday making it harder for the federal government to enforce clean water rules has New Mexico environmental groups urging Congress to take the lead. The five-to-four opinion by conservative justices, minus Bret Kavanaugh, is a blow to the Environmental Protection Agency's ability to regulate wetlands and waterways. And public buildings in Colorado will be required to include all-gender restrooms later this year. That’s thanks to a new law signed by Governor Jared Polis this week.

A pulmonologist at Miners’ Colfax Medical Center in New Mexico says there’s a statewide shortage of health professionals who are involved in the care of coal miners, especially those who have black lung disease. According to Dr. Akshay Sood, the Miners’ Colfax Medical Center Endowed Chair at the University of New Mexico, he is the state’s only Department of Labor 413(b) physician. That means he’s the only one authorized to evaluate whether or not coal miners in New Mexico are disabled enough by black lung disease to pass those findings on to a claims examiner, so they have a chance to get compensation.

New Mexico’s primary Election was on Tuesday. Utah’s primary election is coming up as well, on June 28th. And a new study that looks at nearly two thousand years of climate conditions in the Colorado River has identified the worst drought in the recorded history of our region.

Colorado Democrats are advancing a bill to protect workers who raise safety concerns from retaliation. New Mexico Governor Lujan Grisham lifted the state’s overall mask mandate on Thursday.

States with the lowest vaccination rates are clustered in the South and the Southwest. But there's one standout, New Mexico, where health officials now say some counties are close to 90% vaccinated.