In service to Taos, the Rio Grande, and the people and waters that call this place home.
Overview
The Taos Water Stewardship Initiative (TWSI) is a collaborative, place-based effort focused on the long-term health, resilience, and wise stewardship of water in Taos, Taos County, and the surrounding Upper Rio Grande bioregion.
At its core, the initiative is about helping our community better understand the water systems that sustain life here — watersheds, snowpack, groundwater, acequias, surface flows, and the infrastructure that carries water to our homes — and using that understanding to support wiser planning, stronger relationships, and more coordinated stewardship.
Taos is a place of extraordinary beauty, culture, and water heritage — home to some of the oldest continuously operating irrigation systems in the country. It is also a place facing growing pressure from water scarcity, climate volatility, wildfire risk, infrastructure stress, and land-use decisions that will shape the future for generations to come. Across New Mexico, state and research sources warn of a hotter, drier future, with less reliable water supply, declining river flows, shrinking snowpack, and increasing ecological stress.
The purpose of TWSI is to help Taos respond to these realities proactively — not reactively — by creating shared understanding, trusted water information, stronger collaboration, and a clearer path from information to action.
Water Stewardship Questionnaire
It would be greatly appreciated if you would please take a few minutes to fill out this questionnaire — your voice matters!
Learn More
View the resources below to learn more
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Mission & Vision
Mission: Provide the Taos community with shared access to trusted, well-organized water intelligence that supports informed, collaborative decisions about the near- and long-term stewardship of our local watershed.
Vision: A Taos community and surrounding bioregion where a shared understanding of water reality guides planning, strengthens watershed stewardship, and supports the wellbeing of present and future generations.
Social Media & Communication
Join our Facebook Group or Telegram Channel to stay connected about upcoming events or information relevant to the Initiative (coming soon).
Contact & Collaboration
If you feel interested or inspired to learn more, participate, contribute, explore potential synergies or collaborate please contact…
Joshua Alvord
Initiative Coordinator | Taos Resident | Local Earth Director
619-517-4469
Videos
NotebookLM has been used to create the videos — for some reason the platform has a hard time pronouncing the word “acequia” correctly. Please pardon the pronunciation, we are trying to fix this problem.
Local Earth is honored to help coordinate the Taos Water Stewardship Initiative
Thank You
