New Mexico Association of Conservation Districts

July 1 2026

Written by Debbie Hughes, NMACD Executive Director

The New Mexico Association of Conservation Districts (NMACD) works with local Soil and Water Conservation Districts (SWCDs) to bring financial, technical and educational resources to New Mexico to assist farmers, ranchers and other landowners to conserve and develop our natural resources. The Healthy Soil Act was passed as a bipartisan bill a few years ago and that bill has enabled NM to focus on conserving and improving our soil, and also to work with landowners who may not have worked with SWCDs in the past. This program requires that each landowner must have a NRCS conservation plan prior to applying for the funding that is administered by the New Mexico Department of Agriculture (NMDA). The Land of Enchantment Legacy Fund is also a very successful bipartisan fund that is currently providing over 1 million dollars for Healthy Soil projects and additional funding for noxious weeds control and other watershed and water conservation projects.

The recent reductions in federal staffing for technical support will make it hard for the USDA-NRCS employees find time to write these plans. Thankfully, NM USDA-NRCS and NMDA have worked with 18 SWCD employees to get them the required training so that there will be additional folks in New Mexico to help develop the required NRCS conservation plan.

Thanks to the support of the New Mexico Legislature and the Governor, NMACD currently has funding to help build the capacity of the local SWCDs by providing funding and training for more local employees and or contractors. NMACD hopes to be able to train many more local district employees to help with planning, archeological clearances and acequia restoration training.

NM Legislature partnering with NM USDA-NRCS has also supported a Technical Service Provider Program (TSP) for the past 22 years. This very successful program is currently supplying 35 local staffers in the USDA-NRCS offices statewide including all rural areas.

NMACD was awarded 15 million dollars from USDA in 2024 to assist New Mexico & Colorado Acequias to update water delivery systems to conserve water, but this grant has not been funded to date.