New Mexico faces serious challenges concerning the supply, development, quality, management, and administration of water resources; responses to these challenges will have major impacts on the regional economy, environmental quality, and the quality of life for the residents of New Mexico. A major need exists to train the next generation of water resource researchers, educators, and managers both inside and outside New Mexico. 

To help meet these needs, an Interdisciplinary Degree Program in Water Science & Management has been developed at NMSU by a team of water experts and approved by the Governor of New Mexico in November 2011. Currently, major participating academic departments include:

• Agricultural Economics and Agricultural Business
• Animal and Range Science
• Civil Engineering
• Geography
• Plant and Environmental Sciences.

The primary purposes of the interdisciplinary degree program in Water Science and Management are to provide graduate education for addressing state, national, and international water issues, and to train the next generation of water professionals needed to meet the challenges described above.

The Program offers M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Water Science and Management.

This degree program will train researchers to meet current and emerging water challenges, including:

• Improved agricultural water use efficiency
• The need to reduce aquifer vulnerability
• Improved watershed management for community water supplies
• Affordable urban and agricultural conservation measures
• Increased economic development from use of abundant brackish groundwater
• Greater flexibility for adapting water use patterns to drought and climate change

Five fields of study offered in the program are:

• Agricultural water resources
• Watershed, riparian, and aquatic systems
• Water quality and treatment
• Water economics and policy
• Water informatics