Water
Vision
The Thornburg Foundation envisions a resilient water future in which people have universal access to clean, reliable water; watersheds, rivers, streams, springs, and aquifers are healthy or recovering; cities, agriculture, tribes, rural communities, and industry thrive; water is allocated equitably to historically disadvantaged communities; and water governance is well-informed, democratic, transparent, and fair.
The Foundation will promote collaborative, evidence-based solutions to build the resilience and health of the river and aquifer systems that provide a foundation for strong, vibrant communities. The transformation that we seek must be rooted in the needs and values of New Mexico’s people and driven by partnerships with the region’s tribes, nations, pueblos, acequias, and nonprofit organizations.
Goals
Goal 1: Improvements in New Mexico water governance
State water policy promotes water conservation and sharing, protects environmental values, and supports disadvantaged communities. Communities have the tools they need to tackle aridification and water scarcity and build water security and equity for people and nature.
Goal 2: Advances in water resilience in the state’s most populous and vulnerable river basins
Communities have developed integrated water resources management plans and invested in strategies that reduce pressure on existing water supplies and strengthen economic resilience. Local projects have produced information about the applicability, scalability, and co-benefits of these strategies.
Goal 3. Greater capacity and alignment among the state’s water management organizations
State, tribal, and local governments have secured and mobilized federal, state, and private funds for critically needed water projects. Community leaders have developed a shared vision for water resilience and are working together to achieve this vision.
Goal 4: Sound and comprehensive science to support planning and management
Development of robust water research, data, monitoring, and decision-support systems, including full implementation of the New Mexico Water Data Initiative. Integration of traditional water management knowledge into policy, planning, and management.
Patrick McCarthy
Senior Policy Officer Water
Patrick McCarthy is the Senior Water Policy Officer at the Thornburg Foundation. Trained as a scientist, he has worked for the last twenty years at the intersection of ecological science, water governance, and community capacity-building. Before joining the Thornburg Foundation, Patrick worked with water managers and community leaders across the U.S. Southwest and in southern Africa on evidence-based solutions for water resources policy, planning, and management. In his work with grantees and partners, Patrick aspires to help create a New Mexico in which healthy watersheds provide clean, abundant, and equitable water to communities and ecosystems. Patrick holds a master’s degree in ecology and a bachelor’s degree in anthropology/zoology and has been awarded fellowships by the Switzer Foundation and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He lives in Santa Fe with his wife and two children.