Laura Paskus
By early April of 2018, the state's largest river, the Rio Grande, had already dried south of Albuquerque.
As much of New Mexico faces exceptional drought conditions, the Interstate Stream Commission authorized its chairman to ask the Department of Interior for financial support.
The commission approved delegating that authority to commission chairman during its meeting on Friday.
The chairman will work with State Engineer John D’Antonio to request funding for both long-term and short-term drought relief.
The short-term relief could be something like assistance for farmers, said ISC Director Rolf Schmidt-Peterson.
“Help them make it through this year so that the economic impacts are not so severe that they can no longer farm,” he said.