Rio Rally turns Albuquerque water conservation into a citywide scavenger hunt
Families are already chasing stickers from the Rio Grande to city buses, as Albuquerque’s Rio Rally turns conservation into a summer game.
A citywide scavenger hunt has turned water conservation into a summer game in Albuquerque, sending players to nearly 30 locations to collect character stickers and earn points. The Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority launched the Rio Rally as both an educational campaign and a way to pull families into the city’s water story through movement, not lectures.
The game ran from June 20 through July 12 and was designed to celebrate and preserve the Rio Grande, the river that still shapes life in Bernalillo County. At each stop, participants picked up stickers, solved clues tied to the Grande Puzzle, and kept moving across neighborhoods instead of staying in one place. Early registered teams already included names like Rad Rio Rangers and Cacti Fruit Tester, a sign that the rally has quickly drawn players willing to turn a conservation lesson into competition.
The Water Authority built the rally around behavior changes it wants residents to carry past the final score. Players can earn extra points for taking city buses, walking or biking, buying from local people and supply chains, eating less water-consumptive foods, and drinking tap water from a reusable bottle. That mix ties the game to everyday decisions that matter in a drought-prone city where water use affects yards, parks, businesses and household habits across Albuquerque.
The agency also used the rally to push a simple message about the city’s tap water. Its promotional material says Albuquerque tap water keeps winning the President’s Award for Superior finished water quality, a claim meant to make reusable bottles and tap water feel like the easier choice. Prizes at the end of the game include free admission or annual passes to certain participating locations and a Rio Rally Trophy, with awards going to the top registered teams once points are totaled on or soon after July 12.
Questions about the rally go to Education Coordinator Jeff Tuttle at jtuttle@abcwua.org. For the Water Authority, the payoff is bigger than one summer contest: if residents leave with a better sense of how transit, food choices, local spending and water use connect, the scavenger hunt will have done more than entertain them. It will have made conservation feel immediate, local and worth chasing.
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