Sandoval County faces drought, low Rio Grande as fire season begins

Sandoval County entered fire season under a hard combination of drought, low river flows and fast-moving fire risk. Drought.gov said 100% of county residents were affected by drought, and the county logged its 4th driest March on record and its 17th driest January-through-March period over 132 years of records.

The concern stretches beyond local dry grass. On April 16, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation said water managers on the Rio Grande in New Mexico were bracing for drought conditions driven by the earliest snowmelt on record, one of the lowest snowpacks on record and already low reservoir storage. The agency also warned that parts of the Rio Grande through Albuquerque could dry this summer, including sections in the Isleta and San Acacia areas.

Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham responded on May 20 by declaring drought and severe fire conditions statewide. In her order, she said New Mexico had seen the lowest snowpack, highest temperatures and lowest runoff levels in recorded history, and that 94% of the state was experiencing drought conditions. The declaration underscored what fire officials and weather forecasters have been warning for weeks: strong winds, very low humidity and dry vegetation can turn a spark into rapid fire spread and critical to extremely critical fire-weather conditions.

Sandoval County has already been trying to get ahead of that risk. County commissioners approved a 2025 Community Wildfire Protection Plan in August 2025, updating a 2012 plan prepared by Sandoval County and SWCA Environmental Consultants with input from community partners. County officials said the plan is meant to reduce fuel loads around roadways, critical infrastructure and wildland-urban interface communities, where homes and open space meet and fire can move quickly.

Restrictions have also tightened across central New Mexico. The New Mexico Forestry Division put statewide fire restrictions in place on April 6 for non-federal, non-Tribal and non-municipal lands. On May 8, the Cibola National Forest and National Grasslands began Stage I fire restrictions, set to run through Sept. 30. For Sandoval County residents watching the season unfold, the warning signs are already in place: dry land, stressed water supplies and a fire pattern that could intensify quickly if wind and heat line up against the county’s foothill and rural communities.