Water availability and usage on the New Mexico/Mexico border.

* Numerous critical water issues exist along the New Mexico/Mexico border.

* The region is either arid or semiarid, so it is chronically short of surface-water resources.

* Statewide, the annual average precipitation is much less than the amount lost to evaporation from open water surfaces.

* The region also has an extremely fast-growing population.

* Most surface-water resources are used to the maximum.

* Groundwater resources are used beyond their capacity to be naturally recharged.

* The quality of groundwater varies widely.

* Water in some areas is too salty or has high levels of natural uranium, fluoride, or arsenic.

* To date, the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) has recognized 1,400 cases of groundwater contamination.

* 1,907 water supply wells have been affected.

* Shallow water depth and a high poverty rate in southern New Mexico mean that low-income families without access to municipal water systems frequently obtain cheap water via hand-dug wells.

* The primary concern with drinking-water quality is bacteriological contamination.

* There is a small but increasing amount of chemical or nitrate contamination, as well as contamination from fluoride, drugs, parasites and viruses, uranium, radon, and arsenic.

* The situation is exacerbated by pollution generated by industrial zones, agricultural runoff, and wastes emitted by borderland boom towns.

* Of approximately 4,000 miles of continuously flowing rivers and streams, 92 percent are affected by nonpoint sources of pollution.

* Water resource research, management, and service fall within the responsibilities of a multitude of federal, state, and local agencies.

* There is a great deal of overlap.

* There should be an institutionalized structure overseeing and coordinating all these efforts.

* For example, health data from the New Mexico Department of Health should be associated with information about the water supply in individual localities.

* Information about water availability and quality should be circulated among various agencies and made available to the public.

* A consensus regarding water shortage issues needs to be reached among all societal sectors and the public.

* Effort needs to be exerted in education about water conservation.

This department, Practical Stuff! originated from you, our readers. Many of you have expressed to us that one of the main reasons you read the Journal of Environmental Health is to glean practical and useful information for your everyday work-related activities. In response to your feedback, we dedicate this section to you with salient points to remember about two to three articles in each issue.