Residents of the middle Rio Grande have made progress in recent years in using their water more wisely, experts said at a water conference going on today in Albuquerque. But much remains to be done.

Albuquerque has cut per capita water consumption from 250 gallons per day in the mid-1990s to 161 gallons per day last year, according to Mark Sanchez of the city-county Water Authority. Farmers in the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District, the region's largest water user, have substantially reduced the amount of water they take from the river, making their system more water-efficient.

But we are still in a water deficit, with one estimate suggesting we're using 20 percent more water per year than nature can sustainably provide, making up the difference by pumping groundwater that is not being replaced as fast as we consume it.

"We need to do more," said Steve Hansen, a staff member at the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and one of the founders of the Middle Rio Grande Water Assembly, the group that organized Saturday's meeting.

The meeting continues this afternoon (Sat. 10/24), and I'll have more in Sunday's newspaper.