Albuquerque's Rio Grande is in a sorry state. The Mayor and City Council in Albuquerque have been vocal about fighting environmental racism. But one wonders: do they see the pollution their policies seemingly allow?

Homeless people are urinating and defecating on our sidewalks and city streets. During a recent visit to Downtown Albuquerque, a sight unfolded: a homeless man was urinating just feet away from a storm drain while APD looked the other way. While some might be quick to castigate the act as indecent, the larger, more pressing issue, lies in the public health implications. Albuquerque’s own Storm Water Pollution Prevention acknowledges that rain washes pollutants from the streets directly into the Rio Grande, untreated. And yet, our homeless are left with no options, leading to untreated human waste potentially joining the stream of pollutants.

"A homeless person defecating in the street adjacent to the Albuquerque Transportation Center earlier this month" / provided 

So, what's the actual state of the Rio Grande’s water quality? Upon inquiring about the E. coli counts in the Rio Grande, it became evident that the river's health has suffered with the rise in homelessness. But there's a reluctance to delve deep and understand the true extent of this issue. Shockingly, while the EPA Standard for E. coli in freshwater is 100 cfu/100 mL, in the Middle Rio Grande, it's an astonishing 410 CFU/100mL. The number fluctuates, sometimes dipping to 25 or skyrocketing over 600. Why are our city's officials content with a tainted Rio Grande?

Here's the tragedy. Friends who recently rafted on the Rio Grande later complained of severe skin rashes. The river isn't just a scenic spot; it's a source of recreation, and it’s becoming a health hazard. While pet owners are being targeted as part of the E. coli solution, the systemic problem of homelessness remains unaddressed. The suggested restroom facilities for the homeless have not happened. The Mayor and City Council should develop a program to clean and sanitize our city streets and sidewalks to keep the human waste out of the Rio Grande and from being tracked into our homes on the bottom of our shoes.

In New Mexico, we are too intertwined among families, land, water, and air to cling to the idea that, somehow, we are separate from one another.

We must upgrade our wastewater treatment facilities on the Rio Grande to ensure the water leaving our cities is as clean as the water entering our cities. New Mexico has the funds available. We need new drinking water sources for the cities on the Rio Grande so they do not suck the Rio Grande dry and ensure adequate water flows to improve the water quality. And finally, we need policy makers who are actually ready to deal with this homelessness crap.

MICK RICH is host of the public affairs broadcast “To the Point with Mick Rich,” which will air statewide in New Mexico on KCHF-TV and in Albuquerque on 96.9FM / 700AM.