By MARY ROSE
I first went to a community meeting at the end of February, 2026 to learn more about the plan for the proposed Hydrogen plant in Questa, NM, thinking that it would provide more information about how the site of the former Chevron mine, east of Questa on Route 38, would be repurposed to be the location for a ‘Green Hydrogen Plant’ that would use ‘reclaimed water’ from that former mine site.
But, at the February meeting I learned that the plan had drastically changed in Oct. of 2025 to be in the heart of Questa!
It would now be built on a ‘site of toxic mine tailings’ that are buried in Questa; and the source of water had also been changed to the use of a well on that site–that taps into Questa’s groundwater.
I was very surprised that this plan could be conceived to be a ‘good’ plan – or even a sane one – given that hydrogen can leak and explode – and would be in close proximity to the Questa Alta Vista Elementary school, Questa’s Public Library, and Questa’s Health Clinic– –not to mention residential homes.
Also, as I reached out to other people to get a response about the whole project, I was stunned to find out how many people knew nothing at all about it.
As I continued to discover, it was understandable that people didn’t really understand the project because the ‘facts’ kept changing and the scope of the infrastructure of the project kept growing exponentially; also there were no articles in any of the print media who previously had reported on the original plan, but had never printed an update of the crucial changes made regarding the change of site location and the source of water (with the exception of the Questa del Rio News).
At the same time, many people who did know about the project felt there wasn’t full transparency from Kit Carson Electric Cooperative (KCEC). The Mar. 10, 2026 Village of Questa Council Meeting began with Councilman Jason Gonzalez asking Mayor John Ortega about the development of the project, noting that he initially supported the plan in Oct. 2023–based on different specifications.
“You sold all of us on the water coming out of the mine reclamation site,” Councilman Jason Gonzalez said, referring to treated water from the Chevron mine. “Then all of a sudden in Oct. 2025, the water was now coming from the tailings well.”
He also pointed to changing data, noting that the number of electrolyzers grew from 11 to 50, and the projected permanent jobs shifted over time to only 9. (Also the 15MW solar array became a 50MW solar array covering 300 acres, and yet no Environmental Assessment has been done for this significant change, as plans continue forward for a May 2026 groundbreaking event.) Councilman Gonzalez ended his remarks by asking, “Who is running this project?”
The New Mexico Office of the State Engineer (OSE), responsible for managing and protecting New Mexico’s water resources, has recently sponsored ads and Public Service Announcements saying, ‘what is happening now is the driest period in New Mexico in over 1,000 years. The effects of this have parched ecosystems and put water supplies at risk.
‘We hope for years of great ski seasons and good monsoons, but we can’t control the weather. What we can control is how we conserve this precious resource to stay in balance.
‘So do your part. Only take what you need, no more.’
So it would seem that something like a water-intensive hydrogen plant in drought-stricken Questa would not be an approved way of taking only what you need and no more–by the OSE.
People already are having to dig their wells deeper in Questa and surrounding areas, or they have already gone dry.
The OSE states in the KCEC “fact sheet” that ‘diverting up to 250 acre-feet per year would not adversely affect the local aquifer.’ That’s over 81 million gallons of water a year.
How much water would that be over the 30-year lifetime of the hydrogen plant?
At just 100-acre feet per year that would be a billion gallons of water.
It seems hard to believe that would not cause an adverse effect on a severely-depleted aquifer.
The reality is that New Mexico has recently changed from ‘an arid climate to one of aridification’. This means that faster evaporation of the snowmelt and surface water has resulted in lower levels of rivers, acequias, lakes, and aquifers to the point that New Mexico now has a ‘groundwater crisis’.
Water is the most precious resource because–without it–there is no life.
So it needs to be protected, and conserved, now and for future generations–and even more so when you are in ‘the driest period of a thousand years.’
No Hydrogen in Questa.
