Who’s using the most water in Albuquerque?

Water woes are ever-present in the Southwest, with rising temperatures and persistent drought conditions. Albuquerque, for instance, is in a moderate to severe drought this summer. 

With that in mind, City Desk ABQ contacted the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority to find out who uses the most water. 

Below is a list of the top 10 public and private water users and how many gallons of water they used in 2023 and 2022. 

While some organizations used less water in 2023 than the year before, others are using more  — including the city’s top irrigator, the private Tanoan Country Club.  

Most of the public water users are parks around the city, but according to the Parks and Recreation Department, they have reduced the amount of water they use by 100 million gallons over the past three years. 

Private 

1. Tanoan Country Club
   2023: 239,995,052
   2022: 161,745,276

2. Paradise Hills Golf Course
   2023: 130,125,072
   2022: 93,624,916 

3. Sumco Phoenix Corp.
   2023: 88,313,368
   2022: 93,301,780

4. Albuquerque Academy
   2023: 64,313,040
   2022: 57,674,540 (2022) 

5. Vista Del Sol Mobile Home Park
   2023: 56,159,092
   2022: 56,369,280 

6. General Mills Inc
   2023: 54,366,884
   2022: 50,276,072

7. Creamland Dairy Inc.
   2023: 47,275,096
   2022: 44,592,768

8. Towne Park ABQ Clubhouse
   2023: 46,321,396
   2022: 45,814,252

9. Bueno Foods
   2023: 45,310,848
   2022: 37,082,848

10. Presbyterian Hospital
    2023: 37,765,024
    2022: 40,346,372

Public 

1. Arroyo del Oso Golf Course
   2023: 233,358,048
   2022: 186,650,684

2. Balloon Fiesta Park
   2023: 98,732,260
   2022: 103,301,792

3. Puerto del Sol Golf Course
   2023: 94,121,588
   2022: 85,274,992

4. ABQ BioPark
   2023: 45,176,956
   2022: 65,212,884

5. University of New Mexico Hospital
   2023: 39,363,500
   2022: 41,802,728

6. University of New Mexico Physical Plant
   2023: 34,660,824
   2022: 31,801,968

7. Expo New Mexico
   2023: 32,597,092
   2022: 32,841,688

8. USS Bullhead Memorial Park
   2023: 27,512,936 
   2022: 24,914,384

9. North Domingo Baca Park
   2023: 26,025,912
   2022: 21,873,016

10. Central New Mexico Community College
    2023: 22,199,892
    2022: 24,306,260

Editor’s note: This article has been updated to distinguish between the Tanoan Country Club and the gated community and to correct the ranking of Paradise Hills Golf Course.