What will N.M. be like in 100 years?

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) - With New Mexico celebrating its centennial Friday, there are plenty of predictions of what life will be like 100 years from now but one expert says water will be king, and key.

Jeff Mitchell, a senior researcher at the University of New Mexico’s Business and Economic Bureau predicts that if New Mexico wants to grow and thrive, it will have to come up with more water, or redistribute the water we have. “People can’t live where you don’t have water and it’s very unclear how much growth the current water supply can support.”

Mitchell also says technology is another huge factor in our future, and will have the biggest economic impact on the middle class.

"Technology is likely to crowd out a lot of the jobs the middle class has relied on for the last 50 to 60 years." Those with technical skills will do very well, but those who don't have them - won't. Mitchell also predicts those tech savvy jobs will take New Mexicans to big cities like Albuquerque and Rio Rancho, leaving rural New Mexico in the dust.

Mitchell also notes that New Mexico's Hispanic population will continue to grow; Hispanics are already the state's largest ethnic group at 46 percent and will soon become the majority.