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<br />,0 <br />" <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />all future uses. Even some of the most water-abundant states predict <br />shortages at some future date. <br /> <br />Jd. at 701. Nevertheless, <br /> <br />[ o]n the other hand, it would be unreasonable to require a state to wait <br />until it is in the midst of a dire shortage before it can prefer its own <br />citizens' use of the available water over out-of-state usage. . . . New <br />Mexico need not wait until the appropriate time and place of shortage <br />arises to enact a statute limiting exports. The State may enact a law to <br />provide for future contingencies. If facially valid, any constitutional <br />attack on such a statute for violation of the Commerce Clause must await <br />its application. <br /> <br />Id. What sense there is to be made of these passages seems elusive. One is tempted to <br />take them as saying merely that a state may at any time enact laws concerning shortages, <br />as long as those laws exercize a practical effect only in the event of a specific, <br />pronounced water shortage. Yet what would one then make of the assertion that a state <br />need not wait for such a shortage "before it can prefer its own citizens' use"? Since the <br />EI Paso II court appears to have been aware that N.M.Stat.Ann. ~ 72-12B-l would have a <br />real, ongoing impact beginning with its enactment, the temptation just described should <br />probably be resisted. <br /> <br />N.M.Stat.Ann. ~ 72-12B-l also included a list of six factors for the New Mexico <br />State Engineer to consider when weighing an application to export groundwater: <br /> <br />D. In acting upon an application under this act, the state engineer shall <br />consider, but not be limited to, the following factors: <br /> <br />(1) the supply of water available to the state of New Mexico; <br /> <br />(2) water demands of the state of New Mexico; <br /> <br />(3) whether there are water shortages within the state of New Mexico; <br /> <br />(4) whether the water that is the subject of the application could feasibly <br />be transported to alleviate water shortages in the state of New Mexico; <br /> <br />(5) the supply and sources of water available to the applicant in the state <br />where the applicant intends to use the water; and <br /> <br />(6) the demands placed on the applicant's supply in the state where the <br />applicant intends to use the water. <br /> <br />N.M.Stat.Ann. S 72-12B-l(D). The court began its assessment of these factors by saying <br />that their consideration did not "impermissibly discriminate[] against interstate <br /> <br />II <br />