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<br />the need for flexibility to facilitate water transfers and
<br />exchanges to alleviate short .term local deficiencies. The
<br />ever-present specter of drought, increased environmen-
<br />tal concerns and the mounting costs of developing large-
<br />scale water projects have generated widespread interest
<br />in water transfers in California. In contrast to other
<br />Western states, California is a principal facilitator of
<br />transfers due to its extensive conveyance facilities and
<br />statewide management role.
<br />
<br />NEW MEXICO'S ENGINEER DEAD
<br />AT 73; WATER FUTURE UNCERTAIN
<br />
<br />Services were held on May 19 in Santa Fe, N.M. for
<br />Stephen E. Reynolds, 73, the New Mexico state en-
<br />gineer. Reynolds, state engineer for the past 35
<br />years, had become legendary in western water circles for
<br />his style of administering water rights.
<br />"There is no other Steve Reynolds," said Steven J.
<br />Shupe, a western water.resource consultant, in a 1989 in.
<br />terview, "He is by far the most powerful individual deal-
<br />ing with water in the West."
<br />Reynolds exercised sole power to determine water
<br />rights and uses in New Mexico. He also planned
<br />. strategies for fighting other states' attempts to tap New
<br />Mexico's water and settled disputes over how water
<br />could be pumped from underground aquifers. Although
<br />the state engineer is subject to replacement every two
<br />years, Reynolds held the position for 35 years under 10
<br />governors.
<br />Phil Mutz, an engineer with the Interstate Stream
<br />Commission under Reynolds for 34 years, said Reynolds
<br />contnbuted more than any other person to the conserva.
<br />tion, preservation and development of water in New
<br />Mexico, "He was without peer in his field," he says.
<br />Reynolds had a reputation for tenacity and for out-
<br />preparing the opposition. He was fond of disclaiming
<br />that he was a water lawyer, but, as many attorneys
<br />found, he knew the fme points of the law better than
<br />most of them.
<br />Reynolds' death marks an uncertain juncture in the
<br />ongoing administration of New Mexico's water rights,
<br />His bigbly personal style of determining New Mexico
<br />water policy over the last three decades left him with
<br />many admirers and many detractors, but his singuJ;ir in.
<br />fluence over state water policy was undeniable. New
<br />Mexico water rights have been shaped according to his
<br />. vision since the mid-1950s. Governor Garry Carruthers
<br />was quoted in the Albuquerque louT7Ull as saying, "You
<br />never replace a Steve Reynolds,"
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<br />0217
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<br />His replacement will set the state on a new course, It
<br />will be a difficult act to follow. "He did the work of six
<br />men," said one close associate.
<br />"It's not clear at all how the state engineer office is
<br />going to change," said one staff person, but "people are
<br />nervous about what is going to happen." Reynolds kept
<br />no written documentary evidence of the basis of his
<br />policy decisions, except for some papers on specific is-
<br />sues, court briefs and speeches. Uncertainty is the
<br />prevailing mood in New Mexico water circles. There are
<br />concerns of institutional amnesia in addressing future
<br />water-rights issues in the state.
<br />"Nobody's got a clue where it's going to go," said
<br />Chris Nunn of the University of New Mexico. "Even his
<br />opponents felt that if they were to lose, nothing
<br />catastrophic would happen. Everybody knew what Steve
<br />would think."
<br />But the process itself doesn't leave anything clear.
<br />"Without Steve, the process doesn't inspire confidence,"
<br />says Nunn.
<br />"He has left a legacy of water policy that I hope will
<br />never change," said Charles T. DuMars, a law professor
<br />and special counsel to Reynolds, "but I must admit I'm
<br />afraid."
<br />Despite Reynolds' many successes and considerable
<br />personal efforts to manage the state's water rights, ap-
<br />parently little was done to cultivate new talent or in-
<br />stitute criteria for decision making, and it is uncertain
<br />how far the inertia of these personal efforts will carry
<br />into the future. Mutz, acting state engineer and a
<br />longtime associate of Reynolds', has announced that he
<br />is retiring in July. A committee formed by Gov. Car-
<br />ruthers to lead a national search for a new state en-
<br />gineer is supposed to have recommendations by August
<br />for a replacement. No one from the state engineer office
<br />was included on the search committee. However, even if
<br />the governor appoints a new head water administrator,
<br />Carruthers' term will expire in January 1991, and there
<br />are no guarantees that the new governor will retain his
<br />selection.
<br />
<br />CAUFORNIA: IF YOU THINK THIS
<br />YEAR'S BAD, JUST WAIT
<br />
<br />The close of the normal precipitation season in April
<br />I ended any likelihood that the third consecutive
<br />drought year gripping California would abate. But
<br />worse, according to BuRec officials, the outlook for next
<br />year is even poorer.
<br />Central Valley Project reservoirs entered the 1990 ir-
<br />
<br />WATER RIGHTS 5
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