WSP05392

• File Number: 8021
• Description: Section D General Correspondence - Western States Water Council
• State: CO
• Basin: Statewide
• Date: 6/5/1991
• Author: Natural Resources La
• Title: Coordinated Water Management Under the Prior Appropriation Doctrine in New Mexico - Rio Grande Case - Pecos River Case
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Report/Study

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artesian wells,

The direction of movement of the water through

the red beds varies from time to time, depending upon conditions

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of drought and abundance.

Sometimes the artesian aquifer

contributes to the shallow aquifer and at other times and places

the shallow aquifer may leak water into the artesian aquifer,
Perhaps what has been said will suffice to indicate the

difficulty

of

administering

these

several

interconnected

groundwater and surface water sources.

Since the earliest uses from the Pecos River system were

based upon surface water diversions downstream from the Roswell

Basin in the vicinity of Carlsbad, one of the principal criteria

applied by the State Engineer in managing the Roswell Basin is

the protection of the senior downstream surface water users,

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The availability of this remarkable groundwater system to
the water users in the vicinity of the Pecos River in the Roswell

area has provided an unusual solution to the problems of seasonal

shortages which generally exist in a southwestern surface water

system,

The availability of groundwater to supplement surface

water uses has forstalled the priority fights that must

frequently be anticipated in a prior appropriation system, In
fact, the availability of a groundwater source, interrelated with

the stream system has resulted in the drilling of supplemental

wells, as opposed to the traditional priority call, as a means

for securing the full water supply to which senior appropriators

have been entitled.

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