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<br />n-""S' <br />tiU iO ','j: <br /> <br />extending from Elephant Butte Dam to the New Mexico-Colorado <br /> <br />state line, Laterally from the Rio Grande,: the basin boundaries f~l <br />enclose those lands on which it might be practicable to develop <br />wells of large yields which could significantly affect the flow <br />of the Rio Grande. Since 1956, the basin has been extended to <br /> <br />include essentially all of the surface drainage of the Rio <br /> <br />Grande above Elephant Butte Dam, not only to protect existing <br /> <br />water rights and New Mexico's compact obligation, but to insure <br /> <br />the orderly development of the ground water resource and its <br /> <br />beneficial use. <br /> <br />Within the boundaries of the Declared Rio Grande <br /> <br />Underground Water Basin the State Engineer permits the drilling <br />of wells and withdrawals of ground water on the condition that <br />the effects of those withdrawals on the flow of the Rio Grande <br /> <br />Ii;~ <br />t;@',:i <br />~-~i4" <br /> <br />at each point in time are offset by, the retirement of valid <br /> <br />existing right to the use of surface waters of the Rio Grande, <br />Ultimately in the hydrologic situation described, the rate of <br /> <br />depletion of water pumped from a well must be fully reflected in <br /> <br />diminution of river flows, but, before an equilibrium between <br /> <br />the pumping and the stream is reached, a portion - and in some <br /> <br />cases a large portion of the withdrawal by the well merely <br /> <br />reduces the amount of water in underground storage in the <br /> <br />aquifer. <br /> <br />That portion of the withdrawal has no effect on <br /> <br />existing rights to surface water and the new user is not <br /> <br />required to compensate for it. This method of administration <br /> <br />permits the greatest development and use of the ground water in <br /> <br />.F;:'<.~:. <br />;';--;'.<.". <br />.::~~~:~:;:,i <br /> <br />6 <br />