WSP06807 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

c-.) WATER RIGHTS ADJUDICATION ,... ~ t; New Mexico law requires the adjudication of all water rights In the state In order to legally define what each person's water rlght Is and to determine the amount of water that may remain unappropriated. A water rights adjudication detennlnes the extent and OWIl8rship 01 each water rlght In a speclflc geographical area, usually a river draInage basin or groundwater basin. It Is similar to a quiet title suit to estabfish the ownership oIlan(!. Water rfghts have been adjudicated since the eMelmeN of the state surface water code In 1907, and the process Is stUl going on. There are current adjudications In progress on the Pecos. San Juan, Mimbres and Zunl rivers. as well as mosttnbutarles 01 the upper Rio Grande. The adludJcatlon process Involves two phases: (1) a technical one In which a hydrographic survey Is performed to Identify, map and repon the ownership of water rlghts In a partIcular stream system or groundwaler basin; and (2) a regal one In whIch a lawsull Is filed and court orders are Issued. slating how much water each user has a rfght to divert and use for a specific benefICial purpose. Slate law requIres the state engIneer to conduct hydrographic surveys of each stream system In the state, begInning with those most used for Irrigation. to gather Infor- mallon for adjudication suits. Durlng a survey, data are collected 10 help the court decide how much water to adjudIcate to each water right claimant. Before any field work lakes place In a survey, State EngIneer Office statl review water right records lor the survey area and prepare night line maps lor aerial photography. Cropping pattems and crop Irrigation requirements are computed. MunicIpal, Industrial, stock and domestic water uses are analyzed. land ownership Is Investigated. Although a hydrographic survey gathers Information on land ownership, It does not establish legal ownership or property boundaries, The Investigations only produce evfdence on the location. amount and ownership of water rfghts. Following this work, the staff conducts a field checl< 01 an water uses and draws maps deplellng lhe areas of water use. The maps and other data are compRed into a report which lists all the known uses of water In the survey area. The complele report, avaDable to the publiC upon request, Is lhen senl to the State Eoglneer Office legal $la\!, and the legal phase of lhe adludlcatlon precess begins. ' This phase starts with lhe filing of a lawsuit by the state of New Mexfco, the federal government or an Interested person. (Slale law requires that the adjudlcallon be con. , ducled as a lawsuit.) All water right owners In the stream system or groundwater basin are Included. or Joined, In the suit as defendants. Every water right claim Is given a sublila num- ber, and all relevant information on the water right is lIIecI under this Identlfylng number. Each waler right owner Is sent an offer of ludgment by the Slate EngIneer Office. This document Is a proposed agreement between the defendant and the Slate which defines what the state believes Is the * amount oflhe water right . prfority date of the rfght . place and purpose of water use . point of water diversion . source 01 water . ownership of the right The water rfght owner may either accept or reJeeI the offer. ObjectIons are usually resolved through investigations; however. the defendant has a rfghtto a court hearing. If a defendanllaRs to answer the adjudication complaint by claiming rights different from those described In the offer during the specified time In the summons, the court may enter a default Judgment adjudicating the water rfght described In the offer. 16