New law on deep water authority just in time

New Mexico Independent

By Trip Jennings 3/31/09 5:26 AM

"Call it the great water rush.

Since Jan. 1, dozens of corporations, developers, ranches — and at least one New Mexico county and one town — have laid claim to more than 820,000 acre-feet of water deep below New Mexico’s surface.

To put that in perspective, consider state Rep. Mimi Stewart’s take on the mad dash for water half a mile below New Mexico’s surface.

The Albuquerque Democrat said Monday that when the New Mexico House passed her bill to give the state authority to regulate such reservoirs of deep water in early February, “we had about 400,000 acre-feet” of requests for water 2,500 feet and deeper.

“By the time the Senate got around to it, six weeks later, it was a million acre feet,” she said.

Because of a quirk of state law, New Mexico has never had the authority to regulate how deep groundwater is parceled to users.

That is, until Monday.

Gov. Bill Richardson signed a bill (HB19) into law effective immediately that mandates that water deeper than 2,500 feet beneath the surface comes under state authority. That means state engineer John D’Antonio will be able to determine through a rigorous process who has ownership rights to the deep water, just as he has for water above that level.

Before Monday, because the Office of the State Engineer had no jurisdiction over water that deep, it belonged to whomever could pump it out and use it.

The rush for deep underground water showcases a truth about growth in New Mexico. Developers and city and county governments, in planning for future growth, are having to look beyond the state’s lakes, groundwater and snow melt for water to slake the thirst of new development. And increasingly they are turning to reservoirs deep beneath the surface." More>>>>