SANTA FE, New Mexico -- New Mexico's water planners have laid out the philosophy for the state's future approach to managing water in the face of a growing population and the threat of long-term drought. State water managers unveiled a comprehensive plan Wednesday that lists objectives such as encouraging conservation and respecting the water rights of traditional irrigation ditches. The plan also proposes better water measuring, better metering of water use and giving the state engineer more authority to deny permits for new domestic wells. The state engineer's office manages water rights in New Mexico.
The plan says the top priority is for New Mexico to meet its obligations under compacts with other states. New Mexico is bound by eight compacts that set out how much water it must send to users downstream. State Engineer John D'Antonio said about 60 percent of New Mexico is involved in adjudication over water. He said less than 20 percent of the state has been adjudicated, and the rest of the state hasn't begun the process. The state has years of work simply to handle pending water-rights applications and needs more resources to do the work, Mr. D'Antonio said. It lacks final adjudications, adequate resources and adequate water measuring and metering, he said.
The plan says that for the state to meet its compact obligations on the Rio Grande, New Mexico needs to improve the efficiency of how water is sent downriver and must be able to limit diversions in the middle Rio Grande. It says that to meet water delivery obligations on the Pecos River, the state must finish a well field from which it will pump water into the river. The state also must finish buying land and water rights along the river under a settlement agreement and retire those water rights to increase the Pecos' flows.
The plan's second priority is to protect senior water rights. "Senior rights" mean the first person to put water to use has the best right to water and can continue to use it during times of shortages even if those with more recent water rights must be cut off. New Mexico should consider changing the law that requires the state engineer to grant domestic well permits to landowners to protect senior water rights, the plan says. State law should give the engineer "authority to deny new domestic well permits in critical management areas or in cases of impairment of senior rights", it states. Frank Titus, a hydrogeologist who helped write a private New Mexico water management policy guide last year, said the state plan needs more detail on technical issues.
"I have a sense of what we've listened to so far is a great description of motherhood and apple pie," Dr. Titus said.
The state expects to release a final plan by the end of the year.