A. The legislature hereby finds and declares that there exists a potential water shortage crisis in the Pecos River basin as a result of the requirements and obligations of the Pecos River Compact and the United States supreme court's amended decree in Texas v. New Mexico, No. 65 original as well as the recent droughts and the demands on this water system.
B. The legislature hereby finds and declares that this shortage of water and the state's obligation to Texas pursuant to the compact and the decree is a statewide problem affecting all the citizens of the state. The state is obligated under the terms of the decree to fulfill an obligation to repay Texas in water for any shortages of water owed to Texas by the state of New Mexico.
C. The legislature hereby finds and declares that the state's obligations extend not only to Texas but also to the citizens of New Mexico and their future generations to ensure adequate water supply. If unfulfilled, the obligations of the state to Texas could cost the state millions of dollars in lost revenues, employment and economic productivity.
D. The legislature further finds and declares that to avoid the catastrophic consequences of failing to address immediately the problem of the Pecos river water shortage, the interstate stream commission is to purchase, and retire and place in a state water conservation program administered by the interstate stream commission, adequate water rights over a period of years to increase the flow of water in the Pecos River and diminish the impact of man-made depletions of the stream flow and therefore meet the state's future obligations under the Pecos River Compact and the United States supreme court's amended decree in Texas v. New Mexico, No. 65 original, pursuant to the appropriation and the conditions set forth in Section 2 of this act.
History: Laws 1991, ch. 99, § 1.
ANNOTATIONSCompiler's notes. — The phrase "Section 2 of this act", referred to in Subsection D, means Laws 1991, ch. 99, § 2.
Laws 1991, ch. 99, § 2, effective April 2, 1991, as amended by Laws 1993, ch. 97, § 1, effective June 18, 1993, appropriated $1,000,000 from the New Mexico irrigation works construction fund to the interstate stream commission for expenditure in the eighty-first fiscal year for purchasing water rights along the Pecos River basin for compliance with Pecos River Compact and United States supreme court's decree; appropriated $2,000,000 from the New Mexico irrigation works construction fund to the interstate stream commission in each of the eighty-second through eighty-sixth fiscal years for expenditure in each of the eighty-second through eighty-sixth fiscal years for retiring water rights along the Pecos River basin for compliance with the Compact and court decree; and stated the conditions under which the interstate stream commission shall administer the appropriations.
Cross references. — For wetlands area restoration, see 75-8-2 NMSA 1978.
Pueblo rights doctrine unduly interferes with the state's regulation of water rights. State ex rel. Martinez v. City of Las Vegas, 2004-NMSC-009, 135 N.M. 375, 89 P.3d 47.