Existing water rights based upon application to beneficial use are hereby recognized. Nothing herein contained is intended to impair the same or to disturb the priorities thereof. Nothing in the Mine Dewatering Act shall be construed to permit condemnation of water rights and the owner of a water right shall not be considered to have forfeited or abandoned his rights under that act.
History: Laws 1980, ch. 148, § 13.
ANNOTATIONSNonseverability and severability. — Laws 1980, ch. 148, § 14, provided for the severability of the act if any part other than § 12 is held invalid. If any part of § 12 is held invalid, the remainder of the act is to also be invalid and without legal force and effect.
Law reviews. — For comment, "New Mexico's Mine Dewatering Act: The Search for Rehoboth," see 20 Nat. Resources J. 653 (1980).
For article, "Prior Appropriation, Impairment, Replacements, Models and Markets," see 23 Nat. Resources J. 25 (1983).