45th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2002

REQUESTING THE FORMATION OF A TASK FORCE TO STUDY THE FEASIBILITY OF TRANSPORTING WATER FROM THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER TO NEW MEXICO.

WHEREAS, there is a surplus of water in the Mississippi river that flows into the Gulf of Mexico; and

WHEREAS, New Mexico is perennially short of water; and

WHEREAS, New Mexico exports natural gas by pipeline all the way to California; and

WHEREAS, New Mexico exports oil by pipeline all the way to the Gulf of Mexico; and

WHEREAS, a pipeline from the Mississippi river to New Mexico may be a way to transport water to alleviate the shortage of water in the state; and

WHEREAS, millions of dollars of New Mexico oil and gas royalties are deposited in the federal reclamation fund each year; and

WHEREAS, congress should be urged to appropriate New Mexico's contribution to the federal reclamation fund for projects to alleviate the state's chronic water shortage;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that representatives from the office of the governor, the state land office, the public regulation commission and the office of the state engineer be requested to form a task force to study the feasibility of buying water rights to the Mississippi river, building a pipeline from that river to New Mexico to transfer the water and storing that water in reservoirs and aquifers in New Mexico to meet its water needs; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force report its findings and recommendations to the appropriate legislative committee during the 2003 interim; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the office of the governor, the state land office, the public regulation commission and the office of the state engineer.