HOUSE MEMORIAL 97

53rd legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2017

INTRODUCED BY

Gail Armstrong

A MEMORIAL

ASKING THE OFFICE OF THE STATE ENGINEER TO REFRAIN FROM ISSUING A PERMIT TO AUGUSTIN PLAINS RANCH LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY TO APPROPRIATE FIFTY-FOUR THOUSAND ACRE-FEET OF WATER.

     WHEREAS, a group of New York-based investors operating under the name Augustin Plains ranch limited liability company sought a permit from the office of the state engineer for the right to appropriate fifty-four thousand acre-feet of water per year from a deep well field of thirty-seven wells in the Plains of San Augustin near Datil, New Mexico; and

     WHEREAS, Augustin Plains ranch plans to market water to municipalities and the state; and

     WHEREAS, in response to the permit application, nearly nine hundred protests were filed with the office of the state engineer's administrative hearing unit; and

     WHEREAS, after a hearing and a recommendation from the hearing officer, the state engineer denied the application because it was vague, overly broad and lacked specificity and the effects of granting it could not reasonably be evaluated, problems that the state engineer found contrary to public policy; and

     WHEREAS, Augustin Plains ranch then appealed the permit denial to the district court and lost that appeal; and

     WHEREAS, next, Augustin Plains ranch appealed the district court's holding to the New Mexico court of appeals, but that appeal was dismissed as moot, since Augustin Plains ranch submitted a new application to the office of the state engineer; and

     WHEREAS, the office of the state engineer is reviewing the new application; and

     WHEREAS, over six hundred protests have been filed in opposition to the issuance of a permit in this instance; and

     WHEREAS, the current list of protestants includes the Navajo Nation, the Pueblos of Acoma, Isleta, Santo Domingo, Sandia and Santa Ana, Catron, Socorro and Sierra counties, the city of Socorro, the village of Magdalena, the United States forest service, the federal bureau of reclamation, the federal bureau of Indian affairs, the federal department of the interior, the United States fish and wildlife service, the federal bureau of land management, the university of New Mexico, the national radio astronomy observatory, several acequia associations and many individuals who would be directly affected by the proposed drilling; and

     WHEREAS, senior water users cannot be assured that they will not suffer impairment of their water rights because the office of the state engineer does not have a clear and concise definition of "impairment"; and

     WHEREAS, according to Jim Libbon, associate dean of agriculture and economics at New Mexico state university, ranchers should be very concerned about Augustin Plains ranch's attempt to pump water from Catron county to municipalities and businesses along the Rio Grande; and

     WHEREAS, the area of the proposed drilling does not receive enough rainfall to replenish the aquifer with enough water to meet the needs of agriculture and economic development efforts; and

     WHEREAS, a depleted aquifer would be exceptionally harmful in this location, where agriculture is the largest sector of the economy;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the office of the state engineer be asked to refrain from issuing a permit to Augustin Plains ranch to appropriate fifty-four thousand acre-feet of water; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the state engineer, the governor, the president of the Navajo Nation, the Navajo Nation council, the governor of the Pueblo of Acoma and the members of New Mexico's congressional delegation.

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