HOUSE MEMORIAL 60

56th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2023

INTRODUCED BY

Matthew McQueen

 

 

 

 

 

A MEMORIAL

IDENTIFYING THE SERIOUSNESS OF MIDDLE RIO GRANDE COMPACT ADMINISTRATION AND REQUESTING THE STATE ENGINEER AND THE INTERSTATE STREAM COMMISSION TO EXERCISE THEIR AUTHORITIES AND TO CLOSELY COORDINATE THEIR EFFORTS TO ADMINISTER THE COMPACT.

 

     WHEREAS, the Rio Grande Compact requires that New Mexico deliver a certain amount of water each year to Elephant Butte reservoir; and

     WHEREAS, New Mexico has a Rio Grande Compact debit obligation, risking costly litigation; and

     WHEREAS, the annual water delivery quantity requirement to Elephant Butte reservoir depends in large part on the annual inflow to the middle Rio Grande at the Otowi gage; and

     WHEREAS, year-end water delivery credits and debits are accrued from year to year; and

     WHEREAS, accrued water debits exceeding two hundred thousand acre-feet are a violation of the Rio Grande Compact; and

     WHEREAS, violations of the Rio Grande Compact frequently elicit expensive interstate lawsuits; and

     WHEREAS, recently, consumptive uses of water in the middle Rio Grande region have been sufficiently large that New Mexico has moved from an accrued water delivery credit of sixty-two thousand four hundred acre-feet at the end of 2013 to an accrued water delivery debit of one hundred twenty-seven thousand acre-feet at the end of 2021; and

     WHEREAS, urgent action is needed because New Mexico's accrued water delivery debits have been rapidly approaching the violation threshold; and

     WHEREAS, consumptive uses of water within the middle Rio Grande region must be promptly reduced to avoid Rio Grande Compact violation; and

     WHEREAS, the consumptive uses of water in the region consist of human uses that can be controlled in part by the state engineer, mainly through active water resource management, and natural and riparian uses that can be controlled in part by federal, tribal and local landowners and water management agencies in conjunction with the interstate stream commission, mainly through river channel management; and

     WHEREAS, close coordination between the state engineer and the interstate stream commission in the control of consumptive uses to meet Rio Grande Compact obligations is vital; and

     WHEREAS, the difficulties in meeting Rio Grande Compact obligations will surely be exacerbated by climate-induced reductions in water availability; and

     WHEREAS, ongoing integrated water resources planning and management is vital for ensuring the future economic, ecological and cultural well-being of New Mexico;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that it affirm the importance of wise water management and administration to meet Rio Grande Compact obligations, while noting that a lack of capacity in state agencies has hampered the ability of the state agencies to fulfill the agencies' potential; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that compliance with the water delivery obligations of interstate stream compacts is of paramount importance to the public welfare of the state; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that, subject only to the exemption of tribal rights and uses of water, the state engineer, in coordination with the interstate stream commission, be requested to administer water rights to ensure that New Mexico reliably complies with the Rio Grande Compact water delivery obligations; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the state engineer and the interstate stream commission be requested to incentivize participation, convene, fund and sponsor an inclusive and transparent collaborative process to develop a negotiated water shortage sharing agreement among all significant water rights and water permit holders that meets the criteria for an alternative administration plan set forth in rules promulgated by the state engineer pursuant to Section 72-2-9.1 NMSA 1978; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the interstate stream commission, the office of the state engineer, the middle Rio Grande conservancy district and the Albuquerque-Bernalillo county water utility authority.

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