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SPONSOR: |
SPAC |
DATE TYPED: |
02/08/02 |
HB |
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SHORT TITLE: |
Underground Water Permits |
SB |
478/SPACS |
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ANALYST: |
Chabot |
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APPROPRIATION
|
Appropriation
Contained |
Estimated
Additional Impact |
Recurring or Non-Rec |
Fund Affected |
||
|
FY02 |
FY03 |
FY02 |
FY03 |
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|
|
|
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$0.1 |
(Significant See Narrative) |
Recurring |
General Fund |
LFC Files
New Mexico Acequia Association
New Mexico Environment Department (NMED)
New Mexico Finance Authority
New Mexico Livestock Board
Office of the State Engineer (OSE)
State Investment Council
SUMMARY
Synopsis
of Bill
Senate Bill 478/SPACS
amends Section 72-12-1 NMSA 1978 that establishes conditions for permits for
the use of underground waters. The most
significant change is that it amends conditions under which OSE may deny a
permit for water wells. In areas where
the State Engineer has declared a critical management area under Section 72-2-8
NMSA 1978, the State Engineer may deny a permit for a domestic well if it will
impair an existing water right or affects the state’s obligations to an
interstate compact. In addition, it
allows a person to transfer an existing water right to household or domestic
use without complying with public notice provisions if the amount is less than
three-acre feet, complies with applicable municipal and county ordinances and
serves no more than four household and the State Engineer finds that there will
be no new net depletions of water and approves the transfer.
Significant
Issues
SEO estimates there are approximately 130,000
permitted domestic wells in the state, and they receive requests for 5,000
additional wells each year. Currently,
SEO must issue permits even if there is no unappropriated water available or it
there would be impacts on neighboring wells.
During testimony before the interim Legislative Water and Natural
Resource Committee, SEO estimated that domestic wells caused annual depletions
of 2,700 acre-feet of water from the Rio Grande and up to 1,800 acre-feet of
water from the Pecos River.
OSE states the proposed statute change allows
the State Engineer, in areas he has declared as critical management areas, the
discretion to evaluate the impacts of a new domestic well if there is no water
available for appropriation and where the aquifer is hydrologically connected
to the surface flow of an interstate stream.
He may deny the permit or limit the amount based upon the assessment.
NMED asks whether wells for livestock are to be
covered by the statute.
There is concern of some property holders that
this bill would limit their ability to build a home because of the inability to
get a domestic well permit. In many
areas of the state, domestic wells are the only source of water.
The bill could have a significant impact on
OSE. Hydrologic evaluations will have
to done on domestic well permit application in critical management areas. These evaluations will delay processing of
permit applications. However, it will
provide OSE the ability to regulate domestic wells enabling them to better
manage the underground waters in the state.
OSE recommends adding “and 72-12-3” on page 3,
line 18, after Section 72-5-4.
This bill is related to HB 271, SJM-7 and
SJM-27.
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