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SPONSOR: |
Beffort |
DATE TYPED: |
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HB |
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SHORT TITLE: |
State Engineer Authority |
SB |
551/aSCONC/aSCORC |
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ANALYST: |
Chabot |
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APPROPRIATION
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Appropriation
Contained |
Estimated
Additional Impact |
Recurring or
Non-Rec |
Fund Affected |
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FY03 |
FY04 |
FY03 |
FY04 |
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$.01 (see
Narrative) |
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Recurring |
General
Fund |
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(Parenthesis
( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)
LFC Files
Responses
Received From
Department
of Game and Fish (DGF)
Energy,
Minerals and Natural Resources Department (EMNRD)
New
Mexico Environment Department (NMED)
Office
of the State Engineer (OSE)
SUMMARY
Synopsis
of SCORC Amendment
The Senate Corporations and Transportation Committee amendment to Senate Bill 551 strikes Senate Conservation Committee amendment 3 pertaining to acequias and inserts a new Subsection C requiring the State Engineer to adopt rules based on appropriate hydrologic models to expedite marketing and leasing of water in areas under priority administration consistent with state law. These rules shall not apply to acequias or community ditches.
Synopsis
of SCONC Amendment
The Senate Conservation Committee amendment to Senate Bill 551 strikes subsection C pertaining to hydrologic models and re-letters the next paragraph. The amendment also adds acequia water rights to the exemption from the proposed statute.
Synopsis
of Original Bill
Senate Bill 551 enacts
new statute in Chapter 72 NMSA 1978 for the purpose of recognizing the State
Engineer’s authority to administer water allocations in accordance with water
rights priorities and expediting water marketing and leasing by the State
Engineer. OSE must adopt rules to ensure
his actions do not interfere with a future pending adjudication, do not impair
water rights and do not increase depletions.
Rules adopted shall be based on appropriate hydrologic models and
nothing in the new section shall affect the partial final decree and settlement
agreement entered in the
Significant
Issues
OSE states that this bill makes explicit the
State Engineer’s authority to administer water rights based upon priority dates
of permit applications. Enactment of
this bill is favored to remove any ambiguity that might lead to challenges to
the State Engineer’s authority. Using
hydrologic models to promote expedited marketing and leasing of water is being
contemplated for future rules and regulations.
Enacting this bill will provide a further incentive to establish water
banks.
Lastly, the provision that the act will not
affect the final decree and settlement in State of
EMNRD states it operates state parks along
rivers and streams and maybe impacted by the State Engineer’s decision
curtailing water use in a priority call.
The agency emphasizes that water users must have an adequate opportunity
to fully participate in and contest the State Engineer’s proposed priority
administration for curtailing their water uses.
Changing from a legal proceeding to a rulemaking process may reduce the
ability of water users to challenge the curtailment of their water uses.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
Senate Bill 551
contains no appropriation; however, OSE states it will need additional administrative
and legal staff to carry out the requirements of this bill.
ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS
OSE will need to
develop rules and regulations to implement provisions of this bill. Hydrologic models may have to be completed
for some of the water basins; however OSE does not provide an estimate of the
number or the cost. OSE states that
“many water rights claimants have not filed declarations covering their water
rights claims…The claimants will have to file declarations in order to protect
their claimed priority dates.” This will
have workload impact on the water rights and legal staffs.
TECHNICAL ISSUES
EMNRD states the term “impairment” in page 2
line 5 is misused and should be change to “curtailment”. The LFC analyst assesses that the text in the
bill is correct.
POSSIBLE QUESTIONS
GAC/ls