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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR Rodella

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

2-4-06

HB 627

SHORT TITLE

RIO ARRIBA COUNTY WATER RIGHTS

PURCHASE

SB

ANALYST Hadwiger

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY06

FY07

$250.0 Non-Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

Duplicates SC823

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Department of Finance and Administration (DFA)

Office of the State Engineer (OSE)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

House Bill 627 appropriates $250 thousand from the general fund to the Local Government Divi-

sion (LGD) of the Department of Finance and Administration (DFA) in FY07 to purchase water

rights for Rio Arriba County.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $250 thousand contained in this bill is a non-recurring expense to the gen-

eral fund. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of FY07 would revert

to the general fund.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

Both DFA and OSE indicated the bill does not specify the purpose of the additional water rights.

House Bill 627 – Page 2

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

DFA indicated HB627 appropriates funding to LGD/DFA to purchase water rights. This is not a

typical function for the local government division. Water rights are more typically purchased by

the Interstate Stream Commission in the OSE. Demands on Office of the State Engineer and the

Interstate Stream Commission staff would increase some due to transfer applications and to

check for possible impacts to compact compliance.

TECHNICAL ISSUES

OSE suggested the Rio Grande Compact prohibits any new net depletions (i.e., additional water

uses that permanently remove water from the river/groundwater systems) beyond the 1929 Con-

dition between the Colorado-New Mexico state line and Ottowi gage. It is suggested Rio Arriba

County can seek an opinion from the Interstate Stream Commission to ensure their purchases

will not impact Rio Grande Compact compliance.

DH/nt