HB 579
Page 1
AN ACT
RELATING TO WATER; AMENDING A SECTION OF THE NMSA 1978 TO
ALLOW APPOINTMENT OF A WATER MASTER ONLY UPON APPLICATION BY A
MAJORITY OF WATER RIGHTS OWNERS IN A DISTRICT.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:
Section 1. Section 72-3-2 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1907,
Chapter 49, Section 14, as amended) is amended to read:
"72-3-2. WATER MASTERS--APPOINTMENT--REMOVAL--DUTIES.--
A. The state engineer shall, upon the written
application of a majority of the water rights owners of any
district in this state, appoint a water master for such
district in the state, who may, for cause, be removed by the
state engineer and shall be removed upon a petition of a
majority of the water rights owners of the district. The
water master shall have immediate charge of the apportionment
of waters in the water master's district under the general
supervision of the state engineer, and the water master shall
so appropriate, regulate and control the waters of the
district as will prevent waste. The state engineer may, if in
the state engineer’s opinion the public safety or interests of
water users in any district in the state require it, appoint
such water master for temporary or permanent service in such
district in the absence of the application above provided for
in this article.