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

SPONSOR Nunez

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

1/24/07

2/23/07 HB 53/aHAGC

SHORT TITLE Water Trust Board Membership & Chairperson

SB

ANALYST Kehoe

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY07

FY08

NFI

NFI

NFI

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

New Mexico Finance Authority (NMFA)

New Mexico Department of Agriculture (NMDA)

Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department (EMNRD)

Office of the State Engineer (OSE)

New Mexico Game and Fish Department (NMGFD)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of HAGC Amendment

The House Agriculture and Water Resources Committee amendment increases the Water Trust

Board membership from 15 to 17 members. The three new members include the executive

directors of the Rural Water Association, the New Mexico Association of Conservation Districts,

and the New Mexico Acequia Association, or their designees. The amendment further decreases

the number of public members appointed by the governor to the board from five to three

members. The 3 public members shall represent the environment community, an irrigation or

conservancy district that uses surface water, and an irrigation or conservancy district that uses

ground water.

Synopsis of Original Bill

House Bill 53 amends a provision of the Water Finance Act to add the Secretary of the

Department of Finance and Administration as a member of the board, strikes the language

House Bill 53/aHAGC – Page

2

requiring the State Engineer to serve as chairman of the board, provides for election of the chair,

and allows for designees to serve in place of members.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

House Bill 53 expands the current membership of the Water Trust Board from 15 to 16

members. The current membership consists of: the state engineer; the executive directors of the

New Mexico Finance Authority, New Mexico Municipal League and New Mexico Association

of Counties; the secretaries of the Environment Department, Energy, Minerals and Natural

Resources, Game and Fish, and Department of Agriculture; five public members appointed by

the governor and confirmed by the Senate; one public member appointed by the Indian Affairs

Commission; and the president of the Navajo Nation.

The public members appointed by the governor, must represent the environmental community,

an irrigation or conservancy district that uses surface water, an irrigation or conservancy district

that uses ground water, acequia water users, and soil and water conservation.

Under current law (Water Finance Act, Section 72-4A-4), the State Engineer is designated to

serve as the chairman of the Water Trust Board. House Bill 53 provides for election of the chair,

and also allows members of the board to name a designee to serve in his or her place on the

board.

CONFLICT, DUPLICATION, COMPANIONSHIP, RELATIONSHIP

The executive budget request proposes creating an Office of Water Infrastructure to ensure

accountability for water projects and to streamline the application project to provide “one-stop

shopping" for communities requiring assistance with their water infrastructure needs. The

request includes four additional positions for the Department of Finance and Administration, and

proposes to transfer the Construction Programs Bureau to the new water office.

LMK/yr:csd