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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
1/31/07
HB 643
SHORT TITLE Rio Chama Water Banking and Conservation
SB
ANALYST Propst
APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)
Appropriation
Recurring
or Non-Rec
Fund
Affected
FY07
FY08
$150.0
Recurring
General Fund
(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)
SOURCES OF INFORMATION
LFC Files
Responses Received From
Office of the State Engineer (OSE)
SUMMARY
Synopsis of Bill
House Bill 643 bill appropriates $150.0 from the General Fund to the Local Government
Division of the Department of Finance and Administration for expenditure in FY 08 for a water
banking and conservation plan in Rio Chama.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
The appropriation of $150.0 contained in this bill is a recurring expense to the General Fund.
Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of FY08 shall revert to the
General Fund.
SIGNIFICANT ISSUES
The Office of the State Engineer notes that water banking by acequias was authorized by the
New Mexico Legislature in Laws of 2003, Chapter 132, House Bill 302. HB 643 would allow
acequias in Rio Chama to implement that law and allow members of the acequias to protect their
water rights from forfeiture while providing irrigating members an additional source of water for
irrigation.