Water Plans for Certain Entities
What’s New:
In 2007, Environment New Mexico, working with Representative Peter Wirth, Senator Carlos Cisneros and Representative Mimi Stewart, introduced bills and memorials to amend existing statute (Section 72-1-9 NMSA 1978), which currently requires municipalities, counties, school districts, state universities, member-owned community water systems, special water users’ associations and public utilities supplying water to municipalities or counties that acquire water rights that they will not put to immediate beneficial use to submit a water development plan, which is submitted to the State Engineer.
The bills outlined specific criteria that would be included in these water development plans. Additionally, the water development plan would need to be updated every three years, be approved by the appropriate governing body and be made available to the public.
As a result, in 2007 Environment New Mexico helped to pass an important memorial which directed the New Mexico Office of the State Engineer to convene stakeholders to study water planning. As a result of these stakeholder meetings, in late 2007, the OSE announced its support of Environment New Mexico-backed templates for statewide water planning. Stakeholders, including Environment New Mexico, will meet over the next year todevelop the specific criteria.
Background:
Proposed criteria to be included in the water development plan:
- An assessment of (1) existing water demand, including surface water diversions and groundwater depletions by category of use; (2) existing water supply, including point of diversion, purpose of use, place of use and priority of the rights; and (3) future water demands and needs for the forty-year planning period;
- A description of proposed management alternatives for balancing water demand and supply over the forty-year planning period; and
- An evaluation of the consistency of the water development plan with the regional water plan.
- The current statute requires modification because it does not:
- Outline useful and specific criteria which must be included in the plan, meaning these plans lack consistency. This bill would allow these plans to become more useful, effective planning documents;
- Require that these plans be adopted by the appropriate governing body, so that they can be more useful as on-the-ground planning documents used to drive local decisions; and
- Require that these plans be made public.
Effects of the legislation include:
- Promoting long-term, local water planning;
- Creating consistency and usefulness in planning documents; and
- Developing a plan whereby New Mexico’s water suppliers can balance water use with a renewable supply.