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SPONSOR: |
HAGC |
DATE TYPED: |
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HB |
CS/976/aHJC |
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SHORT TITLE: |
Domestic, Livestock and Temporary Well Permits |
SB |
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ANALYST: |
Chabot |
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APPROPRIATION
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Appropriation
Contained |
Estimated
Additional Impact |
Recurring or
Non-Rec |
Fund Affected |
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FY03 |
FY04 |
FY03 |
FY04 |
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NFI |
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(Parenthesis
( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)
Relates to HB 307, SB 484 and SB 565
LFC Files
Responses
Received From
Attorney
General (AG)
Office
of the State Engineer (OSE)
SUMMARY
Synopsis
of HJC Amendment
The House Judiciary Committee amendment to House
Agriculture and Water Resources Committee Substitute for House Bill 976 makes
editorial changes to the bill to make Section 72-12-1.1 read better by deleting
the subsections and putting all the material in one paragraph.
Synopsis
of Original Bill
The House Agriculture
and Water Resources Committee Substitute for House Bill 976 amends Section
72-12-1 NMSA by changing the title to UNDERGROUND WATERS DECLARED TO BE
PUBLIC—APPLICATIONS FOR [USE TO STATE ENGINEER—HEARING] LIVESTOCK
WATERING, DOMESTIC AND TEMPORARY USES OF WATER. The bill requires that applications be
processed as required by Sections 72-12-1.1 through 72-12-1.3.
A new section,
72-12-1.1 UNDERGROUND WATERS—DOMESTICE USE—PERMIT provides for irrigation of
one acre or less for noncommercial purposes or household or other domestic
use. The State Engineer shall issue a
permit for these uses but may condition the amount of water permitted as
established by regulations adopted by his office. Permits within municipalities shall comply
with applicable ordinances.
A new section,
72-12-1.2 UNDERGROUND PUBLIC WATERS—LIVESTOCK WELL PERMITS, establishes
procedures for requesting a livestock well permit that requires the State
Engineer to issue the permit except for two conditions. If the application is on state or federal
land, the applicant
must submit proof of entitlement to place livestock on the state or federal
land and has been given access to the drilling site.
A new section,
72-12-1.3 UNDERGROUND PUBLIC WATERS—TEMPORARY USES, is taken from the deleted
material from 72-12-1 and provides for temporary use of no more than three
acre-feet of water for a period of up to one year. Uses are for prospecting, mining or construction
of public works, highways and roads or drilling operations designed to discover
or develop natural resources.
Significant
Issues
AG states that allowing the State Engineer to
limit the amount of water available under a permit is needed to protect the
public water supply and to meet compact delivery obligations.
OSE summarizes the bill as conditioning the well
permits to address limitation of use. The
State Engineer will be “more involved” in processing domestic well permits
because, currently, applications must be approved with consideration of
impacts. The agency states that the bill
is “ vague with respect to the quantity of water” domestic and livestock wells
may pump.
RELATIONSHIP
OSE provides the following analysis of the bills
introduced on permitting of wells:
“HB 307 and SB 484 also pertain to Section
72-12-1. Both allow the state engineer
to designate areas in which domestic use may be limited.
SB 484 restricts well diversions to one
acre-foot per year in underground water basins or one-half an acre-foot per
year in areas with limited supply. No
similar limitations are imposed in Substitute HB 976; however, the bill allows
the state engineer to condition the amount diverted for domestic wells. The state engineer will be allowed to set
limitations under HB 976 based on site-specific considerations.
Households
typically divert less than 0.50 acre-feet per year (average is about 0.35 acre
feet per year). As such, SB 484 will
require the state engineer to issue permits for amounts greater than typically
required. Likewise, in some areas with
very limited water supplies, the combined use of domestic wells may be
impairing water rights. This may
especially be the case in areas with poor aquifers in the vicinity springs or
acequias. Groundwater withdrawals are
often at the expense of greater surface water depletions. Limiting domestic well use to less than 0.50
acre-feet per year is a condition that may be required for relatively small
areas to prevent impairment. Substitute
HB 976 allows the state engineer to determine allowable well diversions taking
into consideration available water supply.
SB
484 contains extensive notification requirements. Substitute HB 976 does not.
SB
484 requires every new well to be metered.
Substitute HB 976 does not.
The
process outlined in HB 307 may be more extensive compared to Substitute HB
976.
Both
HB 307 and SB 484 will have fiscal and administrative impacts. Substitute HB 976 will have relatively minor
impact compared to these bills.”