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

SPONSOR Martinez

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

2/5/06

HB 609

SHORT TITLE Study Water Conflicts in Acoma-Area

SB

ANALYST Hoffmann

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY06

FY07

$100.0

Recurring Acequia and Commu-

nity Ditch Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Office of the State Engineer (OSE)

Higher Education Department (HED)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

House Bill 609 appropriates $100,000 from the acequia and community ditch fund to the Board

of Regents of New Mexico State University for the Department of Agriculture to contract with a

hydrologist to identify water use conflicts in the Acoma, Gallitos, and Horace Springs area.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $100,000 contained in this bill is a recurring expense to the acequia and

community ditch fund. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of fiscal

year 2007 shall revert to the general fund.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

This line-item appropriation is not included in the Executive budget recommendations or the

LFC’s budget recommendations.

House Bill 609 – Page

2

The Office of the State Engineer receives substantial appropriations in its operating budget for

this purpose.

The State Engineer on behalf of the state is participating with the US in an ongoing adjudication

of the water rights in the Rio San Jose stream system. Any study in the area should be coordi-

nated with the OSE and the US Geological Survey to insure that consistent data is presented to

the Court.

PERFORMANCE IMPLICATIONS

The purpose of this appropriation falls under performance measures for the Office of the State

Engineer and the Interstate Stream Commission.

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

The Office of the State Engineer has stated that if the study is funded, OSE Hydrology Bureau

and Water Use Bureau staff should be involved in planning and review of the study results.

Normal staff assignments could be made.

TECHNICAL ISSUES

The bill appropriates money from the acequia and community ditch fund but names the general

fund as the fund to which unexpended and unencumbered balances revert. If this is unintentional,

it could be corrected by having the source and reversion fund names match.

Appropriations for most aspects of water use in New Mexico are directed to the Office of the

State Engineer, which has statutory authority and operational funding for this purpose.

CH/yr