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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T
SPONSOR Cervantes
ORIGINAL DATE
LAST UPDATED
2/1/2007
2/7/2007 HB 302/aHEC
SHORT TITLE Utton Center Water Ombudsman Services
SB
ANALYST McOlash
APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)
Appropriation
Recurring
or Non-Rec
Fund
Affected
FY07
FY08
$282.0
Recurring
General Fund
(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)
Relates to SB 594 (Utton Center Ombudsman Services).
Relates to Appropriation in the General Appropriation Act
SOURCES OF INFORMATION
LFC Files
Responses Received From
Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC)
Office of the State Engineer/Interstate Stream Commission (ISC)
Higher Education Department (HED)
SUMMARY
Synopsis of HEC Amendment
The House Education Committee amendment strikes “IN WATER RIGHTS" from the bill title
on page 1, line 13 and inserted in lieu thereof “FOR PENDING STREAM" ADJUDICATIONS.
The amendment also inserts the words “for pending stream adjudications" in place of specific
reference to the San Juan, the Chama, and the lower Rio Grande water rights.
The amendment makes HB 302 (Utton Center Water Ombudsman Services) almost an exact
duplicate of SB 594 (Utton Center Ombudsman Services).
pg_0002
House Bill 302/aHEC – Page
2
Synopsis of Original Bill
House Bill 302 appropriates $282,000 from the General Fund to the Regents of UNM for
expenditure in FY 2008 for the Utton Transboundary Resources Center at the School of Law to
provide ombudsman services on the San Juan, the Chama, and the lower Rio Grande water rights
adjudication.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
The appropriation of $282,000 contained in this bill is a recurring expense to the general Fund.
Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of FY shall revert to the general
Fund.
SIGNIFICANT ISSUES
The Utton Transboundary Resources Center was established at the University of New Mexico
School of Law to carry on the work of the late Professor Albert E. Utton related to transboundary
resource issues. Professor Utton, a visionary and man of diplomacy, was co-founder of The
International Transboundary Resources Center (CIRT) and the Natural Resources Center (NRC)
at the University of New Mexico School of Law. In January of 1999, a group of Professor
Utton’s colleagues met and determined to continue his work.
The Utton Center, in carrying out its mission to promote equitable and sustainable management
and utilization of transboundary resources through impartial expertise, multi-disciplinary
scholarship, and preventive diplomacy brings together multidisciplinary teams for academic
research and field work projects. Solutions for complex transboundary resource issues are
reached using preventive diplomacy and fact-based analysis. The Utton Center examines and
analyzes the problems, develops teams to collaborate on solutions, and helps avoid costly
litigation while fostering sustainable resource management plans.
A proposal requesting an additional $120,000 was submitted to the HED by UNM but was not
included in the Department funding recommendation for FY08. The Department did recommend
a continuance of the FY07 recurring funding in the amount of $140,000.
CONFLICT, DUPLICATION, COMPANIONSHIP, RELATIONSHIP
HB 302 ((Utton Center Water Ombudsman Services) and SB 594 (Utton Center Ombudsman
Services) both appropriate $282,000 from the General Fund for the Utton Transboundary
Resources Center for stream adjudications. They, however, are not duplicates.
The General Appropriation Act (HB 7/SB 2) appropriate $140,000 for the Utton Transboundary
Resources Center.
pg_0003
House Bill 302/aHEC – Page
3
OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES
ISC Analysis
The ombudsman services for the lower Rio Grande water rights adjudication
under this appropriation would assist in the implementation of a new case
management order entered by the adjudication court that will require the State to
immediately serve process on approximately 7,750 previously enjoined water
rights claimants. Compliance with the new case management order will, in the
short term, impose a large additional burden on the Office of the State Engineer
(“OSE"), which is the staff that supports water rights adjudications filed by the
State. The extent to which the ombudsman services provided for by this
appropriation would relieve some of this additional burden on the State is
uncertain.
By providing information to the public about water rights, and assisting water
rights claimants and the courts in adjudication of water rights, it is anticipated
that the ombudsman services funded by this appropriation could reduce the
amount of litigation required for settlement of water rights claims.
BM/nt