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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T
SPONSOR Stewart
ORIGINAL DATE
LAST UPDATED
1-31-07 HB 551
SHORT TITLE 100-Year Water Use Planning Period
SB
ANALYST Woods
APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)
Appropriation
Recurring
or Non-Rec
Fund
Affected
FY07
FY08
NFI
NFI
(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)
SOURCES OF INFORMATION
LFC Files
Responses Received From
Office of the State Engineer (OSE)
New Mexico Municipal League (NMML)
New Mexico Higher Education Department (NMHED)
SUMMARY
Synopsis of Bill
House Bill 551 seeks to amend NMSA 1978, § 72-1-9, as enacted in 1985, to remove the
legislative acknowledgment of the State’s recognition of the State Engineer’s policy to allow
municipalities, counties and other qualified entities to acquire and hold unused water rights
pursuant to water development plans for reasonably projected additional needs for periods not to
exceed forty years. The bill additionally seeks to amend NMSA 1978, §§ 72-1-9, 72-1-10 and
72-6-3 to provide that a reasonable planning period shall not exceed 100 years.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
The Office of the State Engineer (OSE) indicates that an increase in recurring operating budget,
for as many as 4 FTEs, appears reasonable due to the fact that OSE staff would evaluate every
water development plan submitted with water rights applications; moreover, increasing the
planning period to 100 years would effectively double the current work load of existing staff.
pg_0002
House Bill 551 – Page
2
SIGNIFICANT ISSUES
The New Mexico Municipal League indicates that water needs are not limited to the potential
needs of a community for a short period of time. While 40 years seems to be such a period, we
need only look at the communities of Rio Rancho Los Lunas, Moriarty, Artesia and Roswell as
examples of communities that have experienced rapid, unexpected growth within much shorter
periods of time. A 100 year plan is not an unreasonable period to plan for based on the
experience of the communities cited and the potential growth of New Mexico and its
municipalities.
OSE advises that the bill raises a number of significant issues. First, New Mexico does not
maintain an official legislative history or record of the laws enacted; nor does the Legislature, as
a rule, include any statement within a statute to explain or provide the purpose, reason or basis
for its action. The enactment of NMSA 1978, § 72-1-9 in 1985 is one of the few exceptions to
the rule. The significance of the Legislature’s statement, in paragraph (A), that the statute
codifies existing State Engineer policy should be carefully considered before being removed.
While the legislature’s actions are presumed not to be arbitrary or capricious, they are
susceptible to attack on that basis in the absence of an official history or record. Therefore, it
must be inferred that the Legislature found it important to support its enactment of a 40-year
water development planning period by including the historical precedent of State Engineer
policy. Changing the period to 100 years and removing the basis the Legislature originally relied
upon to support the reasonableness of a 40-year planning period is ill advised without a thorough
analysis of the possible, but unintended, consequences.
Second, OSE indicates that the merits and benefits that may justify changing the planning period
to 100 years must be weighed against the negative consequences of doing so identified in the
analysis, if any.
Finally, OSE suggests that a 100-year planning period should consider the effects of:
Providing a significant exception to the constitutional prior appropriation doctrine
requiring beneficial use within a reasonable period of time.
Limiting other uses and economic benefits the State will forgo by allowing water
rights to go unused for extended time periods.
Stressing a limited water right market with increased demands that will result in
increased prices in the short term and reduced supply in the long term.
Allowing entities to have 100-year plans when not typical for other types of planning
infrastructure, for example. The basis for evaluating 100-year needs is unknown and
will have to be established by the State Engineer.
Inhibiting the development of new reuse technologies, conservation efforts, and other
potential advances in technology.
Whether it would provide any additional water security that doesn’t already exist.
pg_0003
House Bill 551 – Page
3
ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS
OSE notes that, if enacted, State Engineer rules and regulations and administrative guidelines
will have to be amended to be consistent. The application process is time consuming and new
FTEs will be required to handle the increased workload attributable to the increased complexity
of reviewing 100-year plans; otherwise, the length of time between the filing of and action on
water rights applications will increase unacceptably. If this bill is enacted without new FTEs to
handle the increased workload, it will negatively affect the OSE’s ability to meet its required
performance measures associated with processing water right applications.
OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES
The New Mexico Higher Education Department observes that legal time limits for planning are
inconsistent among cities, counties, and the state causing problems in developing and processing
water rights applications. Extending the state statute planning period up to 100 years would help
to synchronize the system statewide.
OSE indicates that “it has been stated that this bill is necessary to meet subdivision regulations
enacted by counties that have timing periods of greater than 40-years. It is noted that subdivision
regulations are not speculative. Subdivision regulations require wet water availability analyses to
ensure the subdivision will be able to meet its water quantity statements. These are for specific
future demands. NMSA 1978, § 72-1-9 allows covered entities to hold water rights unused for a
reasonable time period. The projections generally used for this are estimates of potential future
growth."
ALTERNATIVES
OSE suggests that it is possible for both scenarios described in the “OTHER SUBSTANTIVE
ISSUES" section to be addressed, but it is more reasonable to provide for them with separate
provisions. One for projected (estimated) water demands and another for commitments to
provide water for approved subdivisions. There are many other issues related to water planning
in the State of New Mexico that indicate the need for a comprehensive analysis of how the State
should address long-term planning and water supply and demand before any radical amendments
are considered. Further, that the State Engineer would support a Memorial directing that he
undertake such an analysis and report with recommendations to the 2008 Legislature for its
consideration.
WHAT WILL BE THE CONSEQUENCES OF NOT ENACTING THIS BILL
The New Mexico Municipal League suggests that not enacting this legislation will not give
municipalities and counties the opportunity to adequately plan for potential growth of their
community.
BFW/csd