HOUSE BILL 131

55th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2022

INTRODUCED BY

Andrea Romero and Tara L. Lujan

 

 

 

 

 

AN ACT

MAKING APPROPRIATIONS FOR THE AGENCIES SUBJECT TO THE WATER DATA ACT TO CARRY OUT THE PURPOSES OF THE WATER DATA ACT AND IMPLEMENT THE WATER DATA ACT.

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:

     SECTION 1. APPROPRIATIONS.--

          A. Pursuant to Subsection D of Section 72-4B-3 NMSA 1978, the agencies subject to the Water Data Act are required to annually submit a plan to the governor and appropriate interim legislative committee detailing the goals, targets and actions to carry out the purposes of the Water Data Act in the upcoming fiscal year and the budgetary resources to carry out the purposes of the Water Data Act. In accordance with the annual plan, the amounts in Subsections B through F of this section are appropriated for implementation of the Water Data Act.

          B. Four million fifty thousand dollars ($4,050,000) is appropriated from the general fund to the board of regents of the New Mexico institute of mining and technology for expenditure in fiscal years 2023 through 2027 for the bureau of geology and mineral resources to provide, as the convening agency of the Water Data Act, support for Water Data Act implementation, including coordinating the agencies subject to the Water Data Act and building, implementing and supporting information technology infrastructure for data service, data transformation and data reporting, and to improve the bureau's water data collection, data management, data documentation and data access through automation of application programming interfaces.

          C. Four million dollars ($4,000,000) is appropriated from the general fund to the department of environment for expenditure in fiscal years 2023 through 2027 for the department to inventory and evaluate available data and database applications; acquire and implement new databases; continue to work on selecting water data features to share by application programming interface; include new data features on current web mapping services; initiate paper data digitization; and support new staffing requirements.

          D. Four million three hundred thousand dollars ($4,300,000) is appropriated from the general fund to the office of the state engineer for expenditure in fiscal years 2023 through 2027 for the office of the state engineer to build the office's resources for staff and information technology support to carry out its duties pursuant to the Water Data Act, including providing point of diversion data for the Water Data Act.

          E. Two million eight hundred thousand dollars ($2,800,000) is appropriated from the general fund to the office of the state engineer for expenditure in fiscal years 2023 through 2027 for the interstate stream commission to organize and document multiple datasets in different bureaus for improved data sharing, including application programming interface development; digitize data, including historical records; improve network monitoring and data collection efforts; and address multiple staffing needs.

          F. Three million one hundred fifty thousand dollars ($3,150,000) is appropriated from the general fund to the energy, minerals and natural resources department for expenditure in fiscal years 2023 through 2027 for the department to develop, implement and support information technology infrastructure to improve the agency's water data collection, data management, data documentation and data access through application programming interfaces and to support staffing needs in fulfillment of the Water Data Act.

          G. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of fiscal year 2027 shall revert to the general fund.

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