0001|                       HOUSE JOINT MEMORIAL 98
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0002|     43rd legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 1997
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0003|                            INTRODUCED BY
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0004|                          PAULINE K. GUBBELS
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0005|     
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0006|                                   
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0007|     
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0008|     
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0009|     
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0010|                           A JOINT MEMORIAL
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0011|     REQUESTING THE APPROPRIATE INTERIM COMMITTEE CONSIDERING WATER
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0012|     ISSUES TO INCLUDE CONSIDERATION OF BENEFICIAL USE AND WATER
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0013|     RIGHTS CONSERVATION.
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0014|     
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0015|          WHEREAS, New Mexico is a dry state, receiving as little as
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0016|     six inches of precipitation a year in some areas, which had
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0017|     particularly acute consequences during the drought of 1996,
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0018|     resulting in wildfires and crop losses; and 
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0019|          WHEREAS, the state has nine times the population it had in
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0020|     1900, and in recent years, the state has had several of the
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0021|     fastest-growing communities in the country, with the population
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0022|     of Santa Fe alone increasing more than thirty percent since
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0023|     1980; and
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0024|          WHEREAS, increasing population puts severe stress on the
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0025|     state's natural resources, especially water, and the only
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0001|     source of new water in New Mexico is derived from conserved
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0002|     water or by watershed management to achieve increased yield;
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0003|     and
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0004|          WHEREAS, water rights conservation is not encouraged under
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0005|     New Mexico law, which is based on the sparser population and
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0006|     cultural practices in New Mexico under territorial governments
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0007|     in the early centuries of settlement; and
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0008|          WHEREAS, the rights to use water are based on the concept
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0009|     of beneficial use and water rights are subject to forfeiture
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0010|     for non-use; and
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0011|          WHEREAS, several measures were introduced during the 1997
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0012|     legislative session to address water management, including
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0013|     House Bill 928, which would have redefined beneficial use to
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0014|     include water rights conservation; and
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0015|          WHEREAS, House Joint Memorial 90 requests the continuation
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0016|     of an interim committee to review water policy;
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0017|          NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE
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0018|     STATE OF NEW MEXICO that any interim committee directed by the
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0019|     New Mexico legislative council to review water policy include
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0020|     in its work plan the review of state water law that deals with
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0021|     beneficial use, diversion rights, consumptive rights and
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0022|     conservation; and
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0023|          BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be
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0024|     transmitted to the co-chairs of the New Mexico legislative
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0025|     council.
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0001|                              
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