ACTION ALERT – Support HB 30, Water Lease Due Process

• HB 30 protects existing senior water rights from impairment. Constitutional and statutory protections of priority water rights are at stake.

• HB 30 protects due process in water lease applications before the State Engineer.

• Current law requires the following: 1) The State Engineer has to consider impacts on existing rights of any new uses of water and 2) those who may be affected by the new use of water can file objections and 3) a public hearing MUST BE HELD where their concerns MUST BE ADDRESSED.

• HB 30 is needed because the State Engineer in recent years has used an unlawful administrative procedure he calls “preliminary approval,” in which he preliminary approves pending protested water use lease applications before a mandatory public hearing has been held. This violates protection of existing water rights and due process.

• The water leasing statute does not contain a provision for “preliminary approval” of water lease applications. By allowing applications to proceed before a hearing, senior water right uses, such as irrigation districts, Pueblos, rural community water systems, villages, and acequias, could be impaired while a protest is pending.

• A judge in the Fifth Judicial District recently ordered the State Engineer cancel permits granted through preliminary approval to Intrepid potash and ruled that the State Engineer did not have the statutory authority to grant preliminary approval for water lease applications.

• If there is a need for expedited procedures for water leases in New Mexico, proposed policy changes should be developed through the legislative process in a manner that considers constitutional and statutory protections for existing water rights.

We urge you to support HB 30 to protect existing, senior water rights and due process in water lease application procedures.