New Mexico Water
Comments (6) As long as I have been out in this country, I still become amazed at the trouble water brings…Maybe I should say the lack of water brings…But we have to have it and in order for any city to grow out here they need a good supply of water…Once someone has water rights it is a real fight to get it away from them or to infringe on their usage…One thing though, it is use it or lose it, per state water laws. So some farms on the east side of the state are selling some of their water rights…The latest news, the owner of some wells in the Lake Sumner aquifer, who bought the rights down around Lake Sumner, near Fort Sumner, wants to sells its water to the city of Santa Fe, who needs it for the city usage. They would build a 150 mile pipeline which will rise in elevation over 4000 feet in that distance… But now, the Carlsbad Irrigation District says, no, the water under the ground in the Pecos River Run Off area belongs to us and if Santa Fe gets it, it will short us on irrigation water and so they filed a law suit trying to stop the sell. (Texas is due a lot of the Pecos River water as well, but I have not heard what they are saying at this point). Carlsbad says Santa Fe needs to get its water from the Rio Grande River runoff area, since that is where they are located…..It is over my head, it is complicated, it has for years been certain ways, but now with the growth of our New Mexico cities it is becoming more and more critical in having sufficient water to take care of its citizens. Albuquerque bought water from the San Juan River in the Famington area and it is currently being injected into our aquifer here….Sales of water rights do happen, it has happened and it is legal….But a whole lot of people have a whole lot to say about it…Do the folks in Alabama and Mississippi have any problems with water?…Maybe too much water at times, huh?
