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BRINGING WATER RIGHTS ADJUDICATIONS INTO THE 21ST CENTURY: THE NEED FOR SWIFT DETERMINATION IN AN AGE OF LOOMING DROUGHT
The Albert E. Utton Memorial Water Lecture by Jim Dunlap New Mexico Water Resources Research Institute 2018 Annual Meeting Las Cruces, New Mexico October 17, 2018
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[No. 1: Title Slide] Good afternoon! I would like to thank the New Mexico Water Resources Research Institute for their invitation to present the Albert E. Utton Memorial Water Lecture this year. This is an honor that I very much appreciate. I had the privilege of working with Al Utton when he and I served on Governor Gary Johnson’s Blue Ribbon Task Force on Water. I considered him a good friend, and I soon found that when Al Utton spoke, we all listened. [No. 2: FAQ Adjudication Slide] Soon after I took office at the ISC, I decided one of my main goals would be supporting the completion of water rights adjudications. We need to have an inventory of water rights in every water
- basin. We need to know exactly who owns what in terms of water rights, including the amount of their
rights and their priority dates. In my opinion, the State Engineer cannot adequately administer water rights without that information, and the best way to get it is to adjudicate all of the water rights in the state. If we do not get our adjudications moving and complete them in a reasonable time frame, our state may not be able to meet its compact obligations to other states. Nor will the State Engineer be able to authorize the quick transfers or exchanges of water rights that will be necessary to handle water shortage crises as they crop up in our state. We can no longer stick our heads in the sand and hope we can continue getting by without priority calls or other State Engineer administration. [No. 3: Water Rights Slide]
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New Mexico and other Western states follow the doctrine of prior appropriation, which essentially means that the first person to spend money to divert and use water gets to use it. The second person to spend money to put water to beneficial use has the second best right, and so on. Once a water source is fully appropriated, no one else can obtain a new right to use it. If they want to use water, they must lease
- r buy someone else’s right.
Also, in times of shortage, the person with the oldest water right gets to use water first. In other words, he can receive all of his water before the water right owner next on the priority date timeline receives one drop. In New Mexico, the most senior water right holders are the Indian tribes and pueblos, followed by acequias and farmers. Municipalities and industrial users tend to hold more junior rights. [No. 4: Surface and Groundwater Basins Slide] The prior appropriation doctrine was the custom before the State, or even the Territory, was
- established. The prior appropriation doctrine is embodied in the Water Code, which was adopted in 1907.
Originally the Water Code applied only to surface water. New Mexico has six major surface water basins. All surface water in the state is fully appropriated. Because water is owned by the state, you usually need a permit to use it. Permits are issued by the State Engineer. Any surface water rights used before 1907 were grandfathered in and do not require a permit. Today, “pre-1907” water rights are the most valuable. The Groundwater Code was passed in 1931 at a time when farmers who used wells needed a permit establishing their water right in order to satisfy bankers that they would be able to keep farming. The State Engineer obtained jurisdiction over groundwater only when he declared a groundwater basin. The State Engineer declared the last groundwater basin in 2005, so he now has jurisdiction over all 39 groundwater basins in the state.
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[No. 5: Hydro Connection Slide] In most areas of the state, groundwater is hydrologically connected to a surface water system. Beginning in 1963, state courts recognized this connection and authorized the State Engineer to place conditions on groundwater permits in order to protect surface water from the effects of pumping groundwater. [No. 6: AWRM Slide] In response to a very dry year in 2002, the Legislature, in 2003, directed the State Engineer to promulgate regulations for water right administration. State Engineer John D’Antonio then developed the Active Water Resource Management regulations. Adopted in December 2004, these regulations provide for the creation of water districts, the appointment of water masters and other tools to be used in case of a priority call or in lieu of a priority call. If a priority call or other administration is required, water rights are administered by the State Engineer according to court adjudication decrees. AWRM regulations provide for alternative water management to extend water supplies and avoid priority calls by authorizing water sharing through water banks and allowing expedited transfers. State water right adjudications provide an important, and in my opinion, necessary inventory of water rights in each stream system. That inventory can be used to implement State Engineer priority administration in times of shortage when alternatives fail, such as shortage sharing agreements, water rotation, water banking or water right transfers. [No. 7: Adjudication Slide] Adjudications determine who owns what water rights within a particular stream system or underground water basin. The legal framework for adjudications is set out in sections 72-4-13 through
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72-4-19 of the New Mexico statutes. Practically speaking, a water rights adjudication is a quiet title action. Once it is completed, the ownership of water rights will be determined. In New Mexico, water rights adjudications are a function of the judiciary. The State Engineer does act as a technical expert in the adjudication. An adjudication decree is a “court blessed” and binding inventory of water rights, and it typically provides the best evidence of the existence of a water right. Both state and federal courts have exercised jurisdiction to adjudicate water rights in New Mexico. Under the 1952 McCarran Amendment, the federal government has waived sovereign immunity with respect to water rights adjudications. This is significant because the federal government lays claim to very large amounts of water, both in its own right and as trustee for Native American tribes. Most of those rights have the earliest priority dates and can now be adjudicated in state court. However, it is important to remember that, under the McCarran Amendment, a state water right adjudication must be a general stream adjudication involving all water users in the basin. Adjudications are run like ordinary lawsuits. A complaint initiates the adjudication, and potential water rights owners are joined in the suit. The complaint may be filed by any water right claimant or the
- state. Regardless of who starts the suit, the State will be the plaintiff and all other parties will be
defendants. [No. 8: Hydrographic Survey Slide] Before or during the lawsuit, the State Engineer conducts a hydrographic survey to determine where and how water is used. State Engineer technical staff use aerial and satellite photos from various years, as well as records in water rights files, to determine historic beneficial use. Field investigations
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verify historic and current water use. The hydrographic survey report filed with the court contains water right abstracts, maps and other information to describe each water right. Based on the hydrographic survey and other available information, the State Engineer sends offers
- f judgment to individual water rights holders. Each offer is part of a separate subfile, or mini lawsuit, and
there can be thousands of subfiles within a single adjudication. [No. 9: Adjudication Slide Again] The water right owner can either accept the State Engineer’s offer or dispute it. If the offer is accepted, the court will enter a subfile order establishing most, if not all, of the elements of that particular water right. The elements of a water right include the owner, the amount of water, the point of diversion, the place of use, the purpose of use, and the priority date. If an offer of judgment is refused, that particular water right is litigated in a subfile proceeding. A subfile order establishes a water right between the individual water right claimant and the state. Once all subfile orders are entered, an errors and omissions phase ensures that all information contained in a draft decree is correct. The adjudication then enters the inter se phase, during which individual water right owners can challenge the subfile orders establishing the water rights of other parties. After the inter se phase, a final adjudication decree is entered, which determines the water rights of all claimants. If the adjudication is conducted in sections, the court will enter a partial final decree for each section. Significant water rights, such as the water rights of a tribe or pueblo, may be decided in an expedited inter se before all other subfile orders have been entered. This procedure was used to enter the water rights decrees for the Jicarilla Apache and Navajo Nations in the San Juan River Basin.
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[No. 10: Active Adjudications Slide] Unfortunately, so far adjudications are taking many decades to complete. The oldest federal adjudication in the state, which involves the adjudication of the Rio Pojoaque and is known as the Aamodt adjudication, began in 1966. In fact, Aamodt is considered the oldest active federal lawsuit in the United
- States. I’m happy to say that a final judgment and decree was finally entered in the Aamodt case last
year. The oldest state court adjudication, known as the Lewis adjudication, covers the Pecos River and began in 1956. [No. 11: Slide from LFC re Adjudication Status] In 2016, it was estimated that the 12 then-active adjudications, including Aamodt, involved 72,800 non-Indian claimants, 18 tribes or pueblos, 50,000 subfiles and 464,000 irrigated acres. The Pecos is the largest adjudication by geographic area. The Lower Rio Grande adjudication has the largest number of water rights claimants. No adjudication of the Middle Rio Grande is currently planned. [No. 12: San Juan Basin Slide] In the northwest part of the state, the San Juan River Basin Adjudication was filed in the mid 1970s. Despite the fact that the claims of the Navajo Nation and the Jicarilla Apache Nation already have been resolved, it has been estimated it will take more than 100 years to complete the adjudication based on current state legal and hydrographic survey staffing levels. Obviously, this pace is absolutely unacceptable and harmful to our state. [No. 13: Drought History Slide]
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So why do I believe it is imperative to complete the adjudication of all water rights in the state? Because we will need an inventory of rights in order to administer priorities. I am hopeful the State will be able to manage water shortages without priority administration. Shortage sharing agreements, rotation schedules, water transfers, water banking and any other means of voluntary action is preferable to state-mandated curtailment. But we need to be prepared for priority administration in case dire predictions of climate change and drought prove to be accurate. [No. 14: Drought Monitor Slide] Only one quarter of one percent of the state is drought free. [No. 15: Elephant Butte 3% Photo Slide] At the end of September, Elephant Butte Reservoir was at just 3 percent of its capacity. Less than 45,000 acre feet of water flowed into Elephant Butte from the Rio Grande this year. That is the lowest inflow since the dam was completed in 1916. [No. 16: Animas Low Flow Slide] And what about the San Juan River Basin? At the end of September, the Animas River at Farmington had just above zero flow, which apparently is the lowest recorded flow ever in the history of the gauging station. [No. 17: Declining Groundwater Slide] Groundwater supplies are also declining in several areas of the state because groundwater pumping and natural discharges are exceeding recharge. Some of the areas affected by declining groundwater levels include portions of the Estancia Basin in central New Mexico, the Ogalalla/High Plains aquifer in the northeast, and the Ogalalla/High Plains aquifer in Lea County in the southeast. Water levels in the Ogalalla/High Plains aquifer are declining more than five feet per year in some areas.
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[No. 18: Water Demand Slide] From 1950 to 2010, New Mexico’s human population tripled, from 680,000 to 2 million. The population is expected to grow between 500,000 and 1.4 million by 2060. Annual water demand is expected to increase nearly 425,000 acre feet by 2060. If we do experience severe drought, statewide water shortages of more than 1 million acre feet can be expected almost immediately, increasing to nearly 2.4 million acre feet in 2060. By 2060, under the drought scenario, all planning regions in New Mexico are projected to have less than 75 percent of the supply needed to meet demands. Four of those regions will have less than 20 percent of the necessary supply. [No. 19: CID Letter Slide] Whenever there’s a water supply deficit, senior water right holders are legally entitled to ask for a priority call. The latest was in 2013 when the Carlsbad Irrigation District asked the State Engineer to enforce priorities on the Pecos River. The call was avoided when heavy rains restored the surface supply. The ability to use the available water supplies will be constrained for such reasons as interstate compact obligations and environmental compliance. [No. 20: Draft State Water Plan Slide] The 2018 draft State Water Plan identifies the completion of water rights adjudications as one of the primary water management issues facing our state. According to the Plan, adjudications are necessary to inventory and define water rights and to enhance administration. [No. 21: OSE Annual Report Slide]
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Quantifying the water rights of Indian tribes and pueblos through general stream adjudications is
- critical. Indian rights tend to have the earliest priority dates, and their claims can be quite large. For that
reason, their claims have the potential to displace many junior rights currently in use. Until all such rights are quantified, all non-Indian rights have a cloud on their title. Adjudications also will assist with Compact compliance if and when priority calls or other administration is necessary to meet water delivery requirements to downstream states. Finally, I believe that the threat of priority enforcement often encourages water users to cooperate to equitably share shortages or to otherwise reduce the risk of priority enforcement. Because adjudication can increase the risk of enforcement, competing interests often work together to find innovative solutions. In New Mexico’s San Juan River Basin, irrigation ditches recently implemented rotation schedules. And beginning about 15 years ago, major water users have shared shortages at various times. Those users agreeing to share shortages included Indian tribes, a city, utility companies, a conservancy district, an irrigation district and community ditches. The legislature is aware of this necessity, but unfortunately it has not taken action beyond studying the issue. [No. 22: AOC Report Slide] In 2007, the Interim Water and Natural Resources Committee created a subcommittee to study adjudication reform. A working group from the Administrative Office of the Courts and the Office of the State Engineer studied the adjudication processes of other Western states to develop ideas for improving New Mexico’s adjudication process.
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The AOC presented its report to the Legislative Finance Committee in 2007. Focusing on the adjudication process in the states of Idaho, Montana and Colorado, the AOC identified several procedures that should be considered by the legislature to improve and expedite our own adjudications. First, there should be a comprehensive statutory scheme that simplifies the process and no longer treats adjudications like regular civil lawsuits. Second, water right claimants should be required to file formal claims. Currently, in New Mexico the burden is on the State to identify all potential water right claimants, serve each of them with a complaint that makes them a defendant in the adjudication, and give them an offer of judgment based on the hydrographic survey. Third, the subfile and inter se phases should be combined into one proceeding. Fourth, the State Engineer’s role should change from a party to a truly neutral expert. Finally, there should be a dedicated water court with a sufficient number of judges and legal and clerical staff. In contrast, the State Engineer’s report promoted an administrative inventory of water rights through licensing by the State Engineer in lieu of judicial adjudication. [No. 23: Water Judges Slide] In 2009, the Supreme Court designated Judge James Wechsler as New Mexico’s water rights adjudication judge. He presides over all state adjudications. At the time, he was a sitting Court of Appeals judge, and he still had to handle non-adjudication cases. [No. 24: Arizona Report Slide] Following the lead of other states, and building on earlier work by the New Mexico Administrative Office of the Courts, I propose that the legislature should create a task force to research and develop a
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new statutory scheme to expedite water rights adjudications. The task force must include a wide range
- f stakeholders, from court personnel to State Engineer personnel to water lawyers to representatives
from all categories of water right owners. [No. 25: Rule 1-071.3 Report] The legislature also needs to bite the bullet and provide adequate funding for our adjudications. On September 21, the State filed its Rule 1-071.3 Report with each federal and state adjudication court. That report informs each court of the resources available for each adjudication and the State’s suggested adjudication priorities. The report shows that total staffing for all adjudications has decreased from 49.5 full time employees in 2010 to 30.2 full time employees for 2019—a decrease of nearly 40 percent. This includes staff attorneys, contract attorneys, paralegals, and hydrographic survey personnel. According to the 2017 draft State Water Plan Town Hall Report, when fully staffed and budgeted, the State Engineer can employ up to 16 adjudication attorneys. However, it appears from the state’s new report that there will be fewer than 10 working on adjudications in 2019. [No. 26: Indian Water Rights Settlement Slide] In 2005-2006, the State entered into three settlement agreements that resolved the water rights
- f the Navajo Nation and the Taos, Pojoaque, San Ildefonso, Nambé and Tesuque Pueblos. Those
settlements include about $130 million in monetary contributions from the state and approximately 1 billion in Federal Funds. Now that those claims have been resolved, the Legislature should provide similar funding to support the expeditious adjudication of the non-Indian water claims throughout the state. The December 2017 State Water Planning Town Hall identified adequate funding for adjudicating water rights as a top priority for advancing New Mexico’s water future. Funding should be made not only for legal and technical
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staff, but also for technology upgrades, including better GIS systems, mapping technologies, and high resolution digital aerial imagery for hydrographic survey work. New and more robust computer database systems, and the personnel to manage them, are needed to keep track of the thousands of adjudication subfiles and the rights set out in final decrees. [No. 27: Conclusion Slide] To sum all of this up, everyone knows I’m an impatient man. I believe this state must face its water challenges head on. That means tackling the water rights adjudications and getting them done. We need to educate the public about the importance of adjudications, design a program that will expedite the adjudication process, and convince the Legislature to fund the adjudications. Only then will this state be ready to face the water shortage challenges that are looming in the 21st century. Thank you very much for inviting me to speak to you today about a topic that is important to all of
- us. I love New Mexico. It has been my honor to serve this state. Hopefully my efforts in San Juan County
and on the ISC have helped protect our water supplies for future generations. And now I’m happy to answer any questions you may have.
