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Home » US Law » 2021 New Mexico Statutes » Chapter 72 - Water Law » Article 5 - Appropriation and Use of Surface Water

Section 72-5-1 – Application for permit; rules; surveys, etc.

Any person, association or corporation, public or private, the state of New Mexico or the United States of America, except as provided in Section 15 [72-5-33 NMSA 1978] of this act, hereafter intending to acquire the right to the beneficial use of any waters, shall, before commencing any construction for such purposes, make an application […]

Section 72-5-10 – [State engineer’s certificate of construction.]

When the works are found in satisfactory condition, after inspection, the state engineer shall issue his certificate of construction, setting forth the actual capacity of the works and such limitations on the water right as shall be warranted by the condition of the works, but in no manner extending the rights described in the permit. […]

Section 72-5-11 – Inspection and correction of unsafe works.

If the state engineer shall in the course of his duties find that any works constructed for the storage, diversion or carriage of water are unsafe and a menace to life or property, he shall at once notify the owner or agent, specifying the changes necessary and allowing a reasonable time for putting the works […]

Section 72-5-12 – Failure to comply with state engineer order; penalty.

Any owner of works for the diversion, storage, carriage or impoundment of water, his agent or employees, who, following notice to place such works in a safe condition as provided in Section 72-5-11 NMSA 1978, fails to take action specified by the state engineer within the time allowed, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. Any […]

Section 72-5-13 – [Issuance of license to appropriate water.]

On or before the date set for the application of the water to a beneficial use, the state engineer shall cause the works to be inspected, after due notice to the owner of the permit. Upon the completion of such inspection, the state engineer shall issue a license to appropriate water to the extent and […]

Section 72-5-14 – Time for construction; extension.

The state engineer shall have the power to grant extensions of time in which to complete construction of works, to apply water to beneficial use and for such other reasonable purpose as may in his opinion appear, under any water right application on file in his office, upon proper showing by the applicant of due […]

Section 72-5-16 – [Priority of liens.]

All liens on land, provided for in this article shall be superior in right to all mortgages or other encumbrances placed upon the land and the water appurtenant thereto or used in connection therewith. History: Laws 1907, ch. 49, § 52; Code 1915, § 5711; C.S. 1929, § 151-164; 1941 Comp., § 77-515; 1953 Comp., […]

Section 72-5-17 – Excess waters; sale.

The owner or owners of any works for the storage, diversion or carriage of water who may make application to store or carry water in excess of their needs for irrigation or other beneficial use, shall be required, as trustee of such right, to deliver such surplus at reasonable and uniform rates to parties entitled […]

Section 72-5-18 – Water allowance.

A. In the issuance of permits to appropriate water for irrigation or in the adjudication of the rights to the use of water for that purpose, the amount allowed shall be based upon beneficial use and in accordance with good agricultural practices and the amount allowed shall not exceed such amount. The state engineer shall […]

Section 72-5-19 – [Standards for measuring flow and volume of water.]

The standard of measurement of the flow of water shall be the cubic foot per second of time; the standard of measurement of the volume of water shall be the acre-foot, being the amount of water upon an acre covered one foot deep, equivalent to forty-three thousand five hundred and sixty cubic feet. The miner’s […]

Section 72-5-2 – Existing community ditches.

None of the provisions of the preceding section [72-5-1 NMSA 1978] or Section 72-2-6 NMSA 1978 shall apply to community ditches which are already constructed. History: Laws 1913, ch. 62, § 3; Code 1915, § 5679; C.S. 1929, § 151-130; 1941 Comp., § 77-502; 1953 Comp., § 75-5-2.

Section 72-5-20 – Headgates and measuring devices.

Every ditch owner shall, when requested to do so by the state engineer, construct and maintain a substantial headgate at the point where the water is diverted, and shall construct a measuring device, of a design approved by the state engineer, at the most practical point or points for measuring and apportioning the water as […]

Section 72-5-21 – [Recording of permits, decrees and documents; certified copies.]

All permits, decrees and documents granting, defining or limiting water rights and rights of owners of canals, reservoirs and works for conducting, storing or appropriating water in this state shall be recorded in the office of the county clerk of the county in which the property, canal, reservoir or work is situated. When so recorded, […]

Section 72-5-22 – [Transfer of water rights.]

Any permit or license to appropriate water may be assigned, but no such assignment shall be binding, except upon the parties thereto, unless filed for record in the office of the state engineer. The evidence of the right to use water from any works constructed by the United States, or its duly authorized agencies, shall […]

Section 72-5-23 – Water appurtenant to land; change of place of use.

All water used in this state for irrigation purposes, except as otherwise provided in this article, shall be considered appurtenant to the land upon which it is used, and the right to use it upon the land shall never be severed from the land without the consent of the owner of the land, but, by […]

Section 72-5-24 – Change of purpose; change of point of diversion.

An appropriator of water may, with the approval of the state engineer, use the same for other than the purpose for which it was appropriated or may change the place of diversion, storage or use in the manner and under the conditions prescribed in Sections 72-5-3 and 72-5-23 NMSA 1978. History: Laws 1907, ch. 49, […]

Section 72-5-25 – Emergency; change of point of diversion; procedure.

A. An appropriator of water may change the place of diversion, storage or use of water upon application to and approval of the state engineer without following the requirements of Section 72-5-23 NMSA 1978 relating to publication of notice if an emergency exists in which the delay caused by following the provisions of Section 72-5-23 […]

Section 72-5-26 – [Diversion from watershed or into another stream.]

Whenever the owner of a ditch, canal, pipeline, reservoir or other works shall turn or deliver water from one stream or drainage into another stream or drainage, such owner may take and use the same quantity of water, less a reasonable deduction for evaporation and seepage to be determined by the state engineer, and such […]