The New Mexico Office of the State Engineer granted a first-of-its-kind water-rights permit that will keep water in the Gallinas River.
Surface water rights are usually granted to individuals who seek to divert water from streams to irrigate their crops, as rivers and streams only make up 1 percent of the landscape in the state, according to the New Mexico Political Report. The new permit allows private water rights-holders to lease or sell water for conservation purposes, Paul Tashjian, the director of freshwater conservation at Audubon New Mexico, said to the news agency.
Tashjian says such a permit has never before been granted in New Mexico and will be beneficial for in-stream flow rights because state law encourages diverting water. He said the permit sets precedent for the state agency and other water rights-holders.
“What this allows is for, in places where it makes sense for the ecology of the system, that the water could be left in-stream but still recognized for use," Tashjian told the New Mexico Political Report. It establishes it within the permit system.”
The historic permit likely will be a learning experience for all involved, John Romero of the Water Resource Allocation told the New Mexico Political Report.
“Now the challenge is going to be, when someone sees the water in the river, they’re just going to take it like normal," Romero said. "They aren’t going to know [that it belongs to someone else]. There are some challenges that we have to overcome, so we’ll see how that goes.”
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