Remember the Northeast Heights Unit meeting on
Monday, Feb. 24
10:00 a.m.
La Vida Llena
10501 Lagrima de Oro NE
Richard A. Allen, JD, Acting Deputy General Counsel for the State Engineer’s Litigation and Adjudication Program, and a Special Assistant Attorney General working in the Office of the New Mexico State Engineer, will address the February 24 NE Heights Unit. He will present a discussion of water rights, water litigation cases, and challenges faced by both private and public demands on the water supply in arid NM.
Mr. Allen graduated in 1977 from Austin College in Sherman, Texas, with a B.A. in philosophy, and received his J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1980.In his almost forty years as a practicing attorney he has worked for one very large firm, a number of small firms, as in-house counsel with American Standard, Inc., three years in solo practice, and has clerked with a Dallas federal district court and a Texas court of appeals.
In 1995 Mr. Allen and his family moved to New Mexico, where he practiced Indian law and appeared before the courts of the Navajo Nation. In 2005 Mr. Allen began work for his present employer, the Office of the New Mexico State Engineer. For almost fourteen years he worked as a staff attorney, then manager, of the Lower Rio Grande Bureau.
The League has an extensive and detailed position on water in New Mexico.
THE LEAGUE AND WATER ISSUES IN NEW MEXICO:
LWVNM has long recognized that water availability is frequently the determinant for increased industrial development essential to expanding the NM economy but NM also requires maintenance of sufficient potable water to sustain the current and future residents of NM. LWVNM has substantial positions regarding land use, water, and responsibilities of the NM State Engineer. The League position states that land use and development must be tied to water availability.
To encourage this, we believe:
•Compliance with water availability determinations by the Office of the State Engineer (OSE) under the Subdivision Act should be mandatory.
•The applicant must be required to acquire water rights before development can proceed.
•The impact of any transfer of water rights on the area of origin must be assessed.
•The permitting authority should evaluate the impact of proposed developments on "public welfare" as defined by the applicable regional water plan and be able to demonstrate that the proposed development is consistent with the plan.
•New residential and commercial developments should be water-efficient.
•Growth should not be permitted where water is not available.
Water issues Role of Government
State government and the legal process must work to reconcile the many claims on New Mexico water in a manner that is open and as fair as possible. Among other considerations:
•Communal as well as private interests must be respected in applying water law;
•Maintenance of in-stream flow and general ecological health must be recognized as a "beneficial use" of water.
•The Office of the State Engineer should be adequately funded to execute its functions. In addition:
•The OSE must be given more authority to regulate domestic well permits. Improved regulation and monitoring of domestic wells and septic systems is essential to protect groundwater supplies and should be adequately funded.
•The effort to gather data must be coordinated and adequately funded by the state, which should establish consistent protocols, accounting methods, and terminology.
•The state should also help implement the regional water plans and provide coordination among planning activities at the different levels of government and across river basins.
This should be an interesting meeting for anyone thinking about the future of New Mexico. We hope to see you there.
Karen Wentworth
Karen Douglas
Co-Presidents
LWVCNM