Experts tell Corrales residents decades of transfers and permits have eroded senior water rights; village urged to act

At a public Corrales Village meeting, water‑rights attorney Tessa Davidson and former New Mexico State Engineer Mike Hammond laid out how New Mexico’s priority system and recent permitting practices have left many local landowners uncertain about who can lawfully use water on Corrales properties and urged village action to protect senior rights.

"The public owns all wet water," Davidson said, explaining New Mexico law distinguishing ownership of the physical water from the separate legal right to use it. She told residents that first‑in‑time priority dates govern who receives water under shortage and cautioned that historic irrigation and pre‑1956 groundwater rights can be lost through nonuse, abandonment or by receiving an automatic domestic permit without steps to preserve an older right.

The presentation walked through core points: New Mexico follows prior appropriation (seniors get water before juniors), possession of land does not automatically confer water rights, and declarations or state‑engineer permits are the main records available in basins like the Middle Rio Grande that have not been adjudicated. Davidson warned that filing a declaration can invite a state‑engineer review that rejects the claim and force expensive hearings.

Hammond described system‑level pressures: long‑term declines in Rio Grande flow and compact delivery obligations limit how much new local storage or diversions can provide. He urged partnerships — with the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District (MRGCD), state and federal agencies and local farmers — to develop conjunctive‑use plans, water banks and pilot infrastructure projects. Hammond said he had submitted a $500,000 IRA funding request, with MRGCD as administrator, to research Corrales water rights and design a local pilot for conjunctive surface/groundwater operations.

The presenters highlighted immediate operational threats. Davidson and Hammond said Corrales has faced unreliable surface deliveries through the Kraus siphon; Davidson noted there is money for repair but said negotiations with a Pueblo over access to repair the siphon may delay work beyond this irrigation season. "They did buy an additional pump," Davidson said, "but the pumps can only really be operated if the levels in the river are high enough."

The presenters offered local policy steps residents and the village could take: (1) Create a simple village permit or low‑fee intake and fact sheet for anyone proposing a new domestic well so residents are informed before applying to the state engineer; (2) consolidate village‑held or acquired water rights into a water bank or apply a 40‑year municipal holding to preserve rights; (3) coordinate with MRGCD and the state engineer to pursue a joint, village‑scale priority‑preservation effort rather than piecemeal legal challenges; and (4) seek emergency supplemental well permissions if surface deliveries fail.

During a lively Q&A, residents asked whether drilling contractors typically push domestic permits and whether repairs or deepening of old wells require new permitting. Davidson said repair and deepen applications generally require notice to the state engineer and typically do not allow increased production unless additional rights are acquired. The village clerk proposed posting an FAQ fact sheet on the village website; Davidson agreed to help.

On other policy points, Davidson and Hammond discussed negotiations under way with the middle six Pueblos to quantify aboriginal claims; both said settlements can bring infrastructure funding but also create anxiety among residents who are not at negotiation tables. They also warned that some federal actions have regulatory implications for local ditches: Davidson said she had heard the Army Corps of Engineers treat the Corrales Acequia Madre as a "water of the United States," a position MRGCD is contesting.

Residents raised vegetation management and graywater reuse; Davidson and Hammond pointed to existing reports and tools (including Real‑ET satellite evapotranspiration data) and noted state rules limit impounding stormwater without a permit (a 96‑hour rule) and impose separation and public‑health safeguards for graywater use.

The meeting closed with a practical next step: MRGCD’s chief engineer is expected to report to the village council in February on siphon repairs and delivery conditions, and Davidson and Hammond encouraged local coordination with MRGCD and the state engineer to pursue a pilot and grant funding. The session was recorded and will be posted to the village’s YouTube site.