New Mexico Administrative Code
Title 19 - NATURAL RESOURCES AND WILDLIFE
Chapter 25 - ADMINISTRATION AND USE OF WATER - GENERAL PROVISIONS
Part 13 - ACTIVE WATER RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Section 19.25.13.16 - GENERAL AUTHORITY OF A WATER MASTER
Current through Register Vol. 35, No. 6, March 26, 2024
The water master shall have immediate charge of the administration of waters within a water master district as necessary to protect the public safety and the interests of water right owners in a district or for the economic and satisfactory apportionment of water to all administrable water rights from the available water supply, and shall so regulate and control the waters of the district as to prevent waste. Administration implemented by the water master may be direct flow administration, storage water administration, depletion limit administration, alternative administration, or any combination thereof, as defined by district-specific regulations, depending on the physical and legal circumstances affecting the water resources and administrable water rights of the water master district. The water master may, as necessary, to effect administration:
A. determine the available supply of water from time to time, considering conveyance losses, as appropriate and necessary for effective administration;
B. implement administration of the storage, diversion, and use of the waters of the water master district in accordance with the administrable water rights;
C. administer the diversion of the waters of the water master district in priority or under an alternative administration;
D. administer diversions of the waters of the water master district in accordance with any administration date declared by the state engineer;
E. facilitate the formation and operation of water right owner groups to, among other things, improve the management of water supplies, water conservation, cooperation among water right owners and administration;
F. facilitate the negotiation and implementation of alternative administration agreements, including cooperative agreements, for sharing available water supplies;
G. adjust headgates and restrict diversions or pumping as required to administer water in accordance with principles of prior appropriation and beneficial use, to prevent the illegal use of water, and to prevent waste; and
H. exercise all such authority as is required to accomplish effective water rights administration.
