New Mexico residents remain free to drill domestic wells to meet household water needs, the state Supreme Court ruled Thursday. But the state has an obligation to ensure that once wells are drilled, the resulting groundwater pumping doesn’t cut into the water rights of neighbors, the court found. The ruling creates the possibility that for the first time New Mexico could be forced to curtail pumping from domestic wells if the well reduces water supplies to neighbors with senior water rights.
See the full article by John Fleck in the July 26, 2013 Albuquerque Journal here.
A link to the unanimous decision of the New Mexico Supreme Court is here.