2020 New Mexico Statutes
Chapter 73 - Special Districts
Article 2 - Ditches or Acequias
Section 73-2-9 - [Acequias declared public.]

All rivers and streams of water in this state, known prior to January 7, 1852, as public ditches or acequias, are established and declared to be public ditches or acequias.

History: Laws 1851-1852, p. 277, § 1; C.L. 1865, ch. 1, § 9; C.L. 1884, § 6; C.L. 1897, § 6; Code 1915, § 5731; C.S. 1929, § 151-401; 1941 Comp., § 77-1409; 1953 Comp., § 75-14-9.

Bracketed material. — The bracketed material was inserted by the compiler and is not part of the law.

Cross references. — For provision that natural waters are public waters, see 72-1-1 NMSA 1978.

Section has no application to stream like the Rio Grande, but refers to ditches or natural watercourses used as acequias that have become subjected to ownership, and upon which labor is expended for appropriation and irrigation. Albuquerque Land & Irrigation Co. v. Gutierrez, 1900-NMSC-017, 10 N.M. 177, 61 P. 357, aff'd, 188 U.S. 545, 23 S. Ct. 338, 47 L. Ed. 588 (1903).

State legislation may not destroy United States' riparian rights. — In the absence of specific authority from congress, a state cannot by legislation destroy the right of the United States, as owner of lands bordering on a stream, to the continued flow of its waters. United States v. Rio Grande Dam & Irrigation Co., 174 U.S. 690, 19 S. Ct. 770, 43 L. Ed. 1136 (1899).

Community acequias are public acequias within the meaning of this section. State ex rel. Black v. Aztec Ditch Co., 1919-NMSC-057, 25 N.M. 590, 185 P. 549.

Community bylaw cannot contravene section. — Members of a community ditch system cannot adopt a bylaw in contravention of statute. State ex rel. Black v. Aztec Ditch Co., 1919-NMSC-057, 25 N.M. 590, 185 P. 549.

Law reviews. — For article, "Water Rights Problems in the Upper Rio Grande Watershed and Adjoining Areas," see 11 Nat. Resources J. 48 (1971).