2021 New Mexico Statutes
Chapter 72 - Water Law
Article 6 - Water-Use Leasing
Section 72-6-2 - Definitions.
As used in the Water-Use Leasing Act:
A. "owner" means a person who owns a valid water right;
B. "lessee" means a person who leases the use of water from an owner;
C. "person" means the state or any agency, institution or political subdivision thereof, any public or private corporation, individual, partnership, association or other entity, and includes any officer or governing or managing body of any political subdivision or public or private corporation; and
D. "engineer" means the state engineer as appointed in Section 72-2-1 NMSA 1978.
History: 1953 Comp., § 75-40-2, enacted by Laws 1967, ch. 100, § 2.
ANNOTATIONSState liable for injuries in recreational park. — Sovereign immunity was waived since the plaintiff was injured by diving off a raft in a lake at a park, even though the original purpose of the lake may have been for storage and diversion of water. Under the lease between the stream commission (owner) and the recreation division (lessee), the park was to be used "for recreational purposes and for no other purpose," and the park was not used for diversion or storage of water at the time of the accident, but was in fact used only for swimming, diving, boating, fishing, and other recreational activities. Bell v. N.M. Interstate Stream Comm'n, 1993-NMCA-164, 117 N.M. 71, 868 P.2d 1296, cert. denied, 117 N.M. 121, 869 P.2d 820 (1994).
