NOTICE is hereby given that on March 2, 2023, and amended on March 20, 2023, and March 21, 2023, the City of Santa Fe, c/o John Blair, City Manager, 200 Lincoln, Santa Fe, NM 87501, and the Apodaca Family Trust, c/o Marion Apodaca and Katherine Thomas, P.O. Box 2202, 1134 West Ella, Corrales, NM 87048, filed with the STATE ENGINEER Application No. SD-07434 and SD-07435 into RG-20516 et al., for Permits to Change Point of Diversion, Place and Purpose of Use of Surface Water to Groundwater within the Rio Grande Underground Basin of the State of New Mexico.

Santa Fe, Sandoval, Bernalillo, Valencia, and Socorro Counties are the Counties affected by the diversion and in which the water has been or will be put to beneficial use. This notice is ordered to be published in the Santa Fe New Mexican, the Albuquerque Journal, the Valencia County News-Bulletin, and the El Defensor Chieftain.

Under this application, the co-applicants propose to discontinue the diversion described in SD-07434 as a Farm Delivery Requirement (FDR) of 8.82 acre-feet per annum (afa), inclusive of a Consumptive Irrigation Requirement (CIR) of 6.174 afa, from the San Antonio Ditch with a Point of Diversion (POD) on the Rio Grande at the San Acacia Dam, SP-1690-4, of the MRGCD, on land owned by the MRGCD within the Sevilleta Grant, located in the SW¼ NE¼ NE¼ of projected Section 1, Township 1 South, Range 1 West, NMPM, located at a point where X=326,225 meters, Y=3,792,219 meters, UTM Zone 13N, NAD83, for the irrigation of 2.94 acres of land owned by the Apodaca Family Trust, described as Tract 69 (2.32 acres), Tract 72 (0.17 acres), and Tract 73A (0.45 acres), on MRGCD Map No. 175, located within Section 5, Township 5 South, Range 1 East, NMPM, Socorro County, New Mexico. The above-described lands are located west of New Mexico Highway 1 and north of 11th Street, Socorro County, New Mexico.

Under this application, the co-applicants further propose to discontinue the diversion described in SD-07435 as a Farm Delivery Requirement (FDR) of 30.84 afa, inclusive of a Consumptive Irrigation Requirement (CIR) of 21.588 afa, from the San Antonio Ditch with a Point of Diversion (POD) on the Rio Grande at the San Acacia Dam, SP-1690-4, of the MRGCD, on land owned by the MRGCD within the Sevilleta Grant, located in the SW¼ NE¼ NE¼ of projected Section 1, Township 1 South, Range 1 West, NMPM, located at a point where X=326,225 meters, Y=3,792,219 meters, UTM Zone 13N, NAD83, for the irrigation of 10.28 acres of land owned by the Apodaca Family Trust, described as Tract 52 (10.28 acres), on MRGCD Map No. 176, located within Section 8, Township 5 South, Range 1 East, NMPM, Socorro County, New Mexico. The above-described lands are located east of New Mexico Highway 1 and south of E. San Antonito Road, Socorro County, New Mexico.

The co-applicants further propose to commence the consumptive use of 27.762 afa of water for domestic, municipal, industrial, irrigation, commercial, and other use specified as all purposes permitted by RG-20516 et al. to groundwater points of diversion comprising of the Buckman well field, on lands owned by the United States and/or easement owned by the City of Santa Fe. Using NMSP coordinates, Central Zone, NAD83, feet; the well locations are described as follows:

RG-20516-S, located at a point where X=1,670,213, Y=1,756,349,
RG-20516-S-2, located at a point where X=1,670,232, Y=1,753,965,
RG-20516-S-3, located at a point where X=1,670,350, Y=1,751,784,
RG-20516-S-4, located at a point where X=1,672,118, Y=1,753,368,
RG-20516-S-5, located at a point where X=1,667,390, Y=1,759,277,
RG-20516-S-6, located at a point where X=1,668,098, Y=1,757,125,
RG-20516-S-7, located at a point where X=1,669,537, Y=1,758,824,
RG-20516-S-8, located at a point where X=1,665,597, Y=1,758,418,
RG-20516-S-9, located at a point where X=1,672,384, Y=1,757,347,
RG-20516-S-10, located at a point where X=1,680,739, Y=1,737,862,
RG-20516-S-11, located at a point where X=1,683,436, Y=1,730,433,
RG-20516-S-12, located at a point where X=1,687,236, Y=1,726,643,
RG-20516-S-13, located at a point where X=1,692,904, Y=1,723,787.

The wells are generally located from 7-16 miles northwest of the intersection of State Road 599 and County Road 85, and from 7-16 miles northwest of the City of Santa Fe, Santa Fe County, New Mexico.

The consumptive use water rights will be used to offset depletions on the Rio Grande resulting from pumping of groundwater authorized by OSE Permit No. RG-20516 et al., for domestic, municipal, industrial, commercial, and any and all purposes of use related thereto or allowed by Permit No. RG-20516 et al. at places of use within the service area of the City of Santa Fe, on land owned by the City of Santa Fe and various private land owners. If granted, this application will not increase the already approved diversion amount under Permit No. RG-20516 et al.

To view the application and supporting documentation contact the State Engineer District 1 Office to arrange a date and time for an appointment at (505) 383-4000 located at 5550 San Antonio Drive NE, Albuquerque, NM, 87109.

Any person, firm or corporation or other entity asserting standing to file objections or protests shall do so in writing (objection must be legible, signed, and include the writer’s complete name, phone number, email address, and mailing address). If the protest does not include the complete name, phone number, email address, and mailing address, it may be deemed invalid and not accepted for filing unless Protestant provides with the protest an affidavit stating that it does not have one of the above-listed elements/requirements (phone number, mailing address, email address, etc.). The objection to the approval of the application must be based on: (1) Impairment; if impairment, you must specifically identify your water rights; and/or (2) Public Welfare/Conservation of Water; if public welfare or conservation of water within the state of New Mexico, you shall be required to provide evidence showing how you will be substantially and specifically affected. The written protest must be filed, in triplicate, with the State Engineer, 5550 San Antonio Drive NE, Albuquerque, NM 87109, on or before Friday, July 7, 2023. Facsimiles (faxes) will be accepted as a valid protest if the hard copy is hand-delivered or mailed and postmarked within 24-hours of the facsimile. Mailing postmark will be used to validate the 24-hour period. Protests can be faxed to the Office of the State Engineer, (505) 383-4030. If no valid protest or objection is filed, the State Engineer will evaluate the application in accordance with the provisions of Chapter 72 NMSA 1978.

Published in the El Defensor Chieftain on May 4, 11 & 18, 2023