Legal Notices-Government

Catron County is the County 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 El Defensor Chieftain (Catron County).

The applicants propose to temporarily discontinue the diversion of 5.16 acre-feet per annum of surface water from Rito Spring and associated irrigation ditches and ponds on Rito Springs Ranch, Rito Creek with a point of diversion located at latitude 34° 19′ 54″North and longitude 108° 24′ 02″ West in the NE1/4 NE1/4 SW1/4 of Section 10, Township 1 North, Range 15 West, NMPM, on land owned by Rito Springs Ranch Trust, Kevin Sweazea Trustee, for irrigation, recreation, livestock, and wildlife purposes on 200 acres of land owned by Rito Creek Ranch Trust, Kevin Sweazea Trustee, located within Sections 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11, Township 1 North, Range 15 West, NMPM, Catron County, New Mexico. The above-described move-from point of diversion and place of use are located approximately 1.6 miles northwest of the intersection of NM Highway 60 and Omega Road, Omega, Catron County, New Mexico.

The applicants further propose to temporarily commence the use of the above-described water right for commercial and dust control for gravel crushing associated with road construction purposes on 87.62 acres of land owned by the United States Department of the Interior, BLM, located within the NE1/4 SE1/4 of Section 9, Township 2 South, Range 19 West, NMPM, approximately 24 miles southwest of Quemado, Catron County, New Mexico.

The application states, “The water will be loaded into a tanker truck at Rito Springs Ranch and will be transported to the place it will be placed (sic) in a pond and used for dust control in a gravel crushing operation in connection with road construction on the Luna Road in Catron County, New Mexico. A maximum of 5.16 acre feet (sic) of water will be used by the temporary lease.”

This Application is filed under the Water-Use Leasing Act, NMSA 1978, Sections 72-6-1 through 72-6-7.

Application is made for a permit that, if granted, would expire on July 30, 2021. Upon termination or expiration of the desired permit, the subject water right will automatically revert to the move-from place of use pursuant to the applicable provisions in that permit.

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) Detriment; if detriment, 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, June 11, 2021. 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.