Water Rights Adjudication in New Mexico: Applications of GIS and IS

Author: Dario Rodriguez-Bejarano
Organization: New Mexico Office of the State Engineer

New Mexico Office of the State Engineer
Legal Services Division
Santa Fe, NM 87504-5102
USA

Phone: (505) 827-6150
Fax: (505) 827-3887
drodrigz@seo.state.nm.us

The New Mexico Office of the State Engineer (OSE) is charged with administering the State's water resources. To accomplish this, OSE has set a strategic plan with four priorities: eliminate the water rights application backlog, protect New Mexico's water and meet interstate obligations, complete water rights adjudication, and automate information and processing of its databases.

The OSE is using GIS and information systems (IS) tools to accomplish these priorities. OSE has initiated the first steps in the adjudication process, to abstract its paper/document information databases and to automate its hydrographic surveys through an innovative approach using private enterprise to create a computer-based IS/GIS for the hydrographic surveys of the Lower Rio Grande and Nutt-Hockett basins. These surveys, how the adjudication process works, the IS/GIS created, and the lessons learned will be presented.