Legal Notices-Non-government

Bernalillo County, Sandoval County, and Valencia County 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 Albuquerque Journal (Bernalillo and Sandoval Counties) and in the Valencia County News-Bulletin (Valencia County).

Under this application, the co-applicants propose to discontinue the diversion and use of a Farm Delivery Requirement (FDR) of 7.126 acre-feet per annum (afa) of surface water, inclusive of a Consumptive Use Irrigation (CIR) of 4.988 afa, under OSE File No. SD-08019-B, from the El Cerro Acequia, with a point of diversion on the Rio Grande at the Isleta Diversion Dam (SP-1690-3), on land owned by the Pueblo of Isleta, at a point where X=346,037 meters and Y=3,863,880 meters intersect, Zone 13N, UTM (NAD83), within the NE ¼ NE ¼ SW ¼ of Section 24, Township 8 North, Range 2 East, NMPM, for the irrigation of 2.3755 acres of land. The water rights are owned by the Nancy Margaret Lewis Revocable Trust. The move-from land is described as Tract 7C1 (2.3755 acres), El Valle de Paz Subdivision, on MRGCD Map No. 78, owned by Anthony Tafoya and Celeste Tafoya. These move-from lands are generally located 0.15 miles northwest of the intersection of Country Rose Lane and Bloom N Shine Rd., Los Lunas, Valencia County, New Mexico.

The co-applicants further propose to transfer the above-described 4.988 afa of CIR water rights to the Town of Bernalillo’s six (6) wells permitted under RG-2478 et al., being wells RG-2478 located at the point where X=358,618.7 meters and Y=3,907,774.9 meters intersect, RG-2478-S located at the point where X=358,644.8 meters and Y=3,907,744.3 meters intersect, RG-2478-S-2 located at the point where X=360,258.3 meters and Y=3,907,698.3 meters intersect, RG-2478-S-3 located at the point where X=361,018.6 meters and Y=3,909,692.8 meters intersect, RG-2478-S-4 located at the point where X=356,161.6 meters and Y=3,911,578.6 meters intersect, and RG-2478-S-5 located at the point where X=356,771.3 meters and Y=3,909,622.7 meters intersect, UTM Zone 13 North, NAD83, all located on lands owned by the Town of Bernalillo, for domestic, municipal, commercial, and housing subdivision and related purposes within the service area (owned by numerous land owners) of the Town of Bernalillo municipal water system, Bernalillo, Sandoval County, New Mexico.

The subject water rights are being transferred to the Town of Bernalillo municipal water system on behalf of The Grow NM, LLC, for use within the Town of Bernalillo water system service area. Diversion of groundwater under the Town of Bernalillo’s Permit RG-2478 et al. shall not exceed 3,000 afa for municipal, domestic, commercial, and housing subdivision and related purposes within the service area of the Town of Bernalillo municipal water system. If granted, this application will not increase the already approved diversion amount under Permit RG-2478 et al. This application is filed for the purpose of complying with Conditions of Approval of Permit No. RG-2478 et al., (approved on March 21, 2012), which requires the Town of Bernalillo to offset the impacts of groundwater pumping on surface water flows of the Rio Grande and its tributaries.

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, March 22, 2024. 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. A copy of the written protest filed with the State Engineer must also be sent to the applicant by certified mail. 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.