Legal Notices-Non-government

Valencia County and Cibola 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 Valencia County News Bulletin and Cibola Citizen.

Under this application, per lease agreement under NMSA 1978 Section 76-6-1, the applicants propose to temporarily discontinue, for a period of 16 months, the consumptive use irrigation requirement of 49.5 acre-feet per annum from 23.572 acres of land owned by NMDOT, described as Tracts 33 (13.333 acres) and 36A1 (10.239 acres), both on MRGCD Map 104, located approximately 0.1 miles and .4 miles south (respectively) of the intersection of Frontage Road and Brown Drive, Belen, Valencia County, New Mexico. The above described lands lie within the State of New Mexico Highway Right-of-Way formally irrigated from the New Belen Ditch with a point of diversion on the Rio Grande at the Isleta Diversion Works (SP-1690-3) of the MRGCD, located in the NE¼ NE¼ SW¼ of Section 24 Township 8 North, Range 2 East, NMPM, also located at a point where X=346,037 and Y-3,863,880 meters, UTM 13N, NAD83, Isleta Pueblo Grant, on land owned by Isleta Pueblo and leased to the MRGCD, Valencia County, New Mexico.

The applicants further propose to temporarily commence, for a period of 16 months, the consumptive use of 49.5 acre-feet per annum of groundwater from well RG-96399 POD1, located at a point where Latitude=34°48’41.9″N and Longitude=106°52’58.4″W, WGS84, on land owned by Rock and Rail, LLC, within Section 30 Township 7 North, Range 1 East, NMPM, of the San Celemente Grant, for gravel production at a gravel pit located within W½ of Section 18 and the N½ NW¼ of Section 19, Township 7 North, Range 1 East, NMPM, Valencia County, and for dust control at two highway construction project sites located: 1) along 1-25 from mile post 196.488 to 198.700 located within Sections 24, 25, and 36, Township 6 North, Range 1 East, NMPM, Valencia County, under NMDOT Control No. A302161 beginning May 2021, and ending October 31, 2021, and 2) along 1-40 from mile post 111.043 to 117.00 located within Sections 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, and 12, Township 9 North, Range 5 West, NMPM, Cibola County, under NMDOT Control No. 6101181 beginning March 2021 and ending June 2022.

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 June 1, 2022. 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) Impairment; if imapirment, 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 16, 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.