Water rights debate creating tension with cannabis businesses in New Mexico
Some farmers and rural residents worry that a proposal to help small marijuana growers would unfairly allow them to tap limited water resources.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Hispanic farmers and rural residents in New Mexico are concerned legislation that would allow small cannabis producers to significantly boost their plant counts lacks a provision to ensure the producers have valid water rights.
An organization that represents traditional irrigation systems across the state, Latino and Native American agriculture groups and environmentalists are calling on lawmakers to restore what they say is critical language aimed at protecting limited water resources.
A House committee is scheduled to consider the bill Wednesday. The push comes in the waning hours of the legislative session that ends at midday Thursday.
The arid state already is struggling to meet its water demands. Experts have warned lawmakers throughout the session that supplies are expected to dwindle even more in the coming years as drought and warmer temperatures linked to climate change persist across the West.
Supporters of the legislation have described the water rights requirement as “red tape” that is keeping micro businesses from entering the recreational marijuana industry.
However, critics worry that without the requirement, the illegal use of water could go unchecked as the industry takes off in New Mexico. They point to problems elsewhere, including California where water theft by illegal marijuana growers has helped to suck dry local aquifers, leaving legitimate users without water.
Paula Garcia, head of the New Mexico Acequia Association, said it’s a matter of equity. She said Native American and senior water rights holders in New Mexico are from historically underserved and marginalized communities and they stand to be put at greater risk of having their rights impaired.
“New Mexico is now in an era of long-term aridification, where we need more careful stewardship of our limited water resources and cultural integrity,” she said in a letter sent Tuesday to members of the House. “By removing the water protections, rural entities — such as mutual domestics and acequias who are entrusted with managing water at the local level — will bear the burden of enforcement. This would put our precious water resources at risk.”