JUDICIAL DEVELOPMENTS

December 2008

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New Mexico Court of Appeals Finds Appeal Provisions in Statute Governing Decisions by Commissioners of Acequias Constitutional
Pena Blanca Partnership v. San Jose de Hernandez Community Ditch, et al. and Richard Cook v. La Acequia Del Gavilan, et al., (consolidated)

In an opinion filed October 20, 2008, the New Mexico Court of Appeals reversed the state District Court’s decision that the statute governing appeals of the decisions of the governing bodies of acequias, NMSA 1978, § 73-2-21(E) (2003), was unconstitutional on its face. Acequias are centuries old systems of community—based water management and distribution. The bases for their administration came from Spanish and Mexican water law and custom. The term “acequia” has a two-fold reference: the term “acequia” means an irrigation ditch; the term acequia is also used to describe the community of irrigators who work together to maintain the ditch systems that support local traditional agriculture.