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Implementing The Public Welfare Requirement In New Mexico's Water Code, Consuelo Bokum

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Despite the fact that the New Mexico legislature added a public welfare criterion to the water code over 10 years ago, the State Engineer Office has not addressed the application of the criterion by regulation and has only addressed the public welfare briefly in a few decisions. There is almost no case law in New Mexico addressing this issue. More and more participants, however, are raising public welfare in water rights protests. This paper addresses how the public welfare criterion has developed in western water law and proposes an approach for use of the criterion in New Mexico.