(SANTA FE, New Mexico) –The State of New Mexico will begin mailing packets to individuals who may claim water rights in the Animas Underground Water Basin (AUB) in Hidalgo County in May, 2014.

The packets are part of a court case, known as an adjudication, to resolve the rights to use water in the AUB, and will contain a proposed judgment describing the individual's water right and other information about the adjudication process. All claimants to water rights in the AUB will eventually receive a packet.

"Individuals who receive a packet should carefully review the proposed judgment, and respond to the State by the deadline," said court Special Master Stephen Snyder, who has been designated by District Judge J. C. Robinson to preside over the adjudication proceedings. "After reviewing the proposed judgment, claimants may either accept the judgment or complete a form requesting further discussion with representatives of the State. Other water rights claimants in the basin can review all proposed judgments on the Court's website. Other claimants who want to object to proposed judgments must do so by the date stated on the website."

Although individual water rights have not yet been determined in the AUB adjudication, the case has been open since 2005. Last summer, the Court entered an order setting the "consumptive irrigation requirement," or quantity of water consumed by plants, at 2.1 acre-feet per acre. The State's recent announcement signals a new phase in the adjudication where individual water rights will be determined.

Information about the adjudication, including how to subscribe to the Court's monthly adjudication report, can be found at https://animasadjudication.nmcourts.gov/