SANTA FE – A bill raising the maximum penalty for illegal water use from $100 to $3,400 per day—the first major update to New Mexico's water enforcement authority in more than a century—is headed to Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham's desk after passing the legislature with near-unanimous bipartisan support.
House Bill 111 modernizes the Office of the State Engineer's (OSE) enforcement tools against illegal water use at a moment when scarcity is intensifying across New Mexico. Once signed, the measure will mark one of the most significant updates to water enforcement authority since the original penalty structure was set in 1907.
"The passage of HB 111 is a landmark step in protecting New Mexico's water future," said State Engineer Elizabeth Anderson. "For too long, our enforcement tools have lagged behind the realities of modern water scarcity. This legislation brings our penalty structure into the 21st century and ensures that illegal water use carries real consequences."
The legislation updates the maximum penalty for Water Code violations to $3,400 per day, reflecting more than a century of inflation since the original $100 maximum daily penalty was set. It also establishes new penalties for the sale of illegally diverted water, ensuring that violators cannot profit from the theft or illegal sale of water.
The strengthened penalty structure gives the OSE more effective tools to deter illegal diversions, unpermitted well drilling, and failures to comply with metering requirements. It also reinforces protections for valid water rights holders as supplies tighten and reports of unlawful use continue to rise.
As water scarcity intensifies across New Mexico, the OSE has reported a rise in illegal water use and unauthorized well drilling—activities that threaten aquifers, risk contamination, and undermine the rights of lawful water users.
HB 111 received overwhelming bipartisan support, passing the House 51-3 and the Senate 39-3, and was sponsored by Representatives Kristina Ortez and Andrea Romero in the House and Senators Liz Stefanics, James Townsend and President Pro Tem Mimi Stewart in the Senate.
