## Facts

- A 1933 federal decree adjudicated surface-water irrigation rights in the South Springs River (a Pecos River tributary) for approximately 317 acres in Chaves County, New Mexico.
- The South Springs River, fed by artesian sources, gradually ceased to flow in irrigable quantities as artesian pressure declined.
- No water was applied to the subject lands for irrigation after about 1933.
- For many years the State Engineer’s practice was to deny surface-right holders permission to drill wells to replace lost surface flows from interconnected groundwater.
- In 1958, New Mexico law recognized that surface appropriators could drill replacement wells tapping the same underground source, subject to limits (e.g., availability of unappropriated water and no impairment of existing rights).
- Despite this change, the defendants did not drill wells, resume irrigation, or otherwise exercise the decreed rights until around 1965.
- The historic ditches and canals were not maintained; some became obstructed or were built over, making delivery impossible without substantial reconstruction.
- In 1967, the State Engineer filed a declaratory judgment action seeking a ruling that the rights were lost by abandonment, forfeiture, or nonuse; the district court ruled for the State, and defendants appealed.

## Issues

1. Whether decades of nonuse of decreed surface-water rights resulted in statutory forfeiture under New Mexico water law.
2. Whether prolonged nonuse and surrounding circumstances supported an inference of intent to abandon the rights.
3. Whether prior administrative denial of replacement wells, and later recognition of their legality, excused nonuse or prevented loss of the rights.

## Decision

- The Supreme Court of New Mexico affirmed the declaratory judgment for the State.
- The court held the defendants’ decreed surface-water rights were lost through forfeiture and abandonment based on prolonged nonuse.
- The court concluded that any earlier administrative barrier did not preserve the rights after the law permitted replacement wells and defendants still failed for years to resume beneficial use.
- The condition and disuse of the diversion and conveyance works supported an inference of abandonment.

## Legal Principles

- Water rights are usufructuary and depend on continued beneficial use; extended nonuse can cause statutory forfeiture.
- Abandonment requires nonuse plus intent, but intent may be inferred from long, unexplained nonuse and conduct inconsistent with continued ownership (including allowing works to deteriorate).
- When a lawful method to resume beneficial use becomes available, continued inaction may support forfeiture and abandonment; past administrative practice does not indefinitely excuse nonuse.

## Conclusion

The court upheld a declaration that decreed surface-water rights were forfeited and abandoned where the river ceased flowing, irrigation stopped for decades, conveyance works fell into disrepair, and the owners failed for years to pursue legally available replacement-well use to restore beneficial application of water.


State ex rel. Reynolds v. South Springs Co., 452 P.2d 478 (N.M. 1969)