Adobe Whitewater Club of New Mexico v. New Mexico State Game Commission

The New Mexico Constitution provided that the state’s natural waters, such as rivers and lakes, belonged to the public. A private landowner could own the banks next to and the bed under natural public waters but could not own the water itself. It was well-established that this arrangement meant that the public had a right to float on public waters, even if the water flowed on top of private land. However, the New Mexico State Game Commission (commission) (defendant) enacted regulations that allowed a private landowner to exclude the public from actually touching the private bed under the water, such as by walking or wading on private land under a public river. The Adobe Whitewater Club of New Mexico and two other nonprofit organizations (the recreational organizations) (plaintiffs) filed a petition with the New Mexico Supreme Court seeking a writ of prohibitory mandamus to void the regulations as unconstitutional. The recreational organizations argued that the regulations effectively prevented their members from being able to fish and recreate on many public waters, which meant that the regulations violated their members’ state constitutional right to use public waters. The New Mexico Supreme Court agreed that the regulations violated the state constitution and issued a writ preventing the commission from enforcing the regulations. The court then published an opinion explaining its reasoning.