State of New Mexico ex rel. State Engineer v. Commissioner of Public Lands

200 P.3d 86 (2008)

From our private database of 46,300+ case briefs, written and edited by humans—never with AI.

State of New Mexico ex rel. State Engineer v. Commissioner of Public Lands

New Mexico Court of Appeals
200 P.3d 86 (2008)

  • Written by Rose VanHofwegen, JD

Facts

Three congressional acts granted school trust land to New Mexico. The Organic Act of 1850 promised specific land, but the federal government used or reserved some of it for other purposes. The 1898 Ferguson Act promised substitute land as well as land for reservoirs for irrigation without referencing the school trust lands as needing irrigation. The Enabling Act of 1910, which made New Mexico a state, granted different school trust land. Because the land had little value due to its aridity, Congress granted extra acreage to compensate. In 1975, the New Mexico state engineer (plaintiff) began adjudicating water rights in an area with nearly 300,000 acres of school trust land. Decades later, in 2004, the state commissioner of public lands (defendant) filed a declaration in the adjudication claiming the state was entitled to claim federal reserved water rights in the school trust land. The district court granted summary judgment for the state engineer, finding no federal reserved water rights in the school trust land. The commissioner appealed.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Wechsler, J.)

What to do next…

  1. Unlock this case brief with a free (no-commitment) trial membership of Quimbee.

    You’ll be in good company: Quimbee is one of the most widely used and trusted sites for law students, serving more than 815,000 law students since 2011. Some law schools even subscribe directly to Quimbee for all their law students.

  2. Learn more about Quimbee’s unique (and proven) approach to achieving great grades at law school.

    Quimbee is a company hell-bent on one thing: helping you get an “A” in every course you take in law school, so you can graduate at the top of your class and get a high-paying law job. We’re not just a study aid for law students; we’re the study aid for law students.

Here's why 815,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:

  • Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
  • The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
  • Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
  • Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership
Here's why 815,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
  • Reliable - written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students
  • The right length and amount of information - includes the facts, issue, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents
  • Access in your class - works on your mobile and tablet
  • 46,300 briefs - keyed to 988 casebooks
  • Uniform format for every case brief
  • Written in plain English - not in legalese and not just repeating the court's language
  • Massive library of related video lessons - and practice questions
  • Top-notch customer support

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership