SANTA FE, N.M. – New Mexico sued the federal government and contractors on Wednesday, alleging illegal well drilling in protected border-area groundwater basins.
State leaders announced the lawsuit in Sixth Judicial District Court and said it targets work tied to border wall construction along the U.S. border with Mexico.
4 Investigates talked with ranchers who support the wall concerned the drilling could impact the water supply for their cattle. Ranchers have since filed complaints with the State Engineer’s Office.
The New Mexico Office of the State Engineer said it documented repeated cases at multiple sites in the Mimbres, Hachita and Lower Rio Grande Underground Water Basins.
The complaint says contractors drilled wells without required State Engineer authorization and alleges tampering with a totalizing meter that can hide how much water a well diverts.
State Engineer Elizabeth K. Anderson said the state’s permit process protects water rights holders and said the state will seek repayment.
“Our permit procedures exist to protect water rights holders, and we are not going to allow the federal government to evade those protections and threaten our groundwater,” said Anderson. “We are also demanding double repayment for all illegally diverted groundwater.”
The state named the United States of America, Barnard Construction Company Inc. of Bozeman, Montana, Wyatt Drilling Arizona LLC and Cascade Drilling LP as defendants.
The lawsuit seeks an injunction to stop further well drilling and water pumping from illegal wells, require proper plugging and abandonment of those wells, and require an accounting and double repayment of all illegally diverted water.
