PECOS, N.M. — New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez is asking a judge to hold a Pecos River landowner in contempt of court, marking the latest escalation in a years-long fight over public access to one of the state’s most contested waterways.
In an emergency motion filed this week, the state accuses Erik Briones of violating a 2024 consent decree tied to the landmark Adobe Whitewater Club of New Mexico v. New Mexico State Game Commission ruling, declaring New Mexico streambeds public.
Why it matters
The filing shows how the battle over New Mexico stream access rights has moved beyond constitutional arguments and into a high-stakes enforcement fight involving alleged threats, excavators in the river and possible jail time.
The state is now asking the court to impose:
- Escalating daily fines
- Removal of alleged river hazards
- Potential incarceration if Briones fails to comply with court orders
Catch up quick
The dispute stems from the New Mexico Supreme Court’s 2022 Adobe Whitewater decision, which affirmed that the public has a constitutional right to use public waters for recreation — including walking or wading on streambeds when reasonably necessary.
The ruling did not allow people to trespass across private land to reach rivers, but it sharply limited how landowners could block access once people legally entered the waterway.
Since then, tensions along stretches of the Pecos River have intensified.
What the state alleges
According to the motion, Briones agreed in 2024 to stop:
- Erecting barriers interfering with river access
- Posting signs falsely claiming public access was illegal
- Threatening river users with violence
But the attorney general’s office now alleges Briones continued violating the agreement.
The filing claims:
- Briones threatened fishermen with a shotgun
- Excavators were used to dig deep trenches in the river
- Barbed wire was placed in the river
The state argues the alterations created dangerous conditions designed to funnel anglers into deeper water.
The broader legal fight
The contempt motion arrives just weeks after the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit rejected arguments from Briones and other landowners who claimed Adobe Whitewater amounted to an unconstitutional taking of private property rights.
Landowners argued the ruling stripped them of the ability to exclude the public from privately owned streambeds.
The federal appeals court disagreed, concluding New Mexico’s public water access rights predated statehood and that the state supreme court merely clarified existing law rather than creating a new public easement.
An attorney representing Briones and the landowners said they plan to file a petition to get the case re-heard by the court of appeals.
What Briones says
Briones denied creating traps in the river and said excavator work involved road maintenance and tree removal.
He has also argued that increased public access has damaged the river, his property value, decimated fish populations and contributed to and conflicts between landowners and recreationists.
What’s next
The state is asking the court to schedule an emergency hearing and hold Briones in contempt.
Prosecutors are also seeking:
- Up to $1,000 per day in initial fines
- Increased penalties for continued noncompliance
- Possible arrest if alleged hazards are not removed
The bottom line
What began as a constitutional debate over stream access has evolved into a broader confrontation over enforcement, property rights and public safety on the Pecos River.
Related: KOB’s previous reporting on the Pecos River access battle
