"Last Call; The limitations of New Mexico’s existing water management framework in the face of reduced Colorado River Water Deliveries CLE
January 17, 2023 - Rin Tara and Sairis Perez-Gomez
Photo by Adrian Oglesby. Rin Tara presenting their CLE at the UNM Law School.
To ring in the New Year and begin our educational events, the Utton Center’s Water Policy and
Governance Analyst, Rin Tara, presented their CLE entitled "Last Call; The limitations of New Mexico’s
existing water management framework in the face of reduced Colorado River water deliveries."
Tara’s primary focus was on the potential repercussions of language of the 1922 Colorado River
Compact, the 1948 Upper Colorado River Compact, and the San Juan-Chama Project section in the 1962
Navajo Irrigation Project Authorization. An analysis of this language indicates that, under certain
interpretations, the 1962 Authorization could be used by Colorado to leverage its Colorado River priority
over New Mexico in times of dire shortage. They noted that while this possibility is very unlikely, water
managers should consider this particular future in their planning.
More broadly, their CLE touched on the Colorado River delivery framework, climate change-related
alterations in water availability in New Mexico, and New Mexico's long history of water shortage
sharing.
The CLE was followed by an engaging discussion with our guests. The Utton Center would like to thank
all those in attendance.Rin would also like to thank the Utton Center staff.
Tara's CLE was presented using the findings from the paper "Last Call; The limitations of New Mexico’s
existing water management framework in the face of reduced Colorado River water deliveries", which
was co-authored by John Fleck, Utton Center writer-in-residence. The full paper will publish with the
University of Colorado Environmental Law Journal in February 2024.
