Opinion ID: 2582212
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: How Templeton Fits the Herringtons' Well Application

Text: {24} In applying the Templeton predicates to the Herrington's application, we first observe that the validity and seniority of the Herringtons' water right is not in dispute. At the heart of this case lie the other Templeton requirements: whether the Herringtons' surface diversion was fed by baseflow, and if so, whether the Herringtons' proposed well will draw from the same source that fed the baseflow. [4] {25} At trial, the issue of baseflow was a primary focus. Originally, the State Engineer likened this case to Kelley, arguing unsuccessfully before the district court that the Rio de Arenas consisted only of flood flow, and therefore a Templeton supplemental well was unavailable to the Herringtons. The Herringtons presented a different view of the Rio de Arenas hydrology. The Herringtons asserted that groundwater fed the stream system, as in Templeton. On this vital point, the Herringtons prevailed: [Finding of Fact 16:] The Rio de Arenas is naturally an interrupted perennial stream with dry and flowing reaches that vary in length depending on climate and usage conditions. Groundwater above elevation 6,200 feet converges onto the Rio de Arenas watercourse and is the source of baseflow and discharge by riparian vegetation. .... [Finding of Fact 17:] The Rio de Arenas at [the] Herrington's property previously was an interrupted perennial stream, and is now an interrupted intermittent stream. The frequency of surface flow in the Rio de Arenas has declined in more recent years due to numerous upstream junior diversions of water by well. .... [Finding of Fact 19:] Rio de Arenas moves down gradient from north to south. As the stream flows, at times and places it falls below the surface. At other times and places, it may resurface when it confronts various dikes that form underground barriers to the underground flow. As the water moves to the surface, it creates surface flow for a time, and will then sink back below the ground surface. (Emphasis added). {26} The district court also found that the groundwater that fed the surface was intercepted by junior wells drawing from the fractured bedrock aquifer, as required by Templeton: [Finding of Fact 36:] The valley of the Rio de Arenas has a history of well depletion, followed by the drilling of new wells, or the deepening of old wells. This is caused by the pumping and depletion of pockets of water in the fractured bedrock aquifer. .... [Conclusion of Law 7:] The level of the flow of surface water rights is lower at the current point of diversion at the Frazier-Bateman Ditch because of upstream junior drillers and the upstream impoundment of surface waters. [Conclusion of Law 8:] Herringtons' surface water rights have been reduced at the current point of diversion because of a lowering of the water table as a result of the junior drillers and the upstream impoundments. (Emphasis added). {27} These uncontested findings and conclusions establish the initial Templeton predicates enumerated above. The Herringtons have a valid surface water right that consists of surface water fed in part by groundwater. Junior appropriators have intercepted groundwater that fed the surface, thereby diminishing the Herringtons' surface flows. Notably, Finding of Fact 36 is specific that neighboring wells completed at the depth of the deep bedrock aquifer, deplete the Rio de Arenas, and as we shall see, the fractured bedrock aquifer occurs at roughly the same depth as the well proposed by the Herringtons. This particular finding supports the Herringtons' claim that they are merely reasserting their priority by tapping the same source as the junior appropriators who have depleted their surface right. Or, as stated in Templeton, the Herringtons appear not to request a new appropriation in the underground water basin, but merely a request to follow the source of their original appropriation. 65 N.M. at 68, 332 P.2d at 471. The other findings and conclusions above remain unchallenged by the State Engineer, and are therefore the law of the case. See Trujillo v. City of Albuquerque, 1998-NMSC-031, ¶ 40, 125 N.M. 721, 965 P.2d 305. {28} These factors that appear undisputed strongly suggest that the same principles of fairness that underlie Templeton apply here as well. As a result, the Herringtons would appear entitled to some relief in the form of a supplemental well, at least at some depth and at some location. A holder of a senior water right is generally entitled to protection in our courts of law from the effects of junior interceptors. However, the question remains whether the Herringtons senior rights entitle them to this particular well, at the proposed depth and the proposed location. For that answer, we look to the remaining conditions of Templeton. {29} In addressing these remaining questions, the district court found that the Herringtons' proposed well did not satisfy the source requirement of Templeton. Despite finding that the Herringtons' surface appropriation consisted of baseflow intercepted by junior wells, the district court found that both the completion of the well in the fractured bedrock aquifer and the downstream location of the well precluded application of Templeton because it would grant the Herringtons access to a new source of water. {30} On appeal, the Herringtons argue that the findings and conclusions relative to the proposed well result from an incorrect interpretation, and perhaps confusion, regarding New Mexico law governing supplemental groundwater wells, specifically the Templeton doctrine. We review the question of whether the district court properly interpreted the applicable law de novo, and the findings of fact for sufficiency of the evidence. See Gallegos v. State Bd. of Educ., 1997-NMCA-040, ¶ 11, 123 N.M. 362, 940 P.2d 468 (holding that this court is not bound by the conclusions of law reached by the trial court, and the applicable standard of review for such issues is de novo). We address, in turn, the issues of the well depth and the well location, in relation to the Templeton source requirement.