Opinion ID: 3179092
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Ms. Trujillo’s Individual Adjudication

Text: The State served Ms. Trujillo with a copy of the show-cause order along with a proposed order adjudicating her post-1982 underground water rights. The proposed order restricted underground water use to indoor purposes, prohibited irrigation, and limited the amount to 0.5 AFY based on historic beneficial use. Ms. Trujillo objected to the prohibition on outdoor use and the proposed limitation of 0.5 AFY. She eventually litigated against the State before the special master to determine her water rights. The State moved for summary judgment, contending Ms. Trujillo had failed to prove the right to use the Basin’s underground water for an amount and purpose other than those described in the proposed order. The State presented an affidavit from an -6- expert witness stating the average per-household indoor use from a domestic well was 0.4 AFY. Ms. Trujillo did not present evidence in response to the State’s expert witness. Instead, she asserted her permit gave her the right to use underground water for irrigation and to use 3.0 AFY. She also argued the district court lacked subject-matter jurisdiction and that the limitations on her water rights deprived her of equal protection and due process. In 2010, the special master granted summary judgment in favor of the State. He determined Ms. Trujillo had failed to cite controlling authority to support her constitutional arguments. Regarding the use restriction, the special master concluded Ms. Trujillo’s permit prohibited use of the Basin’s underground water for irrigation. He further found, as to the amount restriction, that Ms. Trujillo had failed to controvert the State’s evidence that the average per-household domestic well water use for indoor purposes was 0.4 AFY. Before the special master issued the summary judgment order, Ms. Trujillo filed a motion for relief from the 1983 injunction. After the special master issued the order, she filed the following motions during the next five years: (1) an objection to the 2010 summary judgment order, (2) a motion to quash the 1983 injunction, (3) a motion to reconsider the district court’s overruling of the objection to the summary judgment order, and (4) a second motion to quash the 1983 injunction. The district court overruled the objection and denied each motion. -7- In 2015, the district court ended Ms. Trujillo’s individual adjudication when it entered its order on January 12 adjudicating her domestic well water rights. The 2015 order defined Ms. Trujillo’s water rights by imposing the identical conditions contained in the district court’s proposed order, including the limit of 0.5 AFY and the prohibition on outdoor use. The order was based on the special master’s summary judgment order and contained no separate legal analysis. The order stated: “IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the Defendant(s) are enjoined from any diversion or use of the waters of the Nambe-Pojoaque-Tesuque stream system except in accordance with the rights adjudicated in this order or any other order of the Court.” Aplt. App. at 145. Although the district court stated its 2015 order was a final judgment as between the State and Ms. Trujillo, it also stated the order was subject to objection during the inter se stage of the adjudication. During the inter se stage, water rights owners can object to other water rights owners’ individual adjudication orders, leaving individual adjudication orders subject to revision. In addition, the general stream adjudication remains pending and involves thousands of individuals who claim water rights in the Basin. Under the Aamodt Litigation Settlement Act (“Settlement Act”), the district court must enter a final judgment by September 15, 2017. Pub. L. No. 111-291, § 623, 124 Stat. 3064, 3151 (2010).