1. A. The "water project fund" is created in the authority and shall consist of distributions made to the fund from the water trust fund and payments of principal of and interest on loans for approved water projects. The fund shall also consist of any other money appropriated, distributed or otherwise allocated to the fund for the purpose of supporting water projects pursuant to provisions of the Water Project Finance Act. The fund shall be administered by the authority. Income from investment of the water project fund shall be credited to the fund. Balances in the fund at the end of any fiscal year shall not revert to the general fund. The water project fund may consist of such subaccounts as the authority deems necessary to carry out the purposes of the fund. The authority may establish procedures and adopt rules as required to administer the fund and to recover from the fund costs of administering the fund and originating grants and loans. Ten percent of all water project funds shall be dedicated to the state engineer for water rights adjudications, and twenty percent of the money dedicated for water rights adjudications shall be allocated to the administrative office of the courts for the courts' costs associated with water rights adjudications; provided that from July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2029, the lesser of four million dollars ($4,000,000) or eight percent of all water project funds shall be dedicated to the state engineer for water rights adjudications and two percent of all water project funds shall be dedicated to the administrative office of the courts for the courts' costs associated with water rights adjudications.

2. B. Money in the water project fund may be used by the authority to:

   1. (1) make loans or grants to qualified entities for projects and water rights adjudications pursuant to the requirements of the Water Project Finance Act; and
   2. (2) hire contractors to provide financial and administrative capacity development and direct technical assistance on water projects.
3. C. The authority is authorized to issue revenue bonds payable from the proceeds of loan repayments made into the water project fund upon a determination by the authority that issuance of the bonds is necessary to replenish the principal balance of the fund. The net proceeds from the sale of the bonds shall be deposited in the water project fund. The bonds shall be authorized and issued by the authority in accordance with the provisions of the New Mexico Finance Authority Act [Chapter 6, Article 21 NMSA 1978].

History: Laws 2001, ch. 164, § 9; 2005, ch. 293, § 1; 2024, ch. 9, § 3; 2026, ch. 27, § 4.

ANNOTATIONS

Cross references. — For the New Mexico finance authority, see 6-21-4 NMSA 1978.

For the water trust fund and water project fund, see N.M. const. art. XVI, § 6.

The 2026 amendment, effective May 20, 2026, made certain amendments to conform to other amendments to the Water Project Finance Act that temporarily suspended legislative authorization for water projects; in Subsection B, Paragraph B(1), after "water rights adjudications" deleted "provided that projects shall require legislative approval" and added "pursuant to the requirements of the Water Project Finance Act".

The 2024 amendment, effective May 15, 2024, changed the amount of water project funds that must be distributed to the state engineer for water rights adjudications and to the administrative office of the courts for the courts' costs associated with water rights adjudications for the next five years; added "provided that from July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2029, the lesser of four million dollars ($4,000,000) or eight percent of all water project funds shall be dedicated to the state engineer for water rights adjudications and two percent of all water project funds shall be dedicated to the administrative office of the courts for the courts' costs associated with water rights adjudications"; and in Subsection B, in the introductory clause, after "may be used" added "by the authority", in Paragraph B(1), after "qualified entities for" deleted "any project approved by the legislature and for" and added "projects and", and added "provided that projects shall require legislative approval; and", and added Paragraph B(2).

The 2005 amendment, effective June 17, 2005, provided in Subsection A that ten percent of all water project funds shall be dedicated to the state engineer for water rights adjudications and twenty percent of the money dedicated for water rights adjudications shall be allocated to the administrative office of the courts for the courts' costs associated with those adjudications and provided in Subsection B that money in the fund for water rights adjudications.

Intent to fund two purposes. — The 2005 amendment to Section 72-4A-9 NMSA 1978 makes plain that the legislature funded not only water projects, but also water rights adjudications and the legislature did not have to amend Section 7-27-10.1 NMSA 1978 for the directive that ten percent of all funds in the water project fund be dedicated to water rights adjudications to be effective. 2005 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 05-04.