1. A. A watershed district shall be governed by a board of directors appointed by the board of supervisors for the soil and water conservation district in which the watershed district is located. Except as provided in Subsection C of this section, a board of directors shall consist of five directors.
2. B. When appointing the initial directors for a watershed district, the board of supervisors shall appoint two members to serve terms of two years and three members to serve terms of four years. Thereafter, new members appointed to the watershed district board shall be for terms of four years. Vacancies occurring before the expiration of a term shall be filled by appointment for the unexpired remainder of a term.
3. C. If the territory embraced within a watershed district lies within more than one soil and water conservation district, each soil and water conservation district having a minority of the land in the watershed district shall be entitled to appoint three additional directors. When appointing the additional directors, the board of supervisors shall appoint one director to serve a term of two years and two directors to serve terms of four years. Thereafter, each director shall be appointed for a term of four years. Vacancies shall be filled by appointment by the original appointing entity for the remainder of an unexpired term.
4. D. The board of directors shall annually elect from its membership a chair, secretary and treasurer. The treasurer shall execute an official bond for the faithful performance of the duties of office to be approved by the board of directors. The bond shall be executed with at least three solvent personal sureties whose solvency shall exceed the amount of the bond, or by a surety company authorized to do business in this state, and shall be in an amount determined by the board of directors. If the treasurer is required to execute a surety company bond, the premium of the bond shall be paid by the board of directors.
5. E. The board of directors shall prepare and submit to the department of finance and administration such reports as it may require from among those required to be submitted by other political subdivisions.

History: 1953 Comp., § 45-5-30, enacted by Laws 1957, ch. 210, § 12; 1973, ch. 332, § 6; 1977, ch. 254, § 50; 2003, ch. 228, § 4; 2018, ch. 79, § 163; 2019, ch. 212, § 254; 2025, ch. 46, § 2; 2026, ch. 26, § 2.

ANNOTATIONS

Repeals. — Laws 2019, ch. 212, § 284(B) repealed Laws 2018, ch. 79, § 163 effective April 3, 2019. Laws 2018, ch. 79, § 163 would have become effective July 1, 2022.

The 2026 amendment, effective May 20, 2026, clarified procedures for appointing directors of a watershed district's board of directors; in Subsection A, after "consist of five directors" deleted "provided that, when available, one director shall be a current or former elected director of the watershed district"; and in Subsection C, after "conservation district, each" deleted "minority jurisdiction district shall be entitled to appoint three additional directors" and added "soil and water conservation district having a minority of the land in the watershed district shall be entitled to appoint three additional directors", and after "filled by appointment by the" deleted "minority jurisdiction districts" and added "original appointing entity".

The 2025 amendment, effective July 1, 2025, provided for the appointment of watershed boards of directors instead of elections of board members; in the section heading, after "Directors," deleted "election" and added "appointment"; completely rewrote Subsection A, added a new Subsection B, and redesignated former Subsections B through D as Subsections C through E, respectively; in Subsection C, after "conservation district, each" deleted "additional soil and water conservation district having a minority of the land involved in the watershed shall be entitled to elect three additional directors. These additional directors after their election shall determine by lot one of their number to serve a term of two years and two a term of four years. Thereafter, their successor shall be elected for terms of four years. The representatives of each of these minority district shall fill vacancies in the district's membership for the unexpired term." and added the remainder of the subsection; and deleted former Subsection E, which provided "Each person desiring to be a director of a watershed district shall file a nominating petition with the proper filing office in accordance with the provisions of the Local Election Act, signed by ten or more qualified electors.".

The 2019 amendment, effective April 3, 2019, revised the timing for holding an election for the board of directors of a watershed district, revised the length of terms for certain directors, and revised the requirements of a director nominating petition; in Subsection A, after the subsection designation, deleted "Within thirty days" and added "At the next regular local election held pursuant to the Local Election Act", and after "terms of two years", deleted "two" and added "and three", after "serve terms", deleted "of three years and one member to serve a term"; in Subsection B, after "term of two years", deleted "one a term of three years", after "and", deleted "one" and added "two"; in Subsection E, after "nominating petition with the", deleted "board of supervisors" and added "proper filing office in accordance with the provisions of the Local Election Act", after "signed by ten or more", deleted "landowners within the watershed districts of the county involved, or, if less than fifty landowners are involved, a majority of such landowners. If the candidates nominated do not exceed the positions available, they shall be declared elected. No person shall be eligible to be a director of a watershed district who is not a landowner in the district in which he seeks election" and added "qualified electors".

Temporary provisions. — Laws 2019, ch. 212, § 278 provided that:

A. The term of a branch community college district, special hospital district, solid waste authority district, lower Rio Grande public water works authority or watershed district board member that was set to expire on or before June 30, 2020 shall expire on December 31, 2019, and that member's successor shall be elected in the regular local election held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday of November 2019 for a term beginning on January 1, 2020.

B. The term of a branch community college district, special hospital district, solid waste authority district, lower Rio Grande public water works authority or watershed district board member that was set to expire on or after July 1, 2020 but on or before June 30, 2022 shall expire on December 31, 2021, and that member's successor shall be elected in the local election held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday of November 2021 for a term beginning on January 1, 2022.

C. The term of a special hospital district or watershed district board member that was set to expire on or after July 1, 2022 shall expire on December 31, 2023, and that member's successor shall be elected in the local election held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday of November 2023 for a term beginning on January 1, 2024.

The 2003 amendment, effective June 20, 2003, in Subsection A, deleted "or districts" following "water conservation district", inserted the sixth sentence; substituted "the district's" for "its" near the end of Subsection B; substituted "shall" for "must" preceding "exceed the amount" in Subsection C.

Watershed district board members are district officers, subject to the residency requirement of the New Mexico constitution. — An interpretation of the 2025 amendments to the Watershed District Act that would eliminate the residency requirement for members of boards of directors would be unconstitutional. However, even though the act no longer incorporates a residency requirement, by reference to the Local Elections Act, the requirement set forth in Article V, Section 13 of the constitution of New Mexico still stands: soil and water conservation district supervisors can and must impose the residency requirement when selecting watershed district directors. 2026 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 26-05.

Authority to cause election to be held. — Laws 1957, ch. 210, § 12(e) (Subsection E of this section) does not provide for the possibility that more candidates could be nominated than there are positions available. Under the act, the board of supervisors of the soil conservation district (or districts) involved has the authority to cause an election to be held for the election of a board of directors of the watershed district. The board of supervisors must comply with the procedure set up by the act in all cases where there is a specific provision which can be followed. 1957 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 57-116.

Am. Jur. 2d, A.L.R. and C.J.S. references. — 45 Am. Jur. 2d Irrigation § 61.

94 C.J.S. Waters § 320.