Public Water Access: New Mexico Department of Justice Notches Another Victory in Critical Stream Access Case

Denver, Colo. — New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez today announced a significant victory in the New Mexico Department of Justice’s ongoing effort to protect the public’s right to access streams. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit upheld the State’s position, affirming that New Mexicans have a constitutional right to use and enjoy public waters. The ruling follows a prior decision by a federal judge in Albuquerque in favor of the Attorney General, which private landowners appealed.

Today’s ruling rejected that appeal and recognized that federal courts will not interfere with the state’s constitutional right.

In enforcing that right against landowners who refused to follow the law, Attorney General Torrez had secured injunctions prohibiting them from:

• Erecting fences or other obstructions that interfere with established public fishing and recreation rights on the Pecos River that the New Mexico Supreme Court most recently addressed in its 2022 in the Adobe Whitewater decision;
• Posting signs suggesting that public access to the river is trespassing or otherwise unlawful, including contact with the streambed or banks as necessary for recreation;
• Interfering with or coercing the public to prevent lawful access.

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The landowners are limited to constructing fencing for livestock management following guidelines previously provided by the New Mexico Department of Justice (NMDOJ).

Copy of the Order

The ruling supports New Mexico’s longstanding constitutional protection of public waters, and NMDOJ will continue to closely guard the public’s right of access to these cherished waterways. For more information on the original ruling of injunctive relief, visit HERE.