SANTA FE COUNTY, N.M. (KRQE) — There is trouble brewing on the prairie in Santa Fe County’s sprawling rangeland north of Moriarity. The issue that landed a prominent New Mexican in hot water isn’t apparent to the casual observer, but when state officials caught wind of what was happening there, they launched an investigation.
The first clue to something amiss surfaced last summer after residents noticed a parade of large tanker trucks on State Road 41, making roundtrips between a construction site and a remote spot adjacent to a cornfield.
“In a two-hour period, there were six trucks that came in and pulled out, and that was going on from early in the morning until evening,” Santa Fe County resident Sherry Weingarten said. “I would say that you’re looking at anywhere from 25 plus trucks a day that were pulling in and out,” Weingarten said
The convoy of trucks drove through a barbed wire fence gate on a remote Santa Fe County ranch road at all hours of the day, filled 5000-gallon tanks at a pump station, and then headed out. They’d come back later for more. What were they pulling out of the ground? The pump station is in farm and ranch country where water is more precious than oil. So, after millions of gallons of water were mysteriously pumped out of the well and hauled away, the authorities were alerted.
“There was water being pumped from an irrigation well … and transported four miles away to a construction site without a valid permit,” said New Mexico State Engineer Mike Hamman. The State Engineer regulates surface and groundwater usage across New Mexico.
“New Mexico is the second most arid state in the Union, and we have a limited resource, particularly surface water. It’s very critical for the state to do what it can to make sure that we have the water available for people currently living here and those that wish to come here in the future,” Hamman said.
Due to a concern for the underground water supply in central New Mexico, water usage is regulated by the State Engineer. Anyone drilling a well must have a permit. For example, well #E-5495 is an irrigation well owned by the Bill King Ranch, a sizable Santa Fe County farm and ranch operation. If the King name sounds familiar, that’s because Bill is the son of former three-term governor Bruce King. “My father and my grandfather started (the ranch) in 1917, and we’ve been farming and ranching here ever since. So, it’s been about 106 years,” Bill King said.
Down the road, a few miles from the Bill King Ranch, is a massive pipeline construction project. To test the storage tanks, contractors needed water, a lot of water. “When it came time to test the tanks, (the construction company) said they needed water to fill up the tank to test it, to make sure there was not a leak,” Bill King said. “I had this well E-5495. I said, ‘Yeah, we’ll sell you the water, and you can test the tank,'” King said. The contractor purchased 6,000,000 gallons from Bill King.
Here’s the rub. Irrigation well E-5495 is permitted for agricultural use. Without a permit, the commercial sale of water from the King Ranch well site constitutes a violation of the state’s water code. “There was water being pumped from an irrigation well at (the Bill King Ranch) and transported four miles away to a construction site without a valid permit,” State Engineer Mike Hamman said. “They did not come in and properly permit the transfer of that water for that purpose and place of use,” Hamman said.
King Ranch neighbors like Sherry Weingarten said unregulated use of water in the Estancia Basin impacts everybody. “I have no issue with people irrigating their crops. But I do have problems with someone using a well not for the purposes it’s intended for,” Sherry Weingarten said. “The (King Ranch) well is an irrigation well. It’s not meant for commercial use. And all of us are on wells out here. So as that water table drops, more and more people’s wells go dry,” Weingarten said.
Bill King said the water sale was an oversight he did not try to hide. “It’s pretty hard to hide big semi trucks hauling (water) down the road in the middle of the day, every day. I wasn’t trying to hide it at all,” Bill King said. “(The state engineer) came and told me they wanted me to stop, and they wanted me to apply for a permit. So, I applied for the permit. I’m going to do whatever they tell me I have to do to make it right. The state engineer’s got authority over the water, and I’ll do what they say,” King said.
The prominent New Mexico rancher said the tanker truck water hauling from his irrigation well has been halted. “There won’t be any (water hauling) there until the (state) engineer decides what my punishment is and what I have to do in the future to make sure it’s right,” Bill King said.
The state engineer has now penalized the Bill King Ranch 14.6 million gallons of water for unpermitted commercial water hauling. That means, during this year’s growing season, Bill King will not be allowed to irrigate some 35 acres of agricultural land. “We have a limited resource, and particularly in the Estancia Basin. We do know that excessive pumping would really cause hardship and significant loss to a number of people if that aquifer were to be completely drained,” State Engineer Mike Hamman said.
Bill King said he has now applied for the proper well permits. Does King think he’s being targeted because of his last name? “I don’t think so. I understand that water is very valuable in this valley and that I happen to own a lot of it. I want to take care of it, so I don’t think that at all,” Bill King said.