Acequia / Community Ditch Overlay (NMSA Ch. 73) (NM)
Tracked preemption from the New Mexico overlay bundle.
Overview
← All state preemptionsNew Mexico overlay roll-upNew Mexico zoning wikiNew Mexico building codesFederal overlaysGlossaryFederal-conflict: Not flagged
Effective
1851-07-20
Sunset
—
Authority
state
Scope
state:NM
Other New Mexico preemptions
WIPP (Carlsbad) Federal Radioactive Waste CorridorNMSA 3-21A — Manufactured Home Siting Non-DiscriminationMilitary AICUZ / Federal Installation Overlays (Kirtland AFB, Holloman AFB, WSMR, Cannon AFB)N.M. Const. Art. X § 6 — Constitutional Municipal Home Rule (Charter Cities)NMSA 3-21 — Municipal/County Zoning Enabling Act (Dillon's Rule Baseline)NMSA 3-21-2 / 3-21-6 — Extraterritorial Joint Zoning Authority (EZA/ELUC, SFEZO)Los Alamos County / LANL Federal–County Hybrid GovernanceFederal-Land Jurisdiction Carve-Out (BLM / USFS / NPS / State Trust Lands)
Trigger predicate
When this evaluates true for a parcel, the law's preempted fields take precedence over base zoning.
parcel.acequia_adjacency == TruePreempted fields
2 fields on the base district schema are rewritten when the trigger fires.
| Field | Op | Value | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
subdivision_review_process | add_step | mayordomo_notice_required | Subdivision platting near an active acequia typically requires notice to the acequia's mayordomo and consideration of water-delivery, easement, and ditch-rider-access impacts under NMSA 73-2-21 et seq. |
water_rights_overlay | override | acequia_priority_pre_1907 | Acequia water rights typically pre-date the 1907 NM territorial water code and carry senior priority — development plans must accommodate ditch alignments, headgates, and maintenance access |
Citation
Authority source
NMSA 1978 Chapter 73, Article 2 (Community Ditches and Acequias) + Article 3 (Acequia organization); NMSA Ch. 49 Art. 1 (Spanish/Mexican community land grants, related)
§ NMSA 73-2-1 et seq. (community ditches as political subdivisions)
Research notes
Acequias are political subdivisions of New Mexico — community-ditch associations with statutory standing predating U.S. acquisition of the territory. ~700 active acequias mostly in the Rio Grande, Rio Chama, Rio Pecos, Rio Arriba, and Mora valleys. Not a zoning preemption in the strict sense — does not override base-district fields — but creates a binding procedural overlay on subdivision and development review near a ditch. Spanish/Mexican community land grants (NMSA Ch. 49 Art. 1) form a parallel ownership layer that is also not a preemption but materially affects parcel records (Tierra Amarilla, Cañon de Carnué, San Joaquín del Río de Chama, etc.). Tracked here as an overlay so city/county records can flag impacted parcels.