ABSTRACT
Fluid water respects no particular governance scale. However, scale is actively used in the politics, conceptualization and management of water. Here, I argue that scale is also fundamental in differentiating water users and water use rights in New Mexico, USA. More specifically, it is the legal politics of scale derived from adjudicating water rights which sort and scale water rights holders by identity (Indian and non-Indian) and the governance scale of jurisdiction (federal versus state oversight). Water rights adjudications are legal processes undertaken by individual states to map, quantify and certify the location, beneficial use and quantity of water. However, although the law attempts to treat all water users equally, the scales of legal water politics treat water users differently, often based on identity under the varying institutions of water governance (Whiteley et al. 2008).
