ABSTRACT
As water markets become increasingly proficient in measuring the economic value of water and as that water becomes increasingly valuable in response to the greater demand for its use, it should be expected that individual water users will reduce their water consumption. New Mexico, like other states, has an appurtenancy requirement in the statutes, but has adopted a liberal policy towards water rights transfers. Despite the popular belief of farmers and lawyers alike, the quantum of the Hoffman water right was not described by feet-per-acre language of the decree; it was described by the seventy-two areas of specifically described land in the decree. Since all western water law protects persons relying on the return flow of water, a conservation practice which eliminates that return flow runs "head on" into basic foundation of western water law principles. The vague way of describing the quantum of a right that was appropriate for irrigation is inadequate and often misleading in any other context.
