SANTA FE, N.M. (KRQE) – The New Mexico Supreme Court recently reaffirmed a constitutional right to be on public water flowing over privately owned land. But just because the high court says so, doesn’t mean every landowner is removing fences and ‘no trespass’ signs.

The state Supreme Court opinion invalidated regulations by the state Game Commission that previously granted private landowners a certificate to close off public access to waters on their land. Over the years, New Mexicans have received mixed messages about public water access, depending on which agency they were dealing with.

Why is this topic seemingly so divisive? Will there be more lawsuits filed over river access? Chris McKee and Gabrielle Burkhart host Jesse Deubel, Executive Director for the New Mexico Wildlife Federation, who brings listeners up to speed about how we got here. 

Listen to the legislative hearing mentioned in the episode from August 7th. The stream access and ruling discussion begins at 02:44:32 in the webcast.

Also, read more about the stream access issue from KRQE’s online coverage here. 

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Download new episodes of the New Mexico News Podcast every Tuesday, starting around 5:30 a.m., Mountain time. Episodes are available on most podcast platforms including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, and Podbean among others.

Having trouble finding the show? Try searching your favorite podcast player with the term “KRQE” or “New Mexico News Podcast” (without the quotes). You can also use the links above to find the podcast on each respective service or listen to the audio player at the top of this post.

If you have a question, comment, or suggestion as to who should be interviewed on the podcast, let us know! Email the hosts at chris.mckee@krqe.com or gabrielle.burkhart@krqe.com