NATIONAL FORESTS DO NOT HAVE RESERVED WATER RIGHTS FOR RECREATIONAL PURPOSES

The new Mexico Supreme Court ruled that the reasons for which national forests were created and reasons for which water rights may be reserved by the federal government do not include recreational or aesthetic purposes. The decision virtually denies water rights to the gila Nat'l Forest in new Mexico. The public has thus been denied much of the recreational use of the gila Nat'l Forest, since without water for picnic facilities, fishing, wildlife use, and general aesthetics, the forest may become merely a storage area insuring water and timber supplies.