V Bar Ranch LLC v. Cotten

I. Introduction

Plaintiff-Appellant V Bar Ranch LLC ("V Bar") has a decreed artesian confined-aquifer well that was originally drilled in 1946. At the time of drilling, the well was used to irrigate the Southwest Quarter of Section 3, Township 35 North, Range 9 East, N.M.P.M. ("Section 8"). In 1966, the predecessors in interest to V Bar (hereinafter referred to as "V Bar") began using the well to irrigate the Northwest Quarter of Section 8 in addition to the Southwest Quarter. In 1972, V Bar filed an application for adjudication of the well, and the well was decreed three years later and given…