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SAN MIGUEL COUNTY 鈥� The legal battle to protect public access to rivers and streams in New Mexico hasn鈥檛 seen its final salvos.

New Mexico Attorney General Ra煤l Torrez filed an emergency motion this week in 4th Judicial District Court accusing San Miguel County resident Erik Briones of 鈥渙ngoing violations鈥� of a 2024 consent decree, which prohibited Briones from obstructing public access to a section of the Pecos River flowing through his property.

Despite a series of legal victories supporting the public鈥檚 right to use waterways, even where they cross private lands, Torrez said 鈥渘ew and alarming evidence鈥� indicates Briones placed barbed wire, dug 鈥渄angerous underwater drop-offs鈥� using heavy equipment and threatened recreators with a firearm along the Pecos.

鈥淭his is not just noncompliance, it is a blatant disregard for the law, the court鈥檚 authority, and the safety of New Mexicans,鈥� Torrez said in a statement. 鈥淲e secured a clear victory to protect the public鈥檚 constitutional right to access our rivers. We will not hesitate to return to court to enforce that ruling and hold bad actors accountable.鈥�

The order asks the court to hold Briones in contempt, impose daily fines and consider additional sanctions, including incarceration if necessary.

Briones could not immediately be reached for comment Thursday.

The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver reaffirmed the legal basis for the consent decree last month. The appeals judges upheld a lower court鈥檚 dismissal of a lawsuit Briones and four other landowners in San Miguel and Rio Arriba counties brought against the New Mexico Department of Justice and related agencies, arguing their private property rights had been infringed.

The question of public access to streams and rivers on private lands remains the subject of significant debate nationwide, with state-by-state legal variations. Arguments often center on the distinction between access to navigable river water and underlying riverbeds that fall within the bounds of private lands.

Under that framework, the New Mexico landowners argued that the state illegally took their property without providing 鈥渏ust compensation,鈥� as required under the Fifth Amendment, validating their use of 鈥渘o trespassing鈥� signs, fencing and other barriers to prohibit public access to the Pecos and Rio Tusas where they intersect their properties.

In the majority opinion, the appeals court judges ruled that the public could not traverse private lands to access waterways but rejected arguments that the state had claimed property or violated the law by permitting public access to rivers and streams.

鈥淭he facts before us instead support the New Mexico Supreme Court鈥檚 conclusion that it merely clarified the scope of the public鈥檚 easement to use public water and that the Landowners never enjoyed the right to exclude the claim,鈥� the judges wrote.

The 4th Judicial District Court issued a permanent injunction in March 2025 that upheld a landmark 2022 New Mexico Supreme Court decision in Adobe Whitewater Club of New Mexico v. New Mexico State Game Commission, which clarified the public鈥檚 right to access rivers and streams in the state, even where they cross into private lands.

鈥淲e hold that the public has the right to recreate and fish in public waters and that this right includes the privilege to do such acts as are reasonably necessary to effect the enjoyment of such right,鈥� the unanimous opinion reads.

John Miller is the sa国际传媒官网网页入口鈥檚 northern New Mexico correspondent. He can be reached at jmiller@abqjournal.com.