Santa Fe, N.M. • Water districts in northern New Mexico sought to disqualify a state judge Tuesday and overturn a major settlement with the Navajo Nation in a simmering dispute about rights to water from the San Juan River.
A motion filed with the New Mexico state Court of Appeals seeks to disqualify James Wechsler as the presiding judge in the San Juan Basin water rights adjudication for failing to disclose prior legal work on behalf of Navajos.
The court challenge, now among related appeals awaiting a decision, comes from an alliance of more than 20 community water and irrigation districts and highlights Wechsler’s work in the 1970s for DNA Legal Services.