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3-Acre Irrigated Farm with Private Spring & Live/Work Structure – Taos, NM

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Land Description:
3-acre working farm 2 miles from central Taos with ponds and spring-fed irrigation system.
Set up for organic agricultural production as it was in past years - nursery, herbs, specialty crops, or similar. Annual lease, renewable with preference for long-term, responsible land stewards.

 

About the Property:
This is a productive 3-acre farm property built around a spring-fed water system that’s been in continuous use for generations. The water runs daily through ponds, pumps, and irrigation pipe already in place.
The land/soil itself is healthy and well-established, with rich loam soil in a riparian ecosystem. It has been used for organic growing and nursery-style production, including perennial and medicinal herbs that can be harvested and divided for propagation. Plenty of field space for market crops. Garlic, rhubarb, watercress, & more are mature for propagation and sale.
There’s a small propagation greenhouse on site (under 100 sq ft). If you want to run larger greenhouse operations, you’d install those based on your own setup and goals.
The property includes a 4br/2ba nice building that can be used as part of the farm operation for workspace or staying on site as needed for managing the land. This is being offered as a working farm, not as a standalone residential rental.
Also has shed & outdoor storage, mowers & some farm equipment included.
NMDA nursery dealer license in operation at this long-established county-licensed business location with good access and road frontage.

 

Works well for:
Nursery or plant propagation
Medicinal or perennial herbs
Organic or specialty crops
Small commercial farm operation
Expanding into greenhouse growing
Small livestock/poultry production
Retreats/ educational setting

 

Lease Terms
$3200/month
Annual lease - happy to renew for the right long-term steward
Tenant handles farm operations and all upkeep
Property is leased as a farm/business opportunity, not a house rental - building use is included as part of farm rental.
Building must remain chemical- and allergen-free due to owner sensitivities.

 

Who This Is For
Someone serious about farming or plant production
Hydroponic producer
A small business operator or grower
People who understand land stewardship and working with what’s here

 

 

NEMEA Spring History & Development

 

Nemea™ is trademarked in New Mexico as the name of a previously-planned water bottling expansion.  The name Nemea is a reference to the ancient spring from which Hercules drank before slaying the Nemean lion.  This spring is unique in the water composition, yes, but perhaps more importantly for future development is its continuous use since colonial times, with our ownership subsequent to the original historic Mondragon family.

 

This Overview is written in an informal style to encourage questions and discussion as the reader interacts with the material – we’re learning together, more amazed with every revelation.

 

Potential next owners are invited to schedule a visit to the springs, schedule assessments, etc (within reason) to assure confidence in the resource.  I look forward to passing this wholly unique gem carefully along to the next stewards and conservationists to preserve and use in perpetuity.  I am not a lawyer, or a scientist, yet I strive to present here a concise overview of the highlights of the spring property history and potential, as I understand it, based on assessments I have invested in over the years from water rights attorneys Fred Waltz and Luke Pierpont, and hydrogeologist John Shomaker.   

 

1. History of agricultural use & legal understanding
   1. In NM, the water right refers to a right to use water, not ownership of the water itself.
   2. These concepts are foundational to understanding water use rights in NM:
      1.  Prior appropriation (first in time, first in right, & continuous use thereof)
      2. Beneficial use (as the basis and measure of water right) are foundations of NM water use law.
      3. Continuous use – maintenance of the right attends to ongoing use
   3. Traversing my property is a ~240’ section of what was the historic, since abandoned, Jose Venito Martinez (JVM) acequia:
      1. Documented continuous agricultural use of this water for 200+ yrs
      2. OSE Declaration 0130 records priority date 1812 for the JVM ditch
      3. The surface water (acequia) irrigation for the JVM ditch was “abandoned” sometime prior to the 1969 Taos Hydrographic Survey (seems like probably in the early 1940’s, see OSE maps 17 & 18), and according to Fred Waltz a decision influenced by the numerous springs in the area.
      4. The water right (right to use this water) exists due to the private spring on the private property, per water attorney Waltz. 
      5. This right can be changed for future commercial use (change of use) and established by either (both?) pre-basin groundwater or pre-1907 surface, per water attorney Luke Pierpont.
   4. I purchased the property from a local married couple, who owned it for only 2 years, having themselves purchased it from the Rosalio Mondragon estate heirs  
   5. It can therefore be said that, with but 2-yr interlude of no known ag use in between, I am the subsequent continuous agricultural user after the original historic Mondragon family, proudly continuing the agricultural tradition. 
   6. I have been an ag producer for 36 years now.  Here in Taos County, I was the largest producer of certified organic culinary and medicinal herbs in the southwest region in the aughts.   I am still the singular source for medicinal and ceremonial/rare plants from local, Western herbal, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tibetan Medicine, and Ayurvedic herbal healing traditions. The current living medicinal herb apothecary farm onsite is the source for largest variety of mature, living medicinal herbs within at least a 600 miles radius, that we have been able to determine as of last sourcing.  See 2025 Medicinal diagram and list.  The little nursery still has a nice variety of potted medicinals & perennial foods (raspberries, rhubarb), and I harvest and stock the medicinal herbs dried, and in tinctures/formulas for ongoing sale to customers locally and across the US.
   7. In my twenty-plus years here, I have cleaned out the spring only as much as necessary to achieve a sufficient flow in order that the aquatic ecosystem remains healthy, with enough flow to ensure adequate oxygen for the aquatic life to thrive and prevent algae and stagnation.  Judging by the effects on the spring flow of the minimal necessary unclogging for health purposes over the decades, I assess I have uncovered only a small portion of the spring flow and it could be considerable if the spring were cleaned further.

 

 

2. Water development - My understanding from the experts is currently:
   1. Because this spring water has been in continuous agricultural use since Spanish colonial times (prior appropriation – first in time), that use can continue indefinitely by whomever owns the property - it is a pre-basin, pre-1907 right, perhaps “vested.”
   2. If/when the use of the water changes, then the water attorneys would engage a process with the Office of the State Engineer.  It is my understanding that this is basically an administrative process to change the “beneficial use” category. 
   3. The attorneys take care of this - I do not know the process, only that the estimate was up to two years and ~$30K to accomplish the use change registration (?) process, which seemed a reasonable business expense for the planned bottled water start-up.
   4. To be clear, my understanding is that the change of use (etc) process is exactly that:  a process by which the water rights attorneys and experts take the next step; I myself have had no doubt regarding the outcome of the process – changing the use of water (ground- or surface-water) in NM is not uncommon, it’s simply a process the experts execute.  The changes needed to use this water in a different manner than historic agricultural (and domestic, to whatever extent that use is or is not considered) are just a process one pays professionals to accomplish. Its not a matter of whether it can be changed, its just how long the process takes and at what cost. 

 

 

3. Valuation and potential
   1. Based on two real estate attorneys at Taos Attorney, LLC 2021 valuation formula, the valuation of the water reseource for prprty sale purposes was a formula of:  annual flow (gpy) x $0.yy/gallon x z years flow, plus land/residential value.  The actual sale price would reflect current measurements/assessments as the potential buyer chooses, subject to valuation negotiation.
   2. To the best of my understanding, I have positioned and documented this spring property as ready to move forward into its next highest best beneficial use as provided under NM law.:
      1. Domestic/municipal (multiple nearby developments permitted in adjacent Town of Taos, e.g.)
      2. Industrial/commercial (beverage, data mining, e.g.)
      3. Power generation (hydrogen, e.g.)
      4. Recreation/health (spa, e.g.)
      5. Oil and gas (fracking Vermejo Park currently, potential RGNNM development)
      6. Conservation – preserving the pristine flow and gorgeous wildlife nature park
      7. Possible: larger scale agriculture at a second location – while apparently untested and unaddressed specifically in NM, it has been noted plausible that a grower might transport private spring water from one of their properties to another of their properties for use in their agricultural operations (crop, livestock, etc).

 

4. Infrastructure & Building – excellent business location
   1. Property has 330’ road frontage along a well-travelled county road, as well as southern access with private easement dirt roadway (access driveway for landlocked tracts of the Rosalio Mondragon Estate adjacent to the south).
   2. Coveted Town of Taos municipal sewer service; Town sewer trunk line is just a few yards from eastern property line.
   3. Fiber nearby
   4. 100’ domestic well (delicious and pure)
   5. Fenced – well enough for dogs, not for livestock.  Enough to deter coyotes well enough.
   6. Building:  2001 Cavco manufactured on permanent foundation, light use, well-maintained. 

 

Any questions, just ask.  I am known for transparency and am proud of the work I have done for decades, the service to the land and water, the beauty which has arisen from the sweat of labor and tears of pain.   Qualified buyers may access the online repository of historical, legal, hydrogeological records - please contact nemeapure@gmail.com

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