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Sunday, September 19, 1999
The 1900s have seen New Mexico grow from an out-of-the-way U.S. territory to a state known for science, sports, literature and the arts as well as for its unique cultural mix and brand of politics.
While many people have contributed in these areas, some have had a larger-than-usual impact.
Some are known far and wide: Smokey Bear, Georgia O'Keeffe, the Unser family. Others might not have as high a name recognition outside New Mexico, but leave a legacy that helped define the state.
And in most cases, their influence has been felt far beyond New Mexico's borders.
Here is one of the 20 individuals or families who helped make New Mexico what it is today.
Steve Reynolds -- 1916-1990
Steve Reynolds, state engineer for 35 years, made New Mexico water law and administration into a model of fairness and impartiality. Appointed in 1955 by Gov. John F. Simms, Reynolds served through the ensuing 10 gubernatorial administrations and more than half of the years of New Mexico statehood, up to his death in 1990.
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Steve Reynolds
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With the assistance of able water attorneys, he sharpened the reach of his office in court and defended the prerogatives of the state against challenges from both within the state and without.
He was respected as one of the elder statesmen of water law among the water officials of all the states with which New Mexico shares river compacts. His knowledge, judgment and unbending integrity gave him extraordinary influence, from the committee rooms of the New Mexico Legislature to the compact commissions of the Western states to the halls of Congress.
The modern administration of water law in New Mexico, the critical structure for managing this scarce resource into the next millennium, will be carried out in the framework painstakingly developed and defended by the 3 1/2 decades of Reynolds' service as state engineer.
Compiled by Fritz Thompson, Leslie Linthicum, Bill Hume and Dennis Latta
2000 
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