A three-year dispute between oil giant Chevron and New Mexico’s top water authority has been resolved, allowing some proposed transfers of water rights tied to the shuttered Molycorp molybdenum mine in Questa to move forward. The fight over 1,433 acre-feet of water rights held by Chevron Mining Inc. began three years ago when the Office of the State Engineer blocked the company’s attempt to sell 7 acre-feet of rights to two small businesses north of Questa. Then-State Engineer Mike Hamman rejected the transfer applications based on the agency’s determination the rights in question were invalid because Chevron had not used them. New Mexico is a “use it or lose it” state when it comes to water rights. According to statute, water rights holders must put their water to “beneficial use” or risk losing it.