The City of Las Cruces has reached a $20 million settlement with the family of a woman shot and killed by a police officer who was later charged with second-degree murder.

The announcement offered no recommendation or decision about how to divvy up water from the river, which provides electricity to millions of homes and businesses, irrigates vast stretches of desert farmland and reaches kitchen faucets in cities including Denver, Salt Lake City, Albuquerque, Las Vegas, Phoenix and Los Angeles.

State lawmakers started raising questions last year about international trips by university President Joseph Shepard, his wife’s use of a university purchasing card and spending on high-end furniture.

New Mexico Department of Health Secretary Patrick Allen is the latest in a long line of cabinet secretaries to leave the administration.