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Notices For Publication

Notices For Publication

The posted applications were received by the Office of the State Engineer (OSE) and the Notices for Publication will be issued within 5 days of posting on the OSE website. State law requires that applications be published once a week for three consecutive weeks in a newspaper(s) of general circulation published within the county or stream system in which the well or surface water diversion is located and within each county where the water will be or has been put to beneficial use.

Posting of the application on the OSE website meets the noticing requirements within Sections 72-2-20, 72-5-4, 72-5A-5, 72-6-6, 72-12-3 or 12-12B-1 NMSA 1978.

Posting to this website does not imply that the application is, has been, or will be published in any newspaper. If, however, the last publication date does not occur within 60 days of the date posted on this website, the applicant must request the application be “re-posted” to the website to initiate the process from the beginning.

Formal publication in the correct newspaper(s) of the Notice for Publication is the responsibility of the applicant.

For more information on Notices for Publication, contact us at (505) 827-6120.

Objections or Protests

Any person, firm or corporation or other entity having standing to file objections or protests shall do so in writing (objection must be legible, signed, and include the writer’s complete name, phone number and mailing address). The objection to the approval of the application must be based on:

(1) Impairment; if impairment, you must specifically identify your water rights; and/or
(2) Public Welfare/Conservation of Water; if public welfare or conservation of water within the state of New Mexico, you must show how you will be substantially and specifically affected.

The written objection or protest must be filed, in triplicate, with the State Engineer, to the appropriate district office, on or before the last date indicated in the publication as printed in the legal notice in the newspaper. Facsimiles (faxes) will be accepted as a valid protest as long as the hard copy is hand-delivered or mailed and postmarked within 24-hours of the facsimile. Mailing postmark will be used to validate the 24-hour period. Protests can be faxed to the Office of the State Engineer, to the appropriate district office. If no valid protest or objection is filed, the State Engineer will evaluate the application in accordance with the provisions of Chapter 72 NMSA 1978. If a protest or objection is filed where the notice was not published in a newspaper, the protest will become part of the water rights file and the application will be cancelled for lack of newspaper publication.