Any appropriation of surface water initiated on or after March 19, 1907 requires a valid permit issued by the state engineer. Any person, firm, corporation, public or private, or any other entity intending to appropriate surface water shall file an application on a form prescribed by the state engineer. Except where a notice of intention is filed, the date of filing of an application for permit to appropriate establishes the priority of application. Application maps (see 19.26.2.25 NMAC), preliminary surveys, design data and additional information shall be included with an application to provide all essential facts relating to the request.
A. Form - content: An application to appropriate surface water shall be filed on a form prescribed by the state engineer. The application shall include the following information: the name and address of the applicant, the proposed use, the annual diversion of water requested for the proposed use, legal descriptions of the point of diversion and the place of use, the method of conveyance, the annual diversion schedule, and other information the state engineer may deem necessary. The point of diversion shall be described using latitude and longitude or the New Mexico state plane coordinate system.B. Filing fee: An application to appropriate surface water shall be accompanied with filing fees as follows: (1) $25 for a rate of diversion amount not to exceed five (5) cubic feet of water per second;(2) $25 plus $5 for each additional cubic foot per second over five (5) cubic feet per second, unless the appropriation is for power generation purposes and the amount of water diverted is returned to the river bed in substantially undiminished quantity, in which case, the filing fee shall be $25 plus $1 for each additional cubic foot per second required;(3) $10 for each one thousand (1000) acre-feet, or fraction thereof, of storage capacity if the request is primarily for storage of excess and flood water;(4) For a canal or other water conduit, $25 where the capacity does not exceed fifty (50) cubic feet of water per second, and $10 for each additional fifty (50) cubic feet per second or fraction thereof.(5) Additional required fees for examining plans and specifications for dams and for inspection of dam sites are described in 19.25.12 NMAC.N.M. Admin. Code § 19.26.2.10
19.26.2.10 NMAC - N, 1/31/2005