If a person, firm, corporation or the state desires to use underground public water in an amount not to exceed three acre-feet for a definite period of not to exceed one year in prospecting, mining or construction of public works, highways and roads or drilling operations designed to discover or develop the natural mineral resources of the state, only the application referred to in Section 72-12-3 NMSA 1978 shall be required. Separate application shall be made for each proposed use, whether in the same or in different basins. Upon the filing of an application, the state engineer shall make an examination of the facts and, if the proposed use will not permanently impair any existing rights of others, the state engineer shall grant the application. If the state engineer finds that the proposed use sought will permanently impair such rights, there shall be advertisement and hearing as provided in the case of applications made under Section 72-12-3 NMSA 1978.
History: 1978 Comp., § 72-12-1.3, enacted by Laws 2003, ch. 298, § 4.
ANNOTATIONSEffective dates. — Laws 2003, ch. 298 contained no effective date provision, but, pursuant to N.M. Const., art. IV, § 23, was effective June 20, 2003, 90 days after adjournment of the legislature.