The New Mexico OSE Change of Ownership Form WR-02 tells the Office of the State Engineer that a water right has a new owner. You complete it with the OSE file number, the grantor’s and grantee’s names and addresses, and the legal description of the land; attach a copy of the recorded deed; include a $2.00 fee; and submit the packet to the OSE district office that covers the location of the water right. After the OSE processes it, you record the returned form with the county clerk.
Who Has to File
Under NMSA 1978 ยง 72-1-2.1, anyone who acquires a water right must file a change of ownership with the State Engineer. It doesn’t matter how you got the right: purchase, gift, inheritance, or court order all trigger the requirement, and it covers any right that has been permitted, licensed, declared, or adjudicated.1Justia. New Mexico Code 72-1-2.1 – Water Rights; Change in Ownership; Filing and Recording; Constructive Notice
The statute doesn’t set a deadline. File anyway, and soon. Until the OSE’s records show you as the owner, you may struggle to exercise the right, respond to administrative notices, or prove ownership in a dispute.
What to Gather Before You Start
Pull these items together first:
- The OSE file number assigned to the water right. You can find it on prior permits, well-drilling records, or the original declaration.
- A copy of the recorded deed (or court order or other conveyance) that transferred the right to you. The copy must show the county clerk’s recording stamp.2New Mexico Office of the State Engineer. New Mexico OSE WR-02 Change of Ownership Form
- Full legal names and mailing addresses for both the grantor (previous owner) and grantee (new owner), exactly as they appear on the deed.
- The legal description of the land tied to the water right, matching the county clerk’s land records.
Finding Your Water Right File Number
The file number ties your submission to the correct record, so it has to be right. If the previous owner didn’t hand over OSE correspondence, search the New Mexico Water Rights Reporting System at nmwrrs.ose.nm.gov. You can look up records by owner name, file number, or point-of-diversion location, and the OSE’s online mapping tool plots points of diversion statewide.3New Mexico Office of the State Engineer. New Mexico Water Rights Reporting System If neither search turns up the right record, call the district office for your area and ask staff to help identify it.
Filling Out the Form
Most of the form mirrors what’s already on your deed. Enter the OSE file number at the top, then the grantor’s and grantee’s legal names and mailing addresses. Copy the legal description word for word from the deed. If the water right covers only part of the land in the deed, say so clearly so the OSE can distinguish the parcel tied to the right from adjacent land.
One form per file number. If a single deed transfers three water right files, you submit three WR-02s and three $2.00 fees. When multiple people are acquiring an interest, define each person’s share on the form so the OSE records the split correctly.
The Deed Attachment
Your WR-02 is incomplete without a copy of the recorded conveyance. The deed must already be recorded with the county clerk before you submit, and the OSE looks for that recording stamp on the attached copy.2New Mexico Office of the State Engineer. New Mexico OSE WR-02 Change of Ownership Form
Check what the deed actually says about water. The New Mexico Supreme Court held in Turner v. Bassett (2005) that silence in a deed no longer reliably conveys irrigation water rights. If your deed doesn’t mention water rights, the OSE may question whether the right transferred with the land. Deeds that use language like “and all appurtenant water rights” generally avoid that problem. If you’re unsure whether yours conveys the right, talk to a New Mexico water rights attorney before filing.
Filing Fee
The fee is $2.00 per water right file number. Pay by check or money order made out to the Office of the State Engineer. Confirm the current amount on the OSE’s forms page before you send anything, in case it has changed.
Where to Submit
Send the completed packet to the OSE district office that covers the location of the water right, not the office closest to your home. New Mexico has seven district offices:
- District I: Albuquerque
- District II: Roswell
- District III: Deming
- District IV: Las Cruces
- District V: Aztec
- District VI: Santa Fe
- District VII: Cimarron
The OSE publishes a district boundary map on the New Mexico Water Data catalog, and office addresses and phone numbers are on the OSE contacts page at ose.nm.gov.4New Mexico Water Data. OSE District Boundary
You can mail the packet or hand-deliver it. Walking it in lets staff flag obvious errors on the spot. If you mail it, use a tracked service. Keep a complete copy of the signed form and the attached deed for yourself.
Recording With the County Clerk Afterward
Filing with the OSE is only half the job. Section 72-1-2.1 also requires the new owner to record a copy of the completed change of ownership form with the county clerk in the county where the water right is located. That recording is what creates public notice of the change: the statute says the filing “shall be public notice of the existence and contents of the instruments so recorded from the time of recording with the county clerk.”1Justia. New Mexico Code 72-1-2.1 – Water Rights; Change in Ownership; Filing and Recording; Constructive Notice
After the OSE processes your WR-02, it sends an original back with instructions to take it to the county clerk.2New Mexico Office of the State Engineer. New Mexico OSE WR-02 Change of Ownership Form County recording fees in New Mexico run around $25 for a standard document. Budget for it. Skipping the recording means no constructive notice on the public land records that ownership changed, which can create title problems later.
What the OSE Does With Your Submission
Staff verify your legal description and recorded deed against existing records, confirm the grantor actually held the water right, and enter the change into the Water Administration Technical and Evaluation Resource System (WATERS), the state’s official database for water-related claims.3New Mexico Office of the State Engineer. New Mexico Water Rights Reporting System You can confirm the update by searching NMWRRS for your file number.
If something doesn’t match, a legal description that differs from the file, a missing recording stamp, or an unclear chain of title, expect a letter asking for corrections. The way to avoid that round trip is to make the form mirror the recorded deed exactly the first time.