Industry representatives, environmentalists and state officials have reached a compromise over how to protect groundwater from potential contamination from dairy operations.
Settlement talks began several days before state regulators were scheduled to open a public hearing to consider changes to New Mexico's dairy regulations. That hearing was Monday in Roswell.
The state Water Quality Control Commission plans to vote on the settlement during its meeting in May.
The Roswell Daily Record reports that the proposed regulations would lessen the number of required monitoring wells and give dairy farmers more flexibility on how to contain wastewater.
Environmental groups say the proposal also calls for dairies to still be responsible for cleaning up pollution they cause.
New Mexico has dozens of dairies and ranks among the top milk and cheese producers.
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