SANTA FE – New Mexico may use public funds to help Facebook pay for water rights at a major new data center proposed at Los Lunas, a town south of Albuquerque.

The social media company is negotiating for tax breaks and subsidies as it weighs whether to locate the facility in Los Lunas or a suburb of Salt Lake City.

A proposed water and sewer service agreement with the village of Los Lunas obtained by the Associated Press outlines potential water demands and includes provisions to acquire water rights for the data center with money from New Mexico’s closing fund.

The state’s Local Economic Development Act fund helps pay for a range of infrastructure improvements for businesses that expand or relocate to New Mexico and may spur economic development by doing business beyond the state.

The Department of Economic Development, which negotiates closing fund agreements, has declined requests to comment on possible state incentives to attract Facebook.

Los Lunas Village Attorney Larry Guggino said it was unclear how much money might come from the state’s closing fund because village officials are not involved in those negotiations.

The fund had an available balance of about $50 million at the start of the year.

Facebook representatives could not immediately be reached.

Data centers use significant amounts of water to cool computer equipment as they process vast quantities of secure information, powering everything from online shopping to streaming movies.

The proposed water agreement would guarantee an initial supply of 1.5 million gallons a day for the first two data center buildings and as much as 4.5 million gallons a day if the facility expands to a fifth and sixth building. Some of that water capacity is a precaution. Facebook’s exact needs were unclear.

The village of 15,000 residents on the edge of the Rio Grande south of Albuquerque used an average of 2.8 million gallons of water a day in 2015, drawing its water supply from four interconnected wells.