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SANTA FE — Albuquerque City Councilor Martin Heinrich is hanging out in a backyard, holding a baby and promoting Albuquerque's San Juan-Chama Drinking Water Project.

It sounds like a perfect setting as an advertisement for the potential congressional candidate.

Except this ad is a public service announcement by the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority, paid for by city taxpayers.

The idea is to let residents know they can get a free sample of the water that will flow from their taps next year.

But with Heinrich considering a run against U.S. Rep. Heather Wilson in 2008, could the 30-second spot be seen as a campaign ad?

Heinrich says no, adding that he announced his exploratory committee after the ad idea came about.

A water authority spokesman said Heinrich, who is chairman of the water authority's board, was asked to take part in the ad April 19. It was shot a week later.

On April 23, Heinrich announced he was setting up his exploratory committee.

Heinrich, a Democrat, said he consulted with a lawyer who advised him that it was OK to go ahead with the TV spot. He said he doesn't want the specter of a campaign to color his work for the city.

"What I hope to do is to not change anything about the way I do my job," said Heinrich, who hopes to make a decision on running for the state's 1st Congressional District later this month.

But Allen Weh, chairman of the state Republican Party, said public service announcements can come off as campaign ads.

"Those PSAs do get turned into self-promoting ads," said Weh, who hasn't seen the ad.

The utility authority paid $1,275 to produce the ad and another $40,005 to air the ad in May and June, including this week, which is Drinking Water Week. The campaign to promote the San Juan-Chama Project includes other radio and newspaper ads that don't feature Heinrich.

City residents for years have been paying for the roughly $200 million water project, which transitions the city from using a diminishing underground aquifer for its drinking water to using treated river water. That water starts in the San Juan drainage of Colorado, but is diverted through tunnels into the Chama drainage, which flows into the Rio Grande.

Heinrich, though, isn't the only elected official to appear on public service announcements while running or considering running for office.

U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici, who faces re-election next year, has a PSA on TV and radio now promoting a coming 5-kilometer walk to benefit the National Alliance on Mental Illness.

His spokesman Chris Gallegos said the ad isn't political. "All the PSAs he does are related to his work as a senator," Gallegos said.

Other PSAs have looked more like campaign ads.

Former Democratic Secretary of State Rebecca Vigil-Giron was the star of elections-related ads last year, drawing harsh criticism from Republicans for what they said was more self-promotion than voting promotion.

Also last year, Republican state Land Commissioner Pat Lyons took heat from opponent Jim Baca for ads Lyons said were about the Land Office, but that Baca said were about Lyons' campaign.

Tom Carroll, president of Albuquerque media consulting firm DW Turner, said that while name and face recognition are important, a few PSAs this far from next year's elections aren't likely to have much impact on an election.

"In a world where you have to do a tremendous amount of TV campaigning, a few PSAs don't make a big difference."