Thousands of New Mexicans relying on water systems with compliance issues
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – Water is essential for life in New Mexico. But thousands of New Mexicans rely on water providers that are facing violations or compliance issues from state regulators.
The New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) lists more than 200 locations with active drinking water program violations throughout the state. Those encompass a range of issues, from potential violations of the federal Safe Drinking Water Act to not complying with state regulations. And while some water providers are small, serving a few dozen people, others serve hundreds or thousands of residents.
For example, the Springer Water System serves 1,170 people, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The community has been repeatedly cited for not submitting required reports and failing to notify those customers of potential water issues.
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Data from the Environment Department and EPA show that some counties have thousands of people relying on water systems on the Environment Department’s watch list.
Even larger communities also have issues, according to NMED. The City of Las Vegas water system serves over 14,000 people and has active enforcement cases dating back to 2021. At the time, the Environment Department listed 20 issues, including a lack of records and documentation, a lack of an emergency response plan, a leak at a chlorine injection point, and an inadequate maintenance plan. Since then, some of the issues have been corrected. But as of early 2024, the Environment Department still has active cases trying to resolve issues within the City of Las Vegas water system.
In total, more than 200,000 people rely on water systems with active enforcement cases in New Mexico, according to data from the EPA and Environment Department. The majority of those people are concentrated in a few counties, but water systems in nearly every corner of the state have active cases.
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