Residents call on NM governor on commitments to fix water issues

EL PASO, Texas ( KTSM ) – During a public town hall meeting held July 25 in Las Cruces, the New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan-Grisham publicly committed to hold a public meeting in Sunland Park to address public concerns surrounding the ongoing water quality and service issues by the water utility that serves Sunland Park and Santa Teresa.

The governor also promised to “get the water cleaned and restored,” according to a news release sent by the New Mexico Environmental Law Center (NMELC)

The commitments came after Sunland Park community members repeated their concerns they have been voicing for years about the Camino Real Regional Utility Authority (CRRUA).

“Every New Mexican deserves safe, clean drinking water and it has been a long time coming for the state to come to southern New Mexico to address the contaminated drinking water,” Daisy Maldonado, director of Empowerment Congress NM said.

NMELC said CRRUA found itself in “hot water” in late 2023, after yet another arsenic contamination plagued the public water supply without any public notice provided or timely remediation efforts taken by the public utility.

As we previously reported, the utility has been under fire for months over concerns about water quality and discolored water. Some residents have told KTSM that the issues have been going on for years.

Most recently, the NMELC submitted a request on Friday, Aug. 2, to the New Mexico Department of Justice and the New Mexico Office of the State Auditor to investigate CRRUA for violations of “environmental protection laws; consumer protection laws; waste, fraud, or abuse of state and federal funds; and violations of the New Mexico Open Meetings Act,” NMELC announced in another news release sent Thursday, Aug. 15.

“As a customer of CRRUA, it is very frustrating that issues of foul-smelling, discolored and off-tasting water have been chronically ignored, overlooked, and discounted by government officials for years,” Vivian Fuller, a Santa Teresa resident said.

NMELC said community requests, concerns and needs remain unaddressed and ignored by the public utility as the ongoing water crisis continues.

Meanwhile, CRRUA has raised residential water and wastewater rates for public water that remains unsafe for use and consumption, according to NMELC.

“The Governor said she would fix it. She said they can’t be charging us more for water we can’t drink. She promised to help us out. Why is CRRUA and the State contradicting themselves? I want drinkable water and no increased water rates,” Jose Saldana, a Sunland Park resident said.

“It is integral that our state leaders hold strong to their commitments to serve all of New Mexico – which includes our borderland communities in Southern New Mexico. Governor Lujan-Grisham has heard directly from the people of Sunland Park and Santa Teresa what these communities want and need from her, it’s now time for her to step up; engage with and listen to these communities; and follow through on her promises in a meaningful way,” NMELC Staff Attorney Kacey Hovden said.

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