Doña Ana County to hire engineer to improve Sunland Park water

Officials with Doña Ana County say they plan to bring in a third-party engineering firm to inspect the existing infrastructure in Sunland Park to solve the long-troubled water crisis in the border town.

Officials with the county spoke during a press conference in the city, which has had high levels of naturally occurring arsenic in the water for years. County officials said they hope to have the problems solved in less than a year.

This was the county’s first press conference since it terminated the agreement that formed the Camino Real Regional Utility Authority, which provides water to Sunland Park and Santa Teresa. But many questions are still unanswered.

CRRUA has long struggled with high arsenic levels in the water, discolored water and widespread public criticism. In November of last year, CRRUA got hit with a class action lawsuit alleging that the utility authority violated people’s civil rights by not providing safe drinking water. Testing on May 5^th of this year showed that the arsenic levels were again above the legal limit in the Santa Teresa Industrial Park — an area that had $2.5 billion in economic output in 2023.

At a May 12^th County commission meeting, the Doña Ana County Commission voted unanimously to terminate the agreement that led to the creation of CRRUA. This came after years of poor water quality, alleged lack of communication with those drinking the water in Sunland Park and Santa Teresa.

At the May 23^rd meeting, Doña Ana County Manager Scott Andrews acknowledged the problem.

“For too long, residents and businesses, especially in and around Sunland Park, have faced real and ongoing challenges with water service,” he said.

Andrews emphasized that many of the details are still in the works and that this is just “the beginning of a legal and procedural transition.”

One of the first steps the county will take will be to bring in an independent third-party engineering firm based out of Tucson to inspect the existing infrastructure and create a plan on how to move forward.

One business owner at the press conference asked how the county would pay for a third-party engineering firm and expressed concern that the county would increase utility rates for the border towns.

County officials said they are waiting to see about rate increases until after the engineering report comes back.

But they also said they hope to avoid rate increases with the new business customers the Sunland Park Industrial Park is attracting.

When asked by reporters about the timeline for the transition, Andrews stated that he hopes to get the transition done in less than a year “depending on how quickly these conversations go.”

While this transition is in progress, County Commissioner Gloria Gameros said that the county is exploring a new call center to help improve communication with residents and businesses as well as creating water bottle filling stations. The county also emphasizes that they anticipate no “immediate disruptions.”

But Santa Teresa resident Vivian Fuller told the Bulletin that she has experienced decades of poor drinking water and communication from CRRUA.

“As a community member, we have all gathered to express our voices for many years,” Fuller said. “So, this is a first step and hopefully our voices will continue to be heard.”

Fuller said CRRUA has lost the trust of the community.

Fuller pointed to the recent high arsenic levels. CRRUA said it was 95% compliant with New Mexico Environment Department guidance just before the tests came back.

“The communities trust with CRRUA was broken a long time ago. It is going to be very hard to reconstruct it,” Fuller said.

Editor's note: This story was updated at 11 a.m. on May 28th.