EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) – During a public town hall meeting on July 25 in Las Cruces, New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan-Grisham publicly committed to holding a public meeting in Sunland Park to address public concerns about ongoing water quality issues and service from the water utility that serves Sunland Park and Santa Teresa.
New Mexico Governor speaks to full house at Las Cruces town hall meeting on public safety
The governor also promised to “clean up and restore the water,” according to a press release from the New Mexico Environmental Law Center (NMELC).
The commitments came after members of the Sunland Park community reiterated concerns they have raised for years with the Camino Real Regional Utility Authority (CRRUA).
“Every New Mexican has a right to safe, clean drinking water, and it has taken a long time for the state to address drinking water contamination in southern New Mexico,” said Daisy Maldonado, director of the Empowerment Congress NM.
According to NMELC, CRRUA ran into trouble in late 2023 after the public water supply was again contaminated with arsenic without any public notice or timely remediation measures by the public utility.
As we previously reported, the utility has been under fire for months over concerns about water quality and water discoloration. Some residents have told KTSM that the problems have been going on for years.
Most recently, on Friday, August 2, the NMELC filed a request with the New Mexico Department of Justice and the New Mexico State Auditor’s Office to initiate an investigation of the CRRUA for violations of “environmental protection laws, consumer protection laws, waste, fraud or misuse of state and federal funds, and violations of the New Mexico Open Meetings Act,” the NMELC said in another press release on Thursday, August 15.
Request for Investigation against CRRUA filed on behalf of New Mexico communities
“As a CRRUA customer, it is very frustrating that problems with smelly, discolored and foul-tasting water have been chronically ignored, overlooked and downplayed by government officials for years,” said Vivian Fuller, a Santa Teresa resident.
According to NMELC, the requests, concerns and needs of the community have gone unheeded and are being ignored by the public utility while the water crisis continues.
Meanwhile, according to NMELC, CRRUA has increased water and sewerage fees for residential residents because public water remains unfit for use and consumption.
New CRRUA tariffs for water and sewerage services come into effect on July 1
“The governor said she would solve the problem. She said they can’t charge us more for water we can’t drink. She promised to help us. Why are CRRUA and the state contradicting each other? I want drinking water, not increased water prices,” said Jose Saldana, a Sunland Park resident.
“It is critical that our state leaders hold fast to their commitments to serve all of New Mexico – including our border 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. Now it is time for her to step up, engage with these communities, listen to them and follow through on her promises in meaningful ways,” said Kacey Hovden, NMELC attorney.
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