by Kent Paterson
Like the wind, dust and mist that sting the spring of 2025, stormy developments surround the fundamental question of water and wastewater service in the southern New Mexico communities of Sunland Park and Santa Teresa bordering El Paso.
For starters, the May 13 vote by the Board of Commissioners of Doña Ana County to pull out of the Joint Powers Agreement with the City of Sunland Park in the operation of the Camino Real Regional Utility Authority (CRRUA), which services residences and businesses in Sunland Park and Santa Teresa, caught many off guard.
Voting unanimously to terminate the 16-year relationship with the City of Sunland Park in the management of CRRUA were Doña Ana County Commissioners Shannon Reynolds, Manuel Sanchez, Susana Chaparro, Christopher Schaljo-Hernandez and Gloria Gameros, who represents the district encompassing Sunland Park and Santa Teresa.
Quoted in a May 14 Doña Ana County news release, Commission Chair Schaljo-Hernandez said the action was “for mutual benefit to all parties,” and adhered to subsection 15 of the updated 2024 CRRUA Joint Powers Agreement (JPA).
Livestreamed, the commissioner’s vote was taken near the end of a 6 hour-plus meeting that didn’t list CRRUA on the publicly-posted agenda. Nonetheless, several Sunland Park-Santa Teresa residents and supporters used the public comment time to raise water quality concerns about a utility which has been repeatedly flagged and/or cited over the years for a host of violations of federal and state water law and regulations by both the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED).
Prior to the commissioners going into a lengthy closed executive session, Commissioner Gameros, newly appointed to the CRRUA Board of Directors, delivered a brief report back with no mention of a possible JPA termination.
But after reconvening for the public session, Commission Chair Schaljo-Hernandez quickly introduced a simple motion to terminate the CRRUA relationship, seconded by Commissioner Reynolds, and asked if fellow commissioners and members of the public had any comments. Silence reigned in the chambers, and the termination vote proceeded.
No explanation was given for the momentous move, but the vote occurred at a time when CRRUA faces renewed protests from community residents, a lawsuit from private lawyers representing long-time customers who allege health problems from consuming bad water, soaring insurance rates, and urgently needed investments likely to cost tens of millions of dollars for upgrading aging and/or obsolete infrastructure.
Posted May 14, a report from a February EPA inspection of CRRUA facilities found dozens of instances of corroded infrastructure and/or inoperable system parts. Variously, the report stated that CRRUA lacked money to pay for “major repairs,” “capital maintenance” or “equipment failures.”
In addition to CRRUA staff and a contractor, two employees from the NMED were present for the EPA inspection.
The inspection occurred after a written request written on behalf of clients and community members was sent to the EPA last December by the New Mexico Environmental Law Center (NMELC), a non-profit, Albuquerque-based public interest legal organization which represents free of charge Sunland Park and Santa Teresa residents concerned about their water.
Additionally, the NMELC letter requested that EPA place CRRUA on a minimum five-year compliance schedule, a status meaning heightened federal oversight.
“The agency has received the letter and will respond through the proper channels,” EPA Region 6 spokesman Joseph Robledo e-mailed the reporter on May 16, without specifying a timeline.
Officials Weigh In
The Doña Ana county government’s news release, which likewise did not immediately explain the reason(s) for the divorce from Sunland Park, stated the following:
“County staff will work with the City of Sunland Park to develop a plan for transitioning CRRUA and dividing the assets and debt. Until that process is completed, CRRUA will continue to operate the water and wastewater services in the southern area of the County and within the City of Sunland Park.
“It is difficult to estimate how long this process will take to stand down CRRUA. The County intends to assess CRRUA’s system assets to determine needs and priorities.
“We are committed to being transparent in this process and keeping utility customers informed. We will also explore ways in which we can provide short-term assistance to residents.”
County Manager Scott Andrews added. “We will share more details as soon as we can and move forward in community, working with our state stakeholders, including the Governor’s office, the New Mexico Border Authority and others, as needed.”
According to Doña Ana County government, the first meeting with the City of Sunland Park on the CRRUA matter is scheduled for May 23.
As a partner in CRRUA’s management, Doña Ana County carries out key fiscal and hiring responsibilities. Currently, the county’s website lists three CRRUA job openings, all of them critical water service positions, including two water/wastewater operators and an assistant operations manager. In particular, CRRUA has had great difficulty in filling water/wastewater operator jobs for at least 9 years.
NMED Environment Secretary James Kenney soon weighed in on the May 13 vote, applauding the Doña Ana County Commissioners’ decision and urging the City of Sunland Park to “do the same and terminate the (JPA) agreement.” But Kenney contended that dissolving the Joint Powers Agreement wasn’t enough.
“The parties to the Joint Powers Agreement should immediately explore retaining an independent third party to oversee the daily operations of CRRUA while the agreement remains in effect…” Kenney said in a May 14 statement.
Community Protests Resurface
The week before the Doña Ana County Commission’s surprise vote, dozens of residents of Santa Teresa and Sunland Park and their supporters braved the dust and chill descending on the Paso del Norte borderland on a windy Cinco de Mayo to demand quality water.
Convened by the Empowerment Congress of Doña Ana County, people gathered at the Sunland Park Sports Complex for a pre-event barbeque, a march to the McNutt Road main drag and a quick round of speeches. Observers from the NMELC were on hand.
Protest signs in Spanish and English expressed popular sentiments: “Safe and Clean Water is Our Human Right,” “Agua Es Vida” and “Free Water Until the Problem is Fixed.”
For many at the event, service interruptions, tapfuls of discolored water, and bouts of toxic lead and arsenic in their water supply are nothing new.
A 50 year resident of Sunland Park, Raul Facio blamed CRRUA water for personal health problems as well as stained clothes and damaged bathroom fixtures. “They are charging too much for this water, water we shouldn’t drink,” Facio said.
The longtime Sunland Park resident joined others in endorsing five demands issued to CRRUA by the non-profit Empowerment Congress, based on community feedback.
The demands include the establishment of “preventative and protective measures when an incident occurs that impacts water quality;” the provision of arsenic testing strips to all households so residents can “independently verify the safety of their water;” the delivery of third party water to residents for a six month minimum as a compensatory measure as well as during emergency situations; a four-year moratorium on water rate increases to ease the pocketbook pinch on residents; and a switch back to CRRUA board meetings from the recently designated starting time of 9 am to early evenings, which was the practice for many years.
The community group’s demands derive from nearly two years of intensive organizing and protests that stemmed from numerous reports of discolored, foul-smelling and oily water and the subsequent revelation that the arsenic treatment system had not been functioning for more than a year. The World Health Organization links long term exposure to excessive levels of arsenic to cancer, skin disorders and other serious health ailments.
Later interviewed at family properties in Sunland Park, lifelong resident Jose Saldana detailed some of the frustrations and concerns that have residents like him speaking out at local government meetings and attending Empowerment Congress meetings and protests. Last summer, he even gave that message in person to New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham at a meeting in the county seat of Las Cruces.
“We asked help, that this is an emergency,” Saldana recalled. “Water is life.”
Long concerned about poor water quality, Saldana said he invested about $4,000 in a water softening system only to find that he was frequently forced to fork out $55 a whack for filters because of yellowish water. “I was replacing them every two weeks, every week. It was too much money invested in this for (it) not to work,” he said. Nowadays, Saldana voices a common local complaint about authorities from multiple levels of government-federal, state and municipal included.
“I’ve been asking questions for two years, and nobody tells me or answers my questions at City Council meetings or CRRUA meetings. It’s getting sad,” Saldana lamented. “Everybody runs from the problems and they don’t want to confront the community.”
As water woes spread in late 2023, the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED), which is delegated with enforcing the federal Safe Drinking Water Act as well as state regulations, conducted a sanitary survey of CRRUA that tagged more than 50 public health and operational deficiencies.
On March 1, 2024, the NMED slapped CRRUA with a fine of $251, 580 for violations of the Environmental Improvement Act and New Mexico Drinking Water Regulations. CRRUA has contested the state action in a legal process that’s dragged on for more than one year.
A public hearing of the case is scheduled to begin on the morning of June 17 at the State Capitol building in Santa Fe. According to NMED spokesman Drew Goretzka, two opportunities for public comment, either in person or online via Cisco Webex, will be available on June 17.
With a new executive director at the helm since January 2024, Juan Carlos “JC” Crosby, CRRUA has reshuffled its board, added Spanish language translation to its website, raised water rates, claimed a 94.8 percent rate of compliance in correcting the NMED-identified deficiencies (May 7, 2025 news release), and declared all four of its arsenic treatment plants as functioning, with test results available for public viewing on the utility’s website.
But thorny snags have popped up along CRRUA’s road to deliverance. In March, CRRUA posted a message informing their customers of an upcoming letter explaining that the utility received a Notice of Violation from the NMED for failing to collect the required 60 lead and copper samples from tap water during two previous six month periods. According to CCRUA, the utility collected only 49 samples between January-June 2024 and zero during July-December 2024, a shortfall CRRUA attributed to a misunderstanding over time frames and requirements.
In early May, CRRUA reported that of three arsenic treatment facilities tested last month for health standard compliance, two passed muster and one failed. An April 23 test at the Santa Teresa Industrial Plant took a sample that registered 12 parts per billion of arsenic, an amount above the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Maximum Contaminant Level of 10 parts per billion.
According to CRRUA, adjustments to the treatment process were quickly enacted when the exceedance was discovered. Then on May 15, CRRUA reported that May 6 follow-up testing of the three arsenic treatment plants tested in April similarly granted pass go to the Sunland Park and Santa Teresa Community facilities, but that the Santa Teresa Industrial Plant once again drew an arsenic sample of 12 parts per billion.
The Heady and Polemical Days of May
On May 7, CRRUA issued a sharp rebuke to the Empowerment Congress’ Cinco de Mayo demonstration and demands. In a message entitled “Facts Matter: CRRUA Clarifies Misrepresented Water Quality Claims,” CRRUA declared that “CRRUA’S water is safe to consume. It is compliant with New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) and Environment (sic) Protection Agency (EPA) safe drinking water standards.”
The utility then systemically rejected each of the Empowerment Congress’ five demands, justifying why they could not be granted. For instance, CRRUA asserted that delivering free water and arsenic strips, which utility management also contended pose hazards if handled improperly, would violate New Mexico’s Anti-Donation Clause that generally prohibits state government financial support to individuals and businesses.
New Mexico environmental regulators, however, took issue with CRRUA’s posture.
“Regarding the May 7 press release, the New Mexico Environment Department was not consulted on CRRUA’s assertion that ‘CRRUA’s water is safe to consume. It is compliant with New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) and Environment Protection Agency (EPA) safe drinking water standards’,” NMED spokesman Drew Goretzka, stated in response to the reporter’s query.
“When a public drinking water system, like CRRUA, chronically fails to meet health-based regulatory standards — such as yet another exceedance with delayed public communication — it is cause for concern and necessitates stronger enforcement on behalf of the New Mexico Environment Department. NMED does not agree that CRRUA is in compliance with the intent or requirements of federal and state regulations to ensure the public has access to safe drinking water.”
Goretzka said the NMED supports the Empowerment Congress’ recent demands, adding that the state agency urges CRRUA, Doña Ana County and the City of Sunland Park to “implement these actions immediately and at no cost to taxpayers.”
For its part, the Empowerment Congress turned out for the May 12 CRRUA Board meeting at Sunland Park City Hall. The group’s Sunland Park-Santa Teresa organizer, Vivian Fuller addressed the assembled board members.
“It’s not about who’s against who, it’s not about, you know, misrepresenting or anything else. It’s about coming together as a community, coming together to work as a community,” Fuller said, stressing that she’d also suffered skin rashes and hair loss she suspected was due to CRRUA water. “And I’m not the only one.”
Figures compiled by Empowerment Congress of Doña Ana County Director Daisy Maldonado report the group has engaged with more than 860 community members since initiating outreach efforts in the Sunland Park-Santa Teresa area. Of individuals surveyed, 379 “raised worries” about water quality, “providing detailed accounts” of water that’s “discolored, has a sewage-like smell, or feels slimy.” Additionally, 275 residents expressed concerns about “potential health implications, with many opting not to consume the water due to these apprehensions.”
In attendance for her first meeting as a CRRUA Board member, Doña Ana County Commissioner Gloria Gameros acknowledged that she would not drink the local water. As a resident of the small town of Anthony not far from Sunland Park, Gameros said she was familiar with arsenic and drinking water concerns, a regional issue.
She defended CRRUA Executive Director Crosby, arguing that he wasn’t to blame for bad water since he was employed in a previous administrative role and disconnected from the operational arm of CRRUA at the time of the 2023 arsenic revelations. “We have to give him a chance,” Gameros maintained.
Still, Gameros urged the utility’s staff to adopt short-term solutions to public demands for accountability and good service, endorsing the Empowerment Congress’ demand for a citizen advisory board that “needs to be implemented quickly,” within a month or two. “We need to gain the public’s trust again,” she said.
CRRUA Board member Mark Rodriguez asked if staff would consider readjusting their work hours so CRRUA personnel could host board meetings at hours convenient to public participation. Rodriguez concurred with public concerns over discolored water and arsenic, but he also maintained that current CRRUA staff were handed a bad deck of cards. The “people who inherited it are addressing in the best manner they can..,” he insisted.
Gameros later informed the May 13 Doña Ana County Commission meeting that a consensus was reached among CRRUA Board members to change their public meeting time back to later hours, hopefully by July.
Meanwhile, NMED Secretary Kenney, who has endorsed the Empowerment Congress’ demands, likewise supports establishing “an independent, community-based health assessment for chronic arsenic exposure and treatment….New Mexicans should not expect the bare minimum from their water utility, especially regarding compliance and transparency. They should expect and demand far above it — that’s the standard expected by the New Mexico Environment Department.”
As the work week of May 12-16 wound down, myriad new and old questions about the future of people and water in Sunland Park and Santa Teresa hovered in the windy and dusty air of spring 2025.
In the long view, the Board of Commissioners of Doña Ana County’s game-changing vote to pull out of CRRUA opens a new and uncertain chapter in the long history of wrangling over water service and rights in a growing region increasingly beset by climate change and stressed water resources, a place where leaders jockey to be the epicenter of U.S-Mexico border manufacturing and international commerce. The availability, quality and affordability of water in this arid and contentious land, as they might say, looms ever more valuable than gold.
For earlier stories about Sunland Park-Santa Teresa water woes, check out:
For information on how to join online the June 17 hearing on the NMED’S administrative action against CRRUA, readers can visit the New Mexico Environment Department’s Online Calendar webpage at: https://www.env.nm.gov/events-calendar/.
What water do the businesses like the racetrack and casino use?