The state responds to the water need in Las Vegas following flooding
LAS VEGAS, N.M. (KRQE) – Water treatment problems continue for Las Vegas in northern New Mexico and it may be a while before a fix can be put into place. That, as more storms are expected to hit the area.
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The state is now making clean water deliveries to Las Vegas. But emergency managers say the city’s current treatment facilities are too weak for the amount of contamination flowing in from nearby burn scars.
“So currently, right now the city of Las Vegas is in the same predicament that it was two years ago right after Hermits Peak Calf Canyon Fire. We are in the process of trying to find another pretreatment facility that will come in and clean that water again,” said Ali Rye, Deputy Cabinet Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management.
The problems started Friday when heavy rains hit the Hermits Peak Calf Canyon Fire burn scar flowing too much soot and debris into the city’s water supply.
The treatment plant at Storrie Lake has faced challenges since the fire sparked in 2022.
While they’ve put some fixes in place since the fire, the state’s Homeland Security and Emergency Management says because of the floods, Las Vegas’ water system once again needs an added layer of treatment technology.
“We’re coordinating with the city though to bring in bottled water and pretreated water to just go ahead and be dumped into their facility while we wait on that pre-treatment system to be put in place,” said Rye.
That bottled water is being handed out daily at Robertson High School. Monday, crews ran out quickly because much of the supply is coming from the Federal Emergency Management Agency through Dallas. The state says it’s also working to increase bottled water deliveries to 70 trucks per day.
There is no solid timetable yet for when the city’s water treatment facility will be back at full capacity, with the state calling it a “day by day” issue.
The city is still asking people to limit water use to essential functions only and that over the last day, they’ve seen a 30% reduction in community water use.
“They’re not actually doing repairs to the water treatment facility, it’ll be a separate component that they bring in and it hooks in and ties in the water treatment facility,” said Rye.
“I do know that the storms coming in, have the potential to effect the community as a whole. So it could mean more evacuations are occurring, it could mean widespread flooding across that area again,” said Rye. “We will continue to see that water flow for as much as we need as long as we need it.”
Water distribution will happen daily from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the Robertson High School Mike Marr Gymnasium parking lot located off Mills Ave. and 2nd St. Households are limited to two cases of water.
Sandbag distribution will happen daily at Las Vegas City Hall from 10 a.m. until they run out. There is a limit of 20 sandbags per household. Additional sandbags will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
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