Mandatory Water Restrictions For El Paso Extended Until Further Notice

Mayor John Cook has declared a water emergency in the city of El Paso pursuant to the city’s drought and water emergency code, title 15.13.120 which allows El Paso Water Utilities to enforce mandatory water restrictions currently in effect.

If car washes, laundromats and industrial users do not comply their water supply will be shut off.

El Paso Water Utilities has refined its citywide mandatory water restrictions so that water can now only be used for drinking, according to an El Paso Emergency Alert sent out through the city’s alert system Sunday morning.

EPWU also is extending the water restrictions, originally set to last for only 24 hours starting Saturday afternoon, until further notice.

EPWU said it is communicating with area businesses with high water usage to follow the restrictions or even close if possible. All car washes and laundromats must close immediately, according to EPWU. Utility company officials also said restaurants should reduce water use and close early.

Area schools and universities, which were closed Wednesday through Friday last week because of rolling blackouts and bad road conditions due to weather, are being advised to close for Monday because of the water situation.

The public is asked to refrain from washing cars, showering, using dishwasher or clothes washing machines, or anything else that uses a large amount of water. The only exceptions are water used for public safety purposes like hospitals and other emergency medical facilities.

Officials said at this point, there are no penalties for people who don’t comply with the restrictions. The did say that if there is continued no compliance, EPWU officials cold reach out to law enforcement to help enforce the restrictions.

The entire city is also under a boil water alert. Please boil any water before consumption until further notice. This is a precautionary measure because low water levels in the reservoirs and broken pipes on private properties can lead to possible contamination in the water supply.

The unavailability of water is due to many factors, according to EPWU: the rolling blackouts that EPWU participated in at the request of El Paso Electric, the freezing temperatures that caused damage to our facilities and lines, and pipe leaks throughout the city as frozen pipes begin to thaw. This is causing the demand for water to be abnormally high while reservoir levels remain low and equipment is still being repaired.

EPWU is working to pump water into the reservoirs, but as demand continues to peak it is making things difficult, officials with the utility company said. On a normal winter day EPWU pumps 71 million gallons/day (MGD) into the distribution system, and Saturday about 115 MGD was pumped into the system.

EPWU officials said it is critical for the public to cooperate with these restrictions so the reservoirs can be refilled to their normal levels as quickly as possible. There are 55 reservoirs in El Paso, according to recent EPWU.

The mandatory water restrictions were instituted Saturday afternoon with a warning from an EPWU official that many in the city could lose water Saturday night.

“The likelihood is that many people throughout the city will not have any water at all (Saturday night). Those that do have water will probably have very low pressure, making it very hard to flush the toilet, perhaps,” said EPWU Public Service Board member John Balliew.

El Pasoans posting on their Facebook and Twitter pages confirmed scattered water outages overnight Saturday.

The water restrictions announcement also led to a run on bottled water Saturday night at several stores, some of which sold out of the bottled water.

The City of El Paso sent out an emergency alert about the water restrictions through home phone, cell phone text alert, work phone, text pager, Email address, and TTY/TDD to those who signed up for emergency alerts through the city’s emergency alert Website.

According to EPWU’s Website, “El Paso uses ground water, surface water, as well as reclaimed water to meet total demands. The ground water sources?underground aquifers tapped by wells?include the Hueco Bolson (which supplies 25 percent of total demand) and the Mesilla Bolson (19 percent) on average. Forty-nine percent is surface water from the Rio Grande. The remaining 7 percent is reclaimed water used for non-potable purposes.”

Balliew said on Saturday afternoon they needed the 24 hours, “so that we can build the water levels in the reservoirs and provide adequate pressure and service to all the customers throughout the city. If they can’t close down … they will continue to experience low water pressure.”

The longer we have this problem will determine how long the restrictions remain in place and it could extend through Sunday and possibly into next week, Balliew said Saturday.

It is critical that you cooperate with these restrictions, officials said, so the reservoirs can return to their normal levels at a quicker pace.

El Pasoans consumed 135 gallons of water per capita per day last year compared to 220 gallons per capita in 1972.

The water restrictions come on the heels of El Pasoans having to conserve power through rolling blackouts Wednesday through Friday.

A snow storm overnight Tuesday into Wednesday dropped temperatures to 6 degrees, freezing key equipment at the Electric Company’s two power plants. The cold temperatures and windchills caused El Paso Electric to lose all eight of is local generators.

Earlier Saturday, El Paso Electric regained some of its power generating capability thanks to warm weather on Friday. By Sunday morning, five of the eight generators were back functioning again and producing electricity.

El Paso Electric continues to urge customers to minimize or curtail their electric usage.

El Paso Electric instituted rolling blackouts at the time to conserve the power it had been getting from sources out of town.

When El Paso Water Utilities Public Service Board Meets Next The EPWU’s Public Service Board meeting will have its regular meeting Feb. 9 at the EPWU building on Hawkins. On a side note, EPWU recently released its five-year strategic plan and in it stated they wanted to maintain a 95 percent satisfaction rating from its customers.

Related Links:Link:Past and Present Water SuppliesLink:Aquifers Explained And Where Majority Of El Paso’s Water Comes From:Link:El Paso Water Utilities 2011 Strategic Plan