El Paso Water Utilities monitoring low lake levels at Elephant Butte

Elephant Butte Lake remains less than four percent full of water available to downstream users, including El Paso Water Utilities and its customers, according to EPWU officials.

During the week of February 4-8, 2013, EPWU is dedicating its social media platforms to sharing photos and videos which demonstrate the drought’s impact on Elephant Butte Lake.

ABC-7 visited Elephant Butte on Jan. 22. View photos from that visit here.

In a typical summer, EPWU pumps half of its water supply from wells in the city and the other half comes from water released from Elephant Butte Lake into the Rio Grande. Continued drought in New Mexico and Colorado means less river water than usual will be available to El Paso.

“El Paso Water Utilities plans to make up the difference by relying more heavily on well water,” said EPWU President & CEO John E. Balliew, P.E. “We’re preparing by drilling new wells and building new pipelines to more efficiently move that water around the city. The bottom line is that we expect less river water again this year. For now, it’s just too early to know how much less.”

Visit LessisMoreEP.org for drought updates and information on how you can conserve water.