ABC-7 Listens: Why can’t purple pipe water be used for Fort Bliss National Cemetery?

Local resident sent the water utility and ABC-7 an email wanting to know why El Paso Water Utilities can’t commit water from it’s purple pipe system for Fort Bliss National Cemetery so that federal officials can bring grass back.

The purple pipe system consists of nearly 60 miles of pipes with reclaimed water for customers like schools and parks – mostly for irrigation purposes.

The Utility president said the demand outstrips the supply.

“I don’t have any problem with reclaimed water being used for a case like that, we already use it for other cemeteries or at least another cemetery in town but the issue is that we just don’t have the water available, it’s highly in demand, we have existing customers. We have customers that have requested the water and we just don’t have it available,” said John Balliew, EPWU President.

ABC-7 also spoke with Congressman Beto O’Rourke who’s been advocating to bring the grass back.

He said it’d cost $14 million to regrass the cemetery.

He’s asked the Veterans Affairs Cemetery Administration to move funds around to make it happen. If not, he said he’ll ask a specific appropriation for Fort Bliss.

“It’ll add hundreds of thousands of dollars annually to water and maintain grass should we return it to fort bliss national cemetery however those are the same costs that you have at other national cemeteries across the country and I don’t want el paso to be treated any differently and I certainly don’t want el paso to be treated worse than others,” said O’Rourke.

The El Paso Water Utlities has never provided water for Fort Bliss cemetery – even when it had grass. That was handled by the post. O’Rourke said if Fort Bliss had a way before, it can do it again.