Tularosa water emergency affects local restaurant

TULAROSA, N.M. (KVIA) – Two weeks after Tularosa declared a water emergency, residents and business owners are growing frustrated as the village continues to restore its water supply.

The owner of local restaurant Casa De Sueños, Matthew Kaplan, said people in the village are angry.

Tularosa Mayor Deborah Cooksey said storms up in the Mescalero area pushed debris and ash down the creek, blocking a pipe to the water intake.

The blockage prompted Cooksey to declare a water emergency in Tularosa. According to the Aug. 3 declaration, officials prohibited all outdoor watering, irrigation and nonessential water use.

The declaration prohibited lawn sprinkling, watering landscaping, washing vehicles or driveways and filling or topping off swimming pools, hot tubs and decorative fountains.

Village officials urged residents to conserve water by taking shorter showers, running full loads of laundry and dishes and repairing any plumbing leaks.

Village officials distributed free cases of drinking water each day since the declaration. Kaplan said bottled water doesn't solve the problem for residents who need water for landscaping and trees.

"I mean, they're handing out drinking water, but you can't hand out enough water to water trees and gardens and bushes and stuff. This is a rural community that relies a lot on their vegetation and all of their own trees and their yards and stuff," Kaplan said.

Kaplan said he has spent years growing fruit trees in his yard, but the restrictions have left him unable to water them.

"Everybody's very angry -- very angry and upset," Kaplan said.

Kaplan said Cooksey visited Casa De Sueños one afternoon and told him the restaurant would run out of water by 5 p.m.

"It was about 3, 3:15 in the afternoon and told me that I was going to have to close because of the water shortage, which I have abided by, closed at 4 because by code we're not allowed to be open without water," Kaplan said.

For the past couple of weeks, Kaplan said he's had to pay extra for an ice service to bring the business drinkable water.

"My main concern is, is having to limit, you know, open time at the business because this is our livelihood and I provide a livelihood for 15 employees. So if we're not open, then that's 15 people that aren't making a living, including myself," Kaplan said.

Tularosa Utility Director Angel Voorbach said for the last couple of weeks he's been working 18-hour days trying to unclog the pipe.

Voorbach said crews temporarily bypassed the blocked intake and used another valve to pump water into the system. They then increased the pressure to push debris out of the blocked pipe.

He said his team has been pumping water nonstop since Aug. 4.

Voorbach said he feels more prepared to handle cases like this in the future.

"Now that we actually have a game plan how to keep this open, I think we're in better shoes now than what we were," Voorbach said.

Cooksey said she hopes to lift the water emergency by Wednesday. She said she does not expect the same problem to happen again.

Kaplan, however, believes the village has a larger infrastructure problem.

"I think it's going to be an ongoing problem because it's systematic here and it's not been addressed. I know that they're trying to do their best, but it's a bigger issue," Kaplan said.