Conserving El Paso’s Water Supply
For the past 20 years, El Paso has gone through some major changes in the way it conserves water.
El Paso Water Utilities created a water conservation program in 1991 to stretch out the supply we get from the Hueco Bolson– one of the city’s top water resources.
“Over the years we’ve really banked up the hueco bolson to a point now where it is sustainable,” said Christina Montoya,spokeswoman for El Paso Water Utilities.
Montoya tells ABC-7 the program has saved the city 261 billion gallons of water. That is enough water to fill up the Sun Bowl nearly 6,400 times.
In one year, El Paso saves 18.8 billion gallons of water.
The water conservation program includes rate adjustments for customers, rebate incentives on water-efficient commodities and reuse water for irrigation purposes. Using reclaimed water takes the demand off the city’s potable water.
El Paso has seen an influx in population of 200,000 people in the last twenty years, and EPWU has kept up with water demand.
“We’re still using the same amount of water today as we would have twenty years ago even though the population has increased,” said Montoya.
El Paso Water Utilities will continue to encourage water-saving practices to sustain a resourceful amount of water for the future.
