Some Upper Valley residents without water

Rachel Alexander contacted ABC-7 to tell us, she’s almost gone a week without water.

Alexandersaid, “we called somebody out here to find out why our pump quit working, because we have our own water. he said the water level dropped so much it wasn’t going to work.”

She and her husband have had to haul water in from the city water access points. Though she does have some containers, it is difficult for them. The Alexanders live in an area where they depend on wells to access their water.

Years of drought have left minimal irrigation water available to farmers. She told us, “We’re surrounded by pecan orchards, cotton fields.”

Dropping the water table beyond the depth of their well.

County Extension Agent, Dr. Jaime Iglesias says El Paso’s lower valley is better equipped with water because of the large return flows from the city. Now the upper valley, where the Alexanders live, have a tougher time because the canals are dry too and there is minimal help from the city’s irrigation return flows like the Lower Valley has.

Dr. Iglesias told us relief is on to people like the Alexanders as irrigation allotments are starting to be delivered to farmers.

With water now flowing from Caballo lake, the water forecast this year looks a lot better than last year, but still well below historic norms.