Sunland Park, Santa Teresa residents surprised & angered over water bill increase

Residents in the Sunland Park and Santa Teresa areas are saying they were surprised and angered when they recently discovered an increase in their water utility bills.

That increase was sparked back in 2015 by an executive order from the Environmental Protec tion Agency, dictating t o the Camino Real Regional Utility Authority that they study , review and make changes to the way that they do business.

The process lasted 3 years later and once those studies were finished, the CRRUA board came together in December of 2018 and approved a vote to officially approve a residential rate increase for the 21,000 users in those communities.

” The rates needed to be brought up to be more competitive with area utilities and also to change the structure to promote conservation, ” said CRRUA Executive Director Brent Westmoreland.

CRRUA says the increased rates will also help cover the increasing costs of water operations and fund infrastructure improvements.

And yet that hasn’t eased the frustrations of local residents.

The new rates are based on home usage so they’ll differ from house to house, however the previous water usage rate was zero to 7,000 gallons .

The new minimum is 0 to 3,000.

It is a situation that has frustrated residents and their community leaders.

” Of course it is absolutely frustrating but when you have to be able to make sure that you have a solvent organization that is not going to go bankrupt and that can actually continue to provide safe drinking water, I mean no one ever likes to increase the rates for services, ” said City of Sunland Park Mayor Javier Perea .

Residents are also being encouraged to review how they use their water, reduce waste and promote water conservation.

Part of the issue is that residents claim there is arsenic in the water and they don’t want to pay more for an undrinkable product.

Those claims were taken and presented to the mayor, who guaranteed that the water product is tested several times a year and fully complies with EPA regulations.

The next public meeting for the CRRUA and its board members will be held on November 18.

p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px ‘Helvetica Neue’; color: #454545}p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px ‘Helvetica Neue’; color: #454545; min-height: 15.0px}p.p3 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px ‘Helvetica Neue’; color: #454545; min-height: 14.0px}span.s1 {color: #e4af0a}