EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) – The Camino Real Regional Utility Authority (CRRUA) says it has now corrected six more deficiencies identified by the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) during a survey of the utility in 2023, and it is now 91.3 percent compliant.
CRRUA, which provides water and wastewater service to Sunland Park and Santa Teresa, has been under fire for months over concerns about water quality and discolored water.
Of the 58 deficiencies NMED identified, CRRUA has now corrected 53, bringing it to 91.3 percent compliance, the utility said on Monday, Dec. 16 in a news release.
The six deficiencies CRRUA corrected are numbers 51, 53, 54, 56, 57 and 58, all of which were water tank inspections, the utility said.
The utility said it has initiated a progress checklist to track the corrections. The checklist is updated as corrections are made, and it is available for viewing on the home page of the CRRUA website.
“CRRUA has come a long way in addressing the deficiencies identified by NMED in its 2023 Sanitary Survey by initiating systematic improvements to provide safe, consumable water and reliable utility services to our customers,” CRRUA Executive Director Juan Crosby said. “We voluntarily started the Progress Checklist as a transparent way for customers to follow the actions CRRUA is taking.”
Crosby said other recent improvements include three of four arsenic treatment facilities (ATFs) becoming NMED compliant based on the department’s running annual average (RAA).
“All four arsenic treatment facilities are operating and functioning properly,” Crosby said. “We are treating water that continues to be below the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) maximum contamination level (MCL) of 10 parts per billion (ppb).”
CRRUA said it has also passed 18 arsenic tests since Jan. 24, including three consecutive NMED quarterly tests and 15 voluntary tests verified by an independent, NMED-certified laboratory.
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