{"id":166544,"date":"2016-07-06T11:38:27","date_gmt":"2016-07-06T17:38:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=166544"},"modified":"2016-07-07T10:52:33","modified_gmt":"2016-07-07T16:52:33","slug":"border-utility-finds-itself-in-hot-water","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2016\/07\/border-utility-finds-itself-in-hot-water\/","title":{"rendered":"Border utility finds itself in hot water"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Ramon

Heath Haussamen \/ NMPolitics.net<\/p>

Ramon Sierra, a resident of the Anapra neighborhood in Sunland Park, is among those pushing for better communication and improvements to the region’s water system. \u201cIt is quite hard to say I trust them. I still buy my bottled water,” he said.<\/p><\/div>\n

SUNLAND PARK \u2014 Serving the Southern New Mexico border communities of Sunland Park and Santa Teresa, the Camino Real Regional Utility Authority (CRRUA) is under pressure on multiple fronts.<\/p>\n

Recent revelations of levels of arsenic that were above health standards<\/a>\u00a0in the public utility\u2019s water, Clean Water Act violations, and management troubles have all drawn the attention of Southern New Mexico elected officials as well as state and federal environmental regulators, even to the extent that the construction of an urgently needed new wastewater treatment plant is on indefinite hold.<\/p>\n

Most importantly, CRRUA\u2019s credibility with local residents who use the system\u2019s water drawn from underground wells is in tatters.<\/p>\n