Flooding brings water woes to Tularosa

When water runs off the mountains into the Tularosa Basin, the Village of Tularosa's water system cannot always keep up with filtering the water coming in.

That led the Village to ask are water users to restrict their water usage last week, said Tularosa Mayor Margaret Trujillo, as the Village announced water levels were "critically low."

Trujillo said the water system, which is there to make water drinkable, was overburdened and water conservation efforts would help the water system replenish.

"You can't just use your water and not be conscious about what you are doing, you've got to make sure that you use your water in the best possible ways: drink your water, take your baths do whatever but you have to conserve water at this point in time," Trujillo said.

"These restrictions will be in place until our water tanks are completely full and until the people start realizing that water is precious."

This does not happen very often, Trujillo said.

"I can't recall another time it's happened since I've been (mayor)" Trujillo said. "But when I was a trustee, it did happen. We had to bypass the plant. We had to take measures to conserve water. We've done conservation efforts in the past but it has not been recent."

Ash and debris flowing down the mountain following flooding slows down the filtration process, a process which is essential to clean water for usage.

"We have to bypass the intake and that's where the level became so low but since then we have been building up the water levels," Trujillo said. 

The water levels are up to almost 19 feet, Trujillo said.

"Which is good considering we were at six feet. We're doing a lot better now," Trujillo said.

The water conservation measures are expected to continue for about two more weeks until the tanks are completely full, Trujillo said.

The restricts could last longer if another flooding event hits the basin.

Support local Journalism. Subscribe to the Alamogordo Daily News.

Nicole Maxwell can be contacted by email at nmaxwell@alamogordonews.com, by phone at 575-415-6605 or on Twitter at @nicmaxreporter.