By Hannah Grover
When the Town of Estancia sent out a notice asking residents to conserve water, there was approximately 18 feet in its storage tank and about 3 feet in the Torrance County Detention Center’s storage tank.
Now Mayor Nathan Dial said the town has 38 feet of water in its storage tank and the detention center — which houses people detained by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement — has about 14 feet in its storage tank.
“So what we’re doing is working, but we’re nowhere out of the woods yet,” Dial said.
Dial provided an update on the water situation Monday evening during a Town Board of Trustees meeting in the Torrance County Commission Chambers.
He said the improved water situation should help address the sewage problems at the prison.
Dial said the prison was struggling with sewage backups when the town was sending it 50 gallons per minute. Now Estancia is providing the complex with 70 gallons of water per minute.
While a week ago the town was consuming more water than the wells that were working could produce, conservation efforts, along with strategic efforts to increase flow from secondary wells and bring secondary wells online, has changed that dynamic.
During a town meeting last week, Dial told residents that one of the two primary wells failed a year ago and the town has been largely reliant on a single well since then. That well needs to be refurbished.
“The prison is definitely doing everything we asked them to do to conserve water. And as a result of that, we’re comfortable,” Dial said. “But until I feel confident that we have four wells pumping instead of just one and a half, I’m still going to ask people to conserve water.”
Steps taken at the detention center to reduce demand for water included bringing in bottled water for detainees, but Source NM reported that people being held at the detention center were limited to two bottles of water a day.
Dial said the town has taken steps that resulted in increased production at one well and placed a new pump into another well. However, Dial said, Estancia needs to complete a few legal steps before it can place the water from that well with a new pump into the town’s system. Estancia disinfected the storage tank at that well on Monday, which is one of the steps needed to bring the well onto the system.
He said once the storage tank is filled, Estancia can send water samples to the state and, if the samples pass state inspection, that well can begin to serve residents.
While a week ago, Dial warned residents that Estancia would have to turn off water overnight to work on the well that needs to be refurbished, he said that may not be necessary if the town can get enough water into its storage tanks.
“If we keep continuing to progress the way we are, I think we’ll be able to skip that step,” he said.
The town is continuing to pursue Water Trust Board funding that will help it not only drill a new well, but also improve its system, including adding generators so that the wells can continue producing even if the power goes out, which happened on Sunday.
County Commissioner Linda Jaramillo told the town that she will do whatever she can to help with the water situation. The county has offered to act as a fiscal agent for the Water Trust Board funding as Estancia is struggling with its audit report. The town is looking into the feasibility of having the county act as the fiscal agent.
“Being a resident of Estancia, I feel your pain,” Jaramillo said.