By Hayley Nations
Portales residents were informed in late June that the city is under a Stage 3 water restriction. City Manager Austin stated that “under the current situation of extended drought, extreme heat temperatures, and decline in wellfield capacity has reduced the ability to maintain adequate water reserves” at a city council meeting on June 27th.
Residents of Portales and those who live just beyond city limits have been subject to rising water bills, some rising by large percentages, from month to month. Residents are frustrated, some stating that they are struggling to afford their monthly bill. The Portales Community page on Facebook is full of people posting about their high and confusing water bills. At the city council meeting on June 27th, one citizen commenter asked about her large water bill, saying that she runs a small duck farm and knew that the bill would increase, but the amount was much higher than she expected. These struggles and frustrations lead to questions:
Question one: Why are the bills climbing?
The water bill is broken into pieces: water, sewer, garbage, conservation, test fee, waste water project (broken into two parts), and sales tax. If one were to look into the 2022 Water Conservation Report, one would find that the city planned on using rising costs to reduce water use. On page iii, under the “Successful Best Management Practices to Reduce Demand” section, the report states, “The most immediate and effective way to reduce demand is to increase cost. The water rate increases that go into effect in January 2023 should help reduce demand.” From there, the report discusses the use of ordinances and penalties to be used if the conservation goals are not met voluntarily.
The city is using the current water restriction to enforce conservation, serving warnings for first time violations, then shutting off the water of residents who are caught violating those restrictions again. During a city council meeting on July 11th, they reported that they have crews patrolling for citizens that may be violating the restrictions. They have shut off less than a dozen people’s water, according to their estimates.
The highest areas that water goes to are: residential water use (40% of the well water in 2021), industrial use (22%), exports to the county coop (no percentage given), and unmetered use (5.6%). In 2021, about 5 million gallons of water were lost to pipeline breaks. The city’s potable water (safe to drink) is only pumped from groundwater currently. The Water Utility Department’s budget is around $4.1 million. $1.5 million of this amount is spent on maintaining the wellfield, according to the most recent (2022) Water Conservation Report.
Question two: What is the problem?
Although Portales had almost two weeks of steady rain at the end of May/beginning of June, the city council states that the sustained high temperatures have affected the water levels. The fire department reports that the current levels of water make fighting fires difficult. They say they are down about 100 gallons a minute in the time it takes to fill their tanks compared to when the restrictions were first put into place.
Looking at the table on page four of the report, it is clear that water consumption has reduced significantly within the last ten years. However, the graph on page five shows the big issue. The projected water supply is significantly higher than the actual water supply. Why is the projection off by so much? Who calculated the projection?
Question three: What is the city doing to help conserve water?
First, the city is using gray water. In 2021, the reclaimed water provided 49 million gallons, supplying water for the Portales soccer field and cemetery, as well as construction and treatment plant operations. There is also an expectation of a supply being delivered from the Canadian River; however, that delivery is long coming. In neither of the most recent council meetings did the city councilors mention this water.
In an update during a city council meeting on July 11, the council shared that the water conservation is going well, but will not take away the restrictions. They say the high temperatures are preventing them from removing the restrictions. They are also working on an improvement project for Portales, referencing the water issue when presenting the project, but not going into any details on a plan. The plan will be posted for public comment soon.
Question four: What can the citizens do?
Portales is situated in a dry and hot area of the United States. Drought and water shortages are a common problem in New Mexico. Conservation can help significantly, but there are some Portales-specific issues that must be addressed: frequent water main breaks and leaks, as well as lack of storm drains and gutters, which contributes to flooding and an inefficient use of rain water. Citizens can be wise with their water, conserving it and making decisions with conservation in mind, but until the city is clear with their plans and open with the issues, the citizens are going to feel frustrated and ignored. Many citizens who have lived in New Mexico all their lives understand that drought is a frequent problem and conservation efforts are needed. Thus, another way a concerned Portales citizen can do something to help with the water issues that plague this city, outside of avoiding watering and washing their cars, is to attend city council meetings, make public comment, ask questions, and, when unhappy with the answers, help come up with solutions. Run for city council, make suggestions, call and make comments on city plans. Complaining without effort for solutions will get the city nowhere.
STAGE 3 WATER RATIONING CONTINUES – UPDATE
This is an update regarding the current water situation with the City of Portales’ Water Department. The
well field production capability has dropped slightly; Due to the ongoing Stage 3 Water Rationing, the city has been able to “rest” three (3) of the smaller wells for a few hours before the heat wave started.
Even with all the conservation efforts the wells are back to all of them being utilized again at all times.
The demand for water is up due to the extremely high temperatures as there are many evaporative coolers in use in our city.
The conservation effort remains our greatest resource.
The City of Portales, again, thanks our citizens, businesses, and surrounding community for their continued efforts during this emergency.
As a Reminder Stage 3 Water Rationing has the following requirements:
Outdoor Landscape Watering: NO WATERING, except for trees, shrubs, and vegetable
gardens with SHUT-OFF HOSE AND HAND-HELD CONTAINER. Car Washing at Residence: PROHIBITED.
Washing Down Pavement, Sidewalks, etc.: PROHIBITED.
Residential Spas, and Residential Swimming Pools, PROHIBITED filling and refilling.
Ornamental Fountains: PROHIBITED filling and refilling.Failure to Follow the Emergency Water Rationing Restrictions will RESULT in
DISCONNECTION OF WATER SERVICE as per City Ordinances’ Section 27-15 and 27-6
City council meetings are held every second and fourth Tuesday of the month at the Memorial Building on 200 E. 7th St. They start at 5:30 pm, and are livestreamed on Facebook, with old meetings posted on YouTube.
