New Mexico announces 3rd-party audit of Camino Real Regional Utility Authority operations
Nearly five months after water was found to be unsafe to drink in two southern Doña Ana County communities, New Mexico officials announced they will audit the utility that provides the service.
The New Mexico Environment Department said its comprehensive performance evaluation is taking place to learn what led to failures at Camino Real Regional Utility Authority that resulted in unsafe drinking water last December for Santa Teresa and Sunland Park residents.
"A comprehensive performance evaluation (CPE) is a thorough review and analysis of a water system’s performance-based capabilities and associated administrative, operation, and maintenance practices," NMED spokesman Jorge Estrada wrote in an email to the Sun-News. "It is conducted to identify factors that may be adversely impacting a water system’s ability to achieve compliance without major capital improvements. The CPE focuses on factors that may adversely impact a water system’s ability to achieve optimized performance."
The audit will examine the utility's operations, including its finances, administration and technical aspects. It is scheduled on May 28, and Estrada said the review should take about two days to complete. A final report should be completed within 30 days after the audit is done, Estrada wrote.
Announcement of the audit comes after the struggling utility has made some improvements to its system.
In a memorandum, CRRUA agreed to cooperate with the audit and work toward implementing short-term and long-term action plans and to inform the public of the results of the audit.
Background on the 'do not drink' order
The utility first came under scrutiny from the state after a New Mexico Environment Department report found a "do not drink" order that affected the residents of Santa Teresa and Sunland Park in December was due to "systematic failures" of the regional water authority.
The utility has also had drinking water samples in which levels were above the federal drinking water maximum contaminant level for arsenic.
In March, Estrada said NMED collected 18 arsenic samples. Here's what the agency reported:
Fourteen of those samples were unannounced and taken from locations that are not used for regulatory compliance.
Four were routine regulatory compliance samples collected from points just downstream of their arsenic treatment systems.
Two of the samples were found to be above the federal drinking water maximum contaminant level for arsenic of 0.010 mg/L. Those two samples were collected during unannounced sampling.
'Positive progress'
Since March, CRRUA has cited four consecutive successful state tests for arsenic at three of the four-arsenic treatment facilities operated by the utility.
"NMED agrees that CRRUA has made positive progress with their water system," Estrada wrote. "NMED’s most recent arsenic compliance samples indicated that CRRUA’s arsenic levels during the second quarter of 2024 were all below the Arsenic MCL."
CRRUA spokesman Udell Vigil said the audit was discussed at the utility's April 15 meeting. NMED Deputy Cabinet Secretary Sydney Lienemann and Division Director John Rhoderick, Water Protection Division, traveled to Sunland Park to meet with CRRUA administrative staff and city of Sunland Park officials.
"CRRUA looks forward to the audit for fresh perspective on how to continue the progress the utility has made thus far," Vigil wrote in an email to the Sun-News. "CRRUA is committed to its ongoing positive working relationship with NMED on this and future projects."
Jason Groves can be reached at 575-541-5459 or jgroves@lcsun-news.com. Follow him on X @jpgroves.
This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: Camino Real Regional Utility Authority audit looks at water quality
