SANTA TERESA, N.M. (KFOX14/CBS4) — In a news conference, Dona Ana County addresses its decision to terminate the troubled water utility, adding that changes won't happen overnight.
Dona Ana County held a press conference Friday morning to explain to people what to expect now that it has decided to end the Camino Real Regional Utility Authority, the water utility that services Sunland Park and Santa Teresa.
"We know how frustrating it has been for many people in our community, and we're here to take the meaningful steps forward in improving our water and wastewater services that have been delivered by CRRUA," said District 1 Commissioner Chris Schaljo-Hernandez.
When asked why CRRUA was terminated this week, after the water utility had been plagued with issues for years, Schaljo-Hernandez responded,
"I don't want to say there was any straw that broke the camel's back or anything like that. But at the end, in this day and age, in this time with our current county management, our current County administrators, with our board, we decided that this was the only path forward."
What could people expect next, now that CRRUA is terminated?
First, Dona Ana County officials said they are having HDR, an engineering company, review CRRUA's infrastructure, which will inform how the County moves forward with its plans.
Secondly, County officials said they are exploring the possibility of creating water bottle filling stations with their filtration systems to give people access to clean, safe drinking water.
Third, they said they want to possibly establish a bilingual call center for people to report issues.
Also, Dona Ana County want to keep the community up to speed with an online and social media campaign and community meetings.
As questions remain up in the air, Dona Ana County officials hope to have more answers after their meeting on Tuesday.
In the meantime, KFOX14/CBS4 reached out to CRRUA, however, they didn't respond in time for this report.
CRRUA did, however, post the following statement on behalf of the City of Sunland Park, on its Facebook:
City of Sunland Park Statement on Doña Ana County's CRRUA Announcement: The City of Sunland Park acknowledges the recent announcement by Doña Ana County to begin the process of terminating the Joint Powers Agreement (JPA) that established the Camino Real Regional Utility Authority (CRRUA).
While the City was not able to participate in the County’s press conference, we remain committed to working transparently and collaboratively with all partners involved to ensure that the interests of our residents are protected throughout this transition. CRRUA will continue to operate and provide services as the transition process unfolds.
The City of Sunland Park is actively evaluating all options to support a long-term solution that ensures reliable infrastructure, public accountability, and safe water for every household and business in our community. We will share additional updates as they become available. (Posted 05-23-2025)
Yasmine Al-HarbiPublic Information OfficerCity of Sunland Park, New MexicoEmail: [email protected]: (575) 589-7565
WATCH FULL PRESSER:
The press conference was held at the Jetport Fire Station, located at 8014 Airport Rd in Santa Teresa.
This comes on the heels of more than a year of controversies surrounding CRRUA due to the arsenic levels in their water.
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