Truth or Consequences works to restore water after outages

TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES, N.M. —

Truth or Consequences is working to restore its water system after disruptions over the weekend and Monday left thousands of residents without water.

The issue began over the weekend when one of the city’s wells failed, reducing the amount of water being pumped into storage tanks. By Monday morning, city crews identified the problem.

“The first problem was our tank was just low on water and we needed to assess how to solve that problem and planned a meeting, you know, to get that handled,” Gary Whitehead, Truth or Consequences City Manager, said.

Around noon Monday, a contractor working on the city’s water system struck an unmarked water line, compounding the issue.

The north side tanks were already running low when the waterline break occurred. With water now leaving the system, that’s when the city decided to shut off its main tank, leaving an estimated 2,000 residents on this side of Truth or Consequences without water.

The affected area included the city’s hospital and schools, forcing classes to go remote Monday. The water shutoff began around 1:30 p.m., but crews worked throughout the afternoon and restored service by 5 p.m.

Crews discovered significant damage to the pump and motor inside the well. Staff were sent to El Paso to retrieve replacement parts, and by Tuesday morning, everything was on-site to begin repairs.

“Are we out of the woods yet? No, we probably need this well back on by tomorrow. This will add about a 40% improvement to our production, and then we should then be able to see by the weekend where all of our tanks are back at the levels that we would like to have,” Whitehead said.

While water pressure has returned to normal, the city is still working to rebuild its water supply.

“I assure the residents that my staff and I, we are working diligently every day. We have these water projects that are coming in. We’re making every effort to not have these type of incidences,” Whitehead added.

The city is also reviewing its electronic water monitoring system after a technical error contributed to the problem. Administrative changes are planned to prevent similar issues in the future.

Residents who lost water or experienced low pressure Monday are advised to boil drinking water until further notice. No contamination has been found, but testing is ongoing. Anyone still experiencing issues should contact the utility or public works department at (575) 894-6671.