Gallup faces major flooding and water pipe break
City officials are seeking state and federal partnerships to overhaul Gallup’s inadequate drainage system.
GALLUP, N.M. —
Gallup has been hit with major flooding over the past week, and another round of rain is causing additional concerns today.
The historic El Rancho Hotel reported that floodwaters reached its hotel rooms and basement. The hotel did not allow reporters to film those areas.
“We’ve been facing something we haven’t seen in quite a while is a lot of water coming through, which is very nice, but it seems like it’s a little bit overwhelming at times. We weren’t really prepared for it,” said Lawrence Villanueva, assistant manager of El Rancho Hotel. “The 2 or 3 rooms wouldn’t be so bad. But for us, it was our whole basement area that had flooded. We won’t have any hot water.”
Gallup Mayor Marc DePauli toured the flooding challenges across the city to survey the damage and what needs to change.
“This year is one of the wetter years, one of the wetter years we’ve had in the last 15 years. And I think it’s because El Niño is angry,” DePauli said.
Gallup is currently facing a one-two punch: historic flooding on one side and a water outage on the other.
“It just so happens that the water got so saturated, the ground got so saturated that our clays, our expansive clays and it moved and it broke the 16-inch main transmission line that provides water to the south side of Gallup,” DePauli said.
While crews have repaired the broken pipe and are currently rebuilding its pressure, the city expects water service to be fully restored by tonight.
As street crews clear debris, a broader issue regarding the floodwaters is the city’s inadequate drainage system.
“It’s backwatering because it does not have the the channel is full of debris and I mean trees and vegetation and the highway,” DePauli said.
Upgrading the drainage system is a $30 million fix that the mayor says is at the top of his list.
“These channels just concrete them all, get them all concrete. And so that we don’t have all those obstructions and all that vegetation,” DePauli said. “But we need to get these fixed, or these storms are going to get worse and worse.”
The mayor spent part of the day capturing photos of the flooded roads to help secure funding for the repairs.
“We’re using all of the photos and all the pictures in this rain to work with the Army Corps,” DePauli said.
The city is hoping to partner with the Army Corps of Engineers, the state highway department, and grant programs to help pay for the project. DePauli expects it could be a 25% city contribution, with the remaining costs coming from outside funding.
