Anyone looking for water in Chama should know it's BYOW as in Bring Your Own Water. The small New Mexico village is in the midst of a severe drought of sorts, thanks to a lack of water supply that has left residents without the means to flush their toilets or take a shower.

“The highway department is going to put three signs coming into Chama that basically says don’t stop, we have no water,” Ernest Vigil, mayor of the Village of Chama, told KOB.

According to Vigil the water supply began deteriorating two years ago when the water plant began to show signs of leakage. “We knew this was coming because our water was going down, down, down, down all you can do is call and beg for help, which we have done,” Vigil said.

The leak became catastrophic in May when gallons upon gallons of water began to spill. “I am talking about millions of gallons over the course of the last six weeks just gone, and not from consumption,” Nicole Mangin, co-owner of Mountain Pacific Meter, told KOB.

Vigil has asked the state for help, but can’t get enough water to make a difference. He told KOB the response from Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s office was, “We will give you 20,000 gallons of water a day, and we’ll pay for it.”

“But that’s not even enough water to back wash our tanks in a day,” Vigil said, “and we tried telling them that, but we have to take what they give us.”

Businesses in the village are starting to suffer, with many of them forced to close during the peak of tourism season.

“To start out like this is absolutely trying, we are definitely losing $15,000 a week in revenue, 4,000 daily operations, the margin lines are so thin already it’s almost at the breaking point scenario,” Chad King, operator of Box Car Café, told KOB.  Vigil isn’t sure when water will be available and is concerned residents will have to move either temporarily or permanently.