A fire in New Mexico is causing long-term concerns for the Las Vegas, New Mexico, area as potable water will be hard to come by.
The area was already struggling with low reserves, securing just 50 days of drinkable water in August to just 21 days’ worth of water in early September.
Much of the problem has been attributed to the fire.
"This fire was devastating, and it changed the trajectory of our water plan substantially,” Louie Trujillo, mayor of Las Vegas, told KOAT 7 Action News. “We’re told that water quality in the Gallinas River will take about 10 years to become good drinking water again.”
The Calf Canyon/Hermit’s Peak fire left a burn scar, said to be the largest in state history, according to KOAT. Silt and debris from that burn scar has tainted the watershed.
When the level hit the 21-day supply mark in early September, officials started working on temporary solutions.
"We're saving thousands of gallons every day, just by people being cognizant of how much water they're using,” Trujillo said.
Also, the pretreatment facility at Storrie Lake is creating about a day's worth of water every workday, and they're also looking at ways to extend their water supply.
"We're researching technology to convert our effluent water into drinking water and blend it with the water in our reservoirs,” Trujillo said. “Effluent water is the reused water that has already gone through households.”
The city is back up to about 50 days of water in storage as of Sunday, but they're not out of the woods yet, as the burn scar could flood for three to five years, KOAT reported.
"It's going to be a while until we get out of this water crisis entirely,” Trujillo said. “The Army Corps of Engineers has done great work along the watershed and the banks of the Gallinas River to lessen the punch for the next monsoon season next year."
They mayor said the city estimates it will cost around $100 million to replace the treatment facility near the Gallinas River.