Small community’s water leak forces conservation efforts

It may take days to discover the source of a leak that left 21 homes in the tiny community of Cañada de Los Alamos without water for two days earlier this week and now is forcing residents to limit their use and conserve the supply.

Officials believe there is a leak in a waterline from two village wells that supply a 50,000-gallon tank off Ortiz Road.

The community’s water shortage comes amid regional drought conditions that have increased fire dangers, threatened livestock and raised concerns about agricultural supplies.

Bill Conner, executive director of the New Mexico Rural Water Association, said the state hasn’t fully recovered from the severe drought of years past, so the dry conditions also could pose problems for hundreds of small, rural water associations throughout the state if monsoons don’t show up this summer.

“There’s always a risk of running short of water” in periods of drought, Conner said, but he’s hopeful El Niño conDENVER

ditions in the forecast will bring needed rain. “Hopefully the weather people are right about that,” he said.

The statewide association also has been working with community water systems to increase monitoring of well levels, he said, so they aren’t faced with a sudden shortage.

A technician from the New Mexico Rural Water Association was at Cañada de Los Alamos, southwest of Santa Fe, on Friday, working with the village’s mutual domestic water consumers association to try to locate the leak, said Chita Gillis, secretary-treasurer of the local organization.

Conner said he received a call from the technician late Friday afternoon. “They may have a leak, but it’s very slight,” he said. “They are maintaining water in the tank. It’s not jeopardizing anything.”

The technician will continue to monitor the Cañada de Los Alamos water system, Conner said.

Gillis, who has lived in the community at the end of Old Santa Fe Trail for 40 years, said villagers were without water for two days this week to allow the tank to refill so that the line could be charged to test for leaks.

Until the leak is fixed, the water system is being manually shut off from 7 p.m. until 6 a.m. daily to conserve water, and residents are asked to limit to use when the system is operating.

“We are all trying to use less,” Gillis said, “… so we can keep water in the tank and serve the community and have enough in case there is a fire or something.”