“We share the same aquifer, the same region, and many of the same issues...even if we are on different sides of an international border,” says LCU Director, Dr. Jorge A. Garcia, Ph.D., P.E., explaining the connection between Las Cruces and Ciudad Juárez.
Since both cities dip wells into the same large Mesilla Bolson aquifer, Las Cruces Utilities (LCU) is fostering binational collaboration:
“It is critical that we understand each other’s processes and share informational resources,” explains Dr. Garcia.
In Las Cruces, LCU (a City department) drills wells, pumps and treats water, and builds infrastructure to deliver the precious resource to more than 100,000 residents and businesses.
In Juárez, however, a private enterprise, Grupo CARSO (a Mexican global conglomerate owned by Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim) operates the Juárez well field and has built the pipeline infrastructure to provide water to a portion of the estimated 2,000,000 residents and businesses in Ciudad Juárez. Then Grupo CARSO bills the Ciudad Juárez water authority for the services provided.
Following a visit to the Conejos Medanos well field in Juárez, this past spring Dr. Garcia invited Grupo CARSO engineers to a day-long field trip through the LCU system. From wells to water tanks, from booster stations to the LCU East Mesa Water Reclamation Facility, our Mexican counterparts toured LCU facilities, including the Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system, which ensures the LCU water system is monitored electronically 24/7.
Dr. Garcia notes, “Previously, there was not reliable information available about the Mesilla Bolson south of the US/Mexico border. We now know that this shared groundwater basin extends 60 miles in and is more narrow and shallower than we thought.”
While visiting Las Cruces, the Grupo CARSO hydrologists were able to visit an LCU well near Burn Lake that draws from the same aquifer that the Juárez wells tap into. They compared details like water pressure and noted differences in how they tap into the water on their end and how LCU uses multiple failsafe security systems to make sure no water is lost.
Dr. Garcia concluded, “Creating a partnership like this will help sustain both of our communities as we move forward and navigate a long-term future in sharing the water we all need.”
Submitted by Las Cruces Utilities
You can reach Las Cruces Utilities at 528-3500 from 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Las Cruces Utilities provides GAS – WATER – WASTEWATER – SOLID WASTE services to approximately 100,000 Las Cruces residents and businesses.