STA TE O F NE W M E X I CO

Environment Department

NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release

July 31, 2020

Contact: Maddy Hayden, Communications Director New Mexico Environment Department 505.231.8800 | maddy.hayden@state.nm.us

MICHELLE LUJAN GRISHAM, GOVERNOR

The Environment Department’s mission is to protect and restore the environment and to foster a healthy and prosperous New Mexico for present and future generations.

James C. Kenney, Cabinet Secretary Jennifer J. Pruett, Deputy Secretary

Environment Department confirms boil water advisory lifted for Rutheron Mutual Water Association in Rio Arriba County

Users are no longer urged to boil water before drinking

RIO ARRIBA COUNTY – The New Mexico Environment Department’s (NMED) Drinking Water Bureau confirms that the Rutheron Mutual Water Association has met the requirements to lift the boil water advisory that was issued on May 1, 2019.

Rutheron Mutual Water Association was required to issue the advisory after the turbidity standards were exceeded due to water system filtration system failure. The advisory only applied to users served by the Rutheron Mutual Water Association and did not extend to any of the other surrounding water systems or communities.

The Drinking Water Bureau provided technical assistance to the Rutheron Mutual Water Association and the water system has installed a new treatment systemto address the elevated turbidity levels that caused the boil advisory to be issued. Subsequent samples collected from the water system were negative for bacteriological contamination and turbidity levels are within compliance standards.

More information about New Mexico’s boil water advisories in English and Spanish is available here. For more information about today’s announcement, please call Joe Savage of the Drinking Water Bureau at 575-437-7115.

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NMED does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, disability, age or sex in the administration of its programs or activities, as required by applicable laws and regulations. NMED is responsible for coordination of compliance efforts and receipt of inquiries concerning non- discrimination requirements implemented by 40 C.F.R. Parts 5 and 7, including Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended; Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973; the Age Discrimination Act of 1975, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, and Section 13 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972. If you have any questions about this notice or any of NMED’s non-discrimination programs, policies or procedures, you may contact:

Kristine Yurdin, Non-Discrimination Coordinator | NMED |1190 St. Francis Dr., Suite N4050 | P.O. Box 5469 | Santa Fe, NM 87502

(505) 827-2855 or nd.coordinator@state.nm.us

If you believe that you have been discriminated against with respect to a NMED program or activity, you may contact the Non-Discrimination Coordinator.

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