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The Rio Grande is one of its main sources of water. As a rule, the river can provide up to half of the city's water needs. But climate change makes it more and more difficult and pushes the city to look for new sources of water. El Paso is on its way to becoming the first major city in the United States to treat its wastewater and return it directly to their faucets.
"We get less runoff than we would have had in the '80s or' 90s," said J. Phillip King, a professor of civil engineering at the University of New Mexico. King has been following the water levels of the river for 27 years as an adviser to the Elephant Butte irrigation district. The district manages the distribution of approximately 90,000 acres of farmland in the Rio Grande Valley, New Mexico and Texas.
King called the Rio Grande an omen of what was going to happen. "You know we have already reached a critical level and you can think that Colorado will be a few years from a similar fate," he said.
Drought is not new to the 1,800 mile long river. The Rio Grande has already survived severe and prolonged droughts, King said. But an increase in temperature causes a warmer and drier climate. And that means not only potentially less snowfall, but also a greater chance for the water to evaporate.
The federal government predicts that temperatures could rise by 8 degrees Fahrenheit in the region by 2100.
Finding Alternatives
Those who depend on the river, such as the city of El Paso, need to look for alternative water sources out of necessity.
"I thought we had to reverse this exploitation of the aquifer, we need to stabilize this aquifer, and we need to diversify our resources," he told CNN's Gupta.
The mission of Archuleta was to Expand its water resource portfolio. Instead of relying solely on pumped groundwater, Archuleta has expanded El Paso's water portfolio.
Farmers in the western United States usually organize a system of rights or allotments allowing them to use water from the river, including the Rio Grande. As the rights are property-related, the El Paso Utility Company has started renting water rights to farmers. The public service also purchased agricultural land bearing these rights.
David Gutzler, professor of climatology at the University of New Mexico, compared an expanded water portfolio to a financial portfolio. "If you can mix and match, then you use one or the other," Gutzler said. And it's the flexibility that ultimately makes cities more resilient, he said.
But in a more visionary gesture than looking for water, Archuleta made water.
He lobbied the federal government for funding to create the world's largest desalination plant. The Kay Bailey Hutchinson desalination plant owes its name to the Texas senator who helped the Archuleta lobby in Washington for the plant.
According to El Paso Water hydrologists, the Hueco Bolson aquifer on 10 million acres of freshwater depends on 30 million acres of brackish water that can be treated and used as drinking water.
Water Production
Today, the Kay Bailey Hutchinson Plant can produce up to 27 million gallons of water per day . The plant increases and decreases its production depending on the amount of water available in the river and its aquifers. Next year, El Paso expects desalination to provide 7% to 9% of its water.
"This plant was built for growth, was built for drought protection, and essentially provides El Paso with a drought insurance policy," Archuleta said. .
He also preached a gospel of preservation. He set up community outreach programs with a mascot called Willie the Water Drop and created a water museum that kids in the area can visit and learn from where their water comes from.
The city paid residents to transform their grassy courtyards into rocky landscapes. The local newspaper El Paso published the names of the major users of water.
When Archuleta retired in 2013, water consumption had dropped by about 35% per person. El Paso uses less total water than it did 24 years ago, despite the fact that 170,000 more people are served.
Drinking Treated Wastewater
Today, El Paso is poised to take another step in expanding its water resource portfolio. They are building a closed-loop system that will treat wastewater and convert it directly into drinking water. Among water professionals, this is called "direct reuse by water" or "advanced purification".
"It's the next logical step for us," said Gilbert Trejo, technical manager of El Paso Water.
At present, El Paso, Orange County, California, Scottsdale, Arizona and several other utilities in the country treat sewage and then pump it into the city. Aquifer for drinking. Trejo says it takes about 5 years to water to filter through the soil before it is pumped and treated to the standards of a healthy drinking water.
This treated water is also frequently used for irrigation and for industrial purposes.
El Paso is currently constructing a completely closed loop facility where, instead of being pumped into the aquifer, the treated wastewater will undergo additional filtration before being returned to pipelines. 39, drinking water.
"We see this clear water of good quality," explained Trejo to Gupta. "The next thing for us to do is take a high-quality water that we produce in a state-of-the-art facility, then treat it a bit more with multiple treatment processes so we can drink it."
Efforts already made by other municipalities in Texas and California to use "direct reuse of drinking water" have not always been successful because of the "thorny" factor. Community membership is the key to launching these projects, said Justin Mattingly of the Water Research Foundation. "They are public organizations, they belong to the public, so you could be just as happy to the public."
Archuelta's legacy of water conservation and education has prepared El Paso for the moment.
"Everyone realizes that we are in the desert and that we are in an arid climate, rain is scarce … so when we tell our customers that we are doing everything we can and that we we use all the water resources around us to treat and make it safe for consumption, they take it pretty well. "
By 2030, El Paso Water expects desalination to occur 10% of its water supply and 6% from an advanced purification.
Trejo told Gupta that the future of El Paso was not limited to the future, but to the future of many other cities faced with the need to look for water.
"Technology allows us to treat [water] at a very high level and make it safe to drink.Water is really everywhere around us, in all cities."
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