Desalination And Reuse: Providing A Sustainable Water Supply

By Ed Archuleta, President and CEO of El Paso Water Utilities

In 1991, El Paso Water Utilities adopted a 50-year water resource management plan that recommended three strategies: 1) reduced potable demand through conservation and the reuse of treated wastewater, 2) acquiring additional raw water supplies and 3) developing alternative resources. This integrated approach to water management has been the key to ensuring a long-term water supply for El Paso.

Located in the Chihuahuan Desert, El Paso, Texas, receives only 8.65 inches of rainfall annually. It draws water from the Rio Grande and two transboundary aquifers, the Hueco and Mesilla Bolsons, resources that are shared with neighbors in the United States and Mexico.

For decades, the Hueco Bolson aquifer was El Paso’s principal source of water.  At the peak load of pumping in 1989, groundwater levels in some areas were dropping two or three feet per year.

Since adopting the long-term management plan, surface water production has increased from 40 million to 100 million gallons per day (mgd).  We’ve also received international recognition for our conservation and reuse programs, which were instrumental in reducing per capita water use from more than 200 gallons to 139 gallons per day.