New Mexico environment department and city of Las Vegas, N.M., unveiled plans for the first phase of a new city water treatment plant set for initial construction this summer, according to sourcenm.com.
Plexos Group is the state's contracted project manager, and Burns & McDonnell Engineering is the primary design and engineering firm.
Drinking water issues have hampered the city's 12,000 residents since the 2022 Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon fire. Burn scars often send a slurry of ash and debris into the Rio Gallinas, which is the city's drinking water source, according to sourcenm.com.
City officials received $98 million in federal funding in 2024 to construct the facility. After repeated flooding in 2024 that impacted water quality, combined with a complete water shutoff in January of 2025, the city entered into a joint governmental agreement with three state agencies to fast-track the new system.
As part of that agreement, the state worked for months with city officials and an engineering firm to design new filtration systems; those designs were presented plans at the May 13 Las Vegas City Council meeting, sourcenm.com reported.
The first phase will install filters that better remove contaminants that wash into the river during rainstorms before the water goes through the sanitation and treatment process.
The city replaced monitoring systems and water filtration pools to improve water quality while planning for the construction for the full water treatment plant continues, Las Vegas City Manager Robert Anaya told sourcemn.com.
The city spent approximately $8 million on designing the new systems and on improvements, according to sourcenm.com.
Las Vegas Mayor David Romero said it'll be at least three years before the project is completed.
“Everybody hopes that we can have it done yesterday, but we're making sure we do it right the first time, and it's tied to the appropriate design and compliance requirements that need to be in place to make it done right,” Romero told sourcemn.com.
The state will continue to offer technical support for the city, Jonas Armstrong, the state environment department's Water Protection Division director, said in a statement that the state will continue to offer technical support for the city.
