EL PASO, Texas – (KFOX14/CBS4) — El Paso city leaders are calling for increased transparency following a significant water main break in Northeast El Paso that left thousands without water and others under a boil water notice.
The call for accountability comes after El Paso Water provided an update to the city council, revealing that over 15 million gallons of water were lost in the incident.
City Representative Josh Acevedo, who represents parts of Central and Northeast El Paso, expressed concerns about the utility’s response, highlighting issues such as inaccurate maps and delays in providing a frequently asked questions document for the boil water notice.
Mark Baugh reports on El Paso leaders demand transparency after major water main break (Credit: KFOX14)
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“I want to hope that that’s the lesson learned, that you’re going to provide better maps to the communities so they know exactly what is being affected,” Acevedo said.
El Paso Water President John Balliew responded, stating, “We tried to keep the map where everybody that was affected was in there. We fine-tuned it to remove some of the unaffected areas.”
Balliew acknowledged that not everyone accesses the utility’s website for information.
FULL CITY COUNCIL MEETING
Acevedo also emphasized the need for better crisis training and coordination with other utilities.
City Representative Cynthia Boyar Trejo plans to introduce amendments at upcoming city council meetings to address El Paso Water’s reporting and emergency response, you can view that full release here.
El Paso Water is working on an after-action debrief to identify areas for improvement.
RELATED: Water main break exposes vulnerabilities in El Paso’s 1950s-era system design
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