{"id":364065,"date":"2026-07-07T15:12:38","date_gmt":"2026-07-07T15:12:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/364065\/"},"modified":"2026-07-07T15:12:38","modified_gmt":"2026-07-07T15:12:38","slug":"absolutely-el-paso-water-ceo-says-city-has-enough-water-for-next-50-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/364065\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Absolutely\u2019: El Paso Water CEO says city has enough water for next 50 years"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">EL PASO, Texas (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ktsm.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"elm:link;elmt:article_link;slk:KTSM;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;KTSM&quot;}\" class=\"link \">KTSM<\/a>) \u2014 The El Paso City Council on Monday reviewed a presentation from El Paso Water addressing water infrastructure planning for Northeast El Paso and projected water use at Meta\u2019s data center site amid community concerns about the project\u2019s impact.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ktsm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/38\/2026\/07\/WS-2-Water-Supply-and-Infrastructure-for-Northeast-Final.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"elm:link;elmt:article_link;slk:WS 2 \u2013 Water Supply and Infrastructure for Northeast Final;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;WS 2 \u2013 Water Supply and Infrastructure for Northeast Final&quot;}\" class=\"link \">WS 2 \u2013 Water Supply and Infrastructure for Northeast Final<\/a><a class=\"link \" href=\"https:\/\/www.ktsm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/38\/2026\/07\/WS-2-Water-Supply-and-Infrastructure-for-Northeast-Final.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"elm:link;elmt:article_link;slk:Download;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;Download&quot;}\">Download<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Since Meta announced plans to build the data center, residents have continued to raise concerns about the project\u2019s impact on nearby neighborhoods. KTSM previously reported that some residents who live near the site have already reported changes. They reported increased noise, dust, and bright lights from ongoing construction.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><a class=\"link  yahoo-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.yahoo.com\/news\/us\/articles\/residents-near-meta-data-center-010053424.html\" data-ylk=\"elm:link;elmt:article_link;slk:Residents near Meta data center say construction already impacting neighborhoods;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;outcm:mb_qualified_link;_E:mb_qualified_link;ct:story;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;Residents near Meta data center say construction already impacting neighborhoods&quot;}\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"> Residents near Meta data center say construction already impacting neighborhoods <\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">During the presentation, El Paso Water President and CEO John Balliew told city council members that the utility\u2019s long-term planning indicates the city has sufficient water resources to meet future demand.<\/p>\n<p>WATCH PRESENTATION BELOW:<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">City Representative Alejandra Chavez asked Balliew whether El Paso\u2019s water supply plan accounted for the next 50 years and whether the city had enough water to meet that timeline.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u201cAbsolutely,\u201d Balliew responded.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Chavez also asked whether the city\u2019s drinking water would remain uncontaminated as a result of the project.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u201cIt will not be contaminated,\u201d Balliew said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">She then asked whether the data center\u2019s projected water use was lower than what had been anticipated in the city\u2019s 2009 master plan.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u201cCorrect,\u201d Balliew replied.<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"900\" height=\"506\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/58efed9d091aca813f5ab2aa3105060f.jpeg\"\/><img alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"900\" height=\"506\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/fb3ce76f60be29902396b404e9f590d4.jpeg\"\/><img alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"900\" height=\"506\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/bfe78b2f86ebad85cd8bcb78ed836961.jpeg\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Balliew said infrastructure master plans developed in the early 2000s anticipated growth in Northeast El Paso, including the area where the Meta data center is now under construction. He said the facility\u2019s projected water demand remains below the levels envisioned in the 2009 planning documents.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Balliew also told council members that El Paso Water has a dedicated team to manage industrial wastewater, including wastewater generated by data centers. He said the utility continues to diversify the city\u2019s water portfolio through projects such as expanding desalination capacity, developing the Pure Water Center, and increasing aquifer storage and recovery to strengthen long-term water reliability.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">He added that while residential customers remain the utility\u2019s highest priority, state law requires El Paso Water to provide equal service to all customer classes. Balliew said the utility also has emergency response plans in place to manage potential water supply disruptions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u201cThe deal has been done. We have to live with it. You\u2019re gonna have to live with these consequences too.\u201d El Pasoan Lisa Turner told council during public comment.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ktsm.com\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"elm:link;elmt:article_link;slk:For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTSM 9 News.;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTSM 9 News.&quot;}\" class=\"link \"> For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTSM 9 News. <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) \u2014 The El Paso City Council on Monday reviewed a presentation from El Paso&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":364066,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[27308,5421,138,140,139,5768,46703,5870,410,35841,2646],"class_list":["post-364065","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-el-paso","tag-city-council-members","tag-data-center","tag-el-paso","tag-el-paso-headlines","tag-el-paso-news","tag-el-paso-water","tag-john-balliew","tag-northeast-el-paso","tag-water","tag-water-resources","tag-water-supply"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/364065","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=364065"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/364065\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/364066"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=364065"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=364065"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=364065"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}