El Pasoans will see higher water bills this year and climate change is partly to blame. Between historic flooding, a shrinking Rio Grande and the catastrophic 2021 winter storm, utility officials said they must invest ...
5:03 p.m. Jan. 12: This story has been updated with information from Wednesday’s Public Service board meeting. No more toilet jokes: the pipes are fixed and Westside El Paso’s waste is flowing to a water ...
Despite a winter storm and a historic monsoon season in El Paso, 2021 is on track to be the ninth-warmest in records that date back to 1887. Climate change shows a warming of the region’s ...
Four months, 1.1 billion gallons of sewage and one replacement pipeline later, El Paso Water officials said Wednesday they will work on ending diversions of untreated wastewater into the Rio Grande in coming weeks. “As ...
The scope of the Environmental Protection Agency inquiry into the monthslong sewage spill in the Rio Grande is still unclear, but the federal agency has plenty of reasons to wade in and ask questions, Texas ...
The Environmental Protection Agency will require El Paso Water to provide information about the utility’s response to the months-long sewage spill that’s caused millions of gallons of wastewater to be diverted into the Rio Grande. “The ...
Unseasonably warm temperatures and low chances of significant winter precipitation have deepened concerns among regional water experts and farmers that extended drought conditions will compound stress on the Rio Grande, a key source of water ...
Note: This is the second of a two-part series on groundwater in the El Paso region. Read part one here. As climate change has altered El Paso’s access to water, the need for increased treatment ...
Note: This is the first in a series about the groundwater in the Borderland. Read part two here. Sluggish waters flow and pool beneath the Borderland, offering water for millions of people in Far West ...
El Pasoans could see an average increase of $6.37 on their monthly water bills after El Paso Water officials proposed increasing rates for the seventh consecutive year. CEO John Balliew presented the proposed budget to ...
The mulberry is a storied tree in El Paso. El Pasoans have tales of either sitting under their shady boughs or being frustrated with the allergies the trees cause in the spring. And there are also ...
The state governments of Texas and New Mexico have spent more than $30 million combined on legal fees in the fight over Rio Grande water, which is now before the United States Supreme Court. Invoices ...
No one went down to the river to pray. A planned binational Mass traditionally held on the banks of the Rio Grande was relocated to El Punto in Ciudad Juárez earlier this month after U.S. federal ...
The Public Service Board voted unanimously to reinstate emergency policy conditions for El Paso Water that allow the utility’s CEO to enter into contracts without PSB oversight. The resolution approved Wednesday also waives state requirements ...
El Paso Water has started a second phase of a plan to clean up the raw sewage in the Rio Grande flowing from broken sewage mains on the West Side. The utility aims to remove ...
El Paso Water will provide an update on the months-long effort to stop wastewater from flowing into the Rio Grande at the Rio Grande Citizens Forum Thursday evening during a meeting hosted by the United States ...
Correction: El Paso Water officials misstated the number of gallons of raw sewage released per day. The correct figure is 10 million. When it comes to the raw sewage flowing into the Rio Grande, utility ...
A U.S. Supreme Court case over how water from the Rio Grande is allocated is underway and may finally put an end to a years-long dispute over how border states use the precious resource. The ...
Attorneys laid out their arguments Monday during the first day of a virtual trial in a lawsuit over Rio Grande water with Texas and the federal government alleging that New Mexico’s use of groundwater cut ...
There are bodies of water and governmental bodies, and the El Paso Public Service Board is an intersection of both. The seven-member board, composed of six members appointed by the City Council plus the mayor, ...
The untreated sewage from West El Paso has crawled about 20 miles downstream to just outside the Rio Bosque Wetlands Park. But that’s where it will stop. El Paso Water officials said they are working ...
President Joe Biden appointed Maria-Elena Giner, a civil engineer and long-time leader on border sanitation projects, as the new commissioner of the U.S. International Boundary and Water Commission. The federal agency – binationally operated by the ...
An 8-year-old Supreme Court lawsuit about a dispute over groundwater pumping on the Rio Grande between Texas and New Mexico is making its way to trial. Texas alleges in the lawsuit that New Mexico farmers’ ...
Flushing the toilet, taking a shower or using the sink generates wastewater, a process that usually goes forgotten, unless storage and treatment fails — then sewage is often too noticeable. Several major pipe ruptures mean ...
More than 150 million gallons of sewage from El Paso’s West Side is flowing into the Rio Grande. The wastewater, which includes waste from toilets, showers and sink drains, is untreated. While that amount only ...
Both the Rio Grande and Colorado rivers shrunk in 2021, another bad water year in a two-decade megadrought brought on by a warming Western United States. Demands on the rivers — from growing cities, agriculture, ...
Update 12:50 p.m. Friday, Aug. 27: Special Master Michael Melloy ruled Friday to split in half the trial for the long-running U.S. Supreme Court case over Rio Grande water between Texas and New Mexico. Melloy ...
By Jack Loveridge Central El Paso’s Manhattan Heights and Military Heights neighborhoods feature some of the city’s top architectural treasures, but ineffective storm drainage and deadly street flooding are elements of our history that aren’t ...
The fight on Newman 6 is over. El Paso Electric and the coalition of community and environmental groups opposing the construction of the new methane power plant unit in Northeast El Paso announced an agreement ...
Binational News Partnership
A unique binational news collaboration publishing stories about significant issues facing El Paso and Ciudad Juárez.The Puente News Collaborative is: La Verdad in Ciudad Juárez; and ABC 7, El Paso Inc., El Paso Matters, El Paso Times, Univision 26, KTEP public radio and Borderzine.com as part of the multimedia journalism program at UT El Paso.
Migration at the border: Reporting that covers the complex reasons that people migrate, and how governments respond.
Pandemic at the border: In-depth reporting that looks at how the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the resulting restrictions on border crossings has affected life in our region this year.
Borderland Coronavirus Updates
Become a Supporting Member
El Paso needs a nonprofit, member-supported digital news organization that dives into the complex issues shaping our region – and serves as a catalyst for solutions-oriented conversations. You can help by becoming a member of El Paso Matters today.
To donate, go to epcf.org/epmatters.
Tips, Submissions
Do you have a story tip you’d like El Paso Matters to pursue? A press release you’d like to share? A commentary you’d like us to publish? Send your ideas or submissions to news@elpasomatters.org.
By Janaé Reneaud Field and Raymundo Aguilar Though El Paso and Ciudad Juárez are two separate cities in different countries, divided by a wall and often shrouded in geopolitical tension, their shared valley and natural ...