Second emergency meeting in less than six months
CIBOLA COUNTY, N.M. – Cibola County commissioners were called into an emergency meeting Tuesday evening to consider another declaration of emergency for a water shortage in the Ramah area, less than six months after a public well failure prompted a similar county response.
The emergency meeting was scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Sept. 15 at the Cibola County Commission Chambers. The agenda lists a “Declaration of Emergency for Ramah Water Shortage” under new business, with action possible.
As of publication time, county officials had not provided additional details about what caused the latest shortage, how many residents are affected, whether emergency water distribution is underway or whether the current problem is connected to the well failure that disrupted service in March.
The Cibola Citizen sent questions to County Manager Kate Fletcher seeking additional information.
The September emergency comes after Cibola County commissioners unanimously approved a public-safety disaster declaration March 31 following failure of a public well system serving the Ramah area.
At that time, county officials said the main well serving much of the community had failed and a backup well was producing only about 20 gallons per minute. Cibola County responded by purchasing bottled water and arranging for potable hauled water while Ramah officials and Navajo Nation emergency services worked on the problem.
Ramah Chapter President Martha Garcia later identified the primary source as Jacob’s Well and said experts were evaluating the well to determine what repairs were needed. During that emergency, both the Navajo Nation and Cibola County delivered drinking water, and a water tank was established in Pinehill for residents to fill containers. Water was also delivered to elderly residents and people without transportation.
County officials emphasized during the March response that the problem was an infrastructure failure, not a broader shortage of groundwater or regional water supply.
Whether Tuesday’s emergency involves Jacob’s Well, another part of the Ramah system or a separate issue had not been confirmed as of publication time.
The timing is notable because the new emergency meeting comes less than six months after the first water crisis, raising fresh questions about the reliability of the system serving Ramah and surrounding communities.
The Tuesday agenda also includes consideration of a temporary inmate housing agreement between Cibola County and Ramah Navajo Chapter. It was not clear from the agenda whether that item is directly connected to the water shortage.
The Cibola Citizen will continue seeking information from Cibola County and Ramah Navajo Chapter regarding the cause of the latest outage, the number of residents affected, emergency water access and the expected duration of the shortage.