Water Emergency in Cibola’s West
CIBOLA COUNTY, N.M. – Cibola County commissioners are set to hold an emergency meeting Monday evening to consider declaring a public-safety disaster in the Ramah community due to a critical water shortage.
According to the county manager’s office and a proposed emergency resolution, the primary water well which serves much of the Ramah-area has stopped functioning, while the backup system is operating at sharply reduced capacity of about 20 gallons per minute.
County documents state the affected service area includes much of the Ramah Navajo community as well as surrounding areas such as Candy Kitchen and Pine Meadow.
The proposed resolution says the outage has created an immediate threat to public health, sanitation and safety, with impacts reaching residential areas, the local school and other community uses.
The Cibola County Board of Commissioners are expected to hear about and vote on emergency actions including water hauling, bottled water distribution and portable sanitation services.
The emergency meeting is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Monday, March 31, in the Cibola County Commission Chambers.