Speakers at the Las Cruces City Council meeting on July 21 urged the city to address alleged inaccuracies in the Las Cruces Utilities service-line inventory and to offer required tap sampling under the revised Lead and Copper Rule.

Public commenters Lynn Moorerer and Liz Johnson told the council the city’s online inventory understates the number of properties with galvanized or lead-containing service lines and omits inspection dates, and that the utility is failing to offer tap sampling when customers ask. Moorerer said she brought “2 new discoveries,” including an inventory she said lists at least 56 properties as “galvanized requiring replacement” and inspection entries that indicate work done on Sundays and on Christmas Eve. She also urged the council to “hire a truly independent engineer with management experience to evaluate how the director and staffers are doing in complying with the new rule.”

Why it matters: The federal Environmental Protection Agency’s revisions to the Lead and Copper Rule require validated service-line inventories and, when consumers request it, sampling of taps where service lines are lead, galvanized requiring replacement, or unknown. Commenters said the city’s current public inventory and posted disclaimer undermine confidence that the city is meeting those validation and sampling requirements, which relate directly to residents’ drinking-water safety.

What speakers said and asked
- Lynn Moorerer, a resident and advocacy speaker, told council that the Las Cruces utilities inventory shows at least 56 properties designated “galvanized requiring replacement,” and that two of those entries appeared after a June 4 public statement she said misstated the count. She said the inventory once listed inspection dates that included “at least 114 inspections on Sundays and 2 inspections on Christmas Eve,” and that those dates have since been removed from the public display. Moorerer said the city’s website now carries a July 9 disclaimer stating the inventory’s accuracy is not guaranteed and said that, in her view, that disclaimer “effectively acknowledges violation of EPA requirements.”
- Liz Johnson said the Lead and Copper Rule requires water systems to offer to sample taps for any consumer who requests it when that property has a lead, galvanized requiring replacement, or unknown service line. “Nothing has been done to rectify this violation,” she told the council, adding that a resident who asked for sampling after a town-hall inquiry had not been contacted.
- Johnson listed funding and assistance programs she said are available to support inventory validation and replacements, naming the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, WIFIA, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and other federal funding and technical-assistance programs, and urged the city to apply for both funds and technical assistance.

Discussion vs. decision: Comments were made during the public-comment period; council members did not record a formal vote or take immediate action on the record during the meeting. Commenters asked the council and city manager for oversight and for Las Cruces Utilities staff to be directed to comply with federal validation and sampling requirements.

Clarifying details raised at the meeting: Moorerer alleged at least 56 properties listed as galvanized requiring replacement (54 of which, she said, were known to the city before a June 4 public statement), claimed the inventory previously showed inspection dates including 114 Sunday inspections and 2 on Christmas Eve, and said the utilities’ website posted a July 9 disclaimer about data accuracy. Johnson said it had been seven weeks since earlier public complaints and that a resident had not been contacted for requested sampling. Both speakers cited an EPA document (October 2024) describing validation requirements for service-line inventories.

Background and next steps: Commenters urged the city manager to instruct Las Cruces Utilities to comply with the EPA rule, to pursue federal funding and technical assistance for inventory validation and sampling, and to retain an independent engineer to evaluate compliance. The council packet and future staff reports would be the appropriate places for the city to respond with corrective steps or timelines, but no formal motion or timeline was recorded on July 21.

Ending: The concerns raised were lodged during the public-comment period. Council members and staff did not announce a formal directive at the meeting; residents requested follow-up through the city manager to Las Cruces Utilities and suggested applying for federal funds and technical assistance to validate the inventory and provide tap sampling.