Residents tell Las Cruces council utility inventory mislabels galvanized lines as non-lead; they ask for EPA-required notifications

Multiple members of the public told the Las Cruces City Council on Nov. 3 they believe Las Cruces Utilities has mischaracterized galvanized service lines in the city's inventory required by the EPA lead-and-copper rule and failed to perform required notifications and sampling offers.

Lynn Moore told the council she has identified at least 77 properties with galvanized service lines that should be listed for replacement under the rule and said the city's online inventory labels many of them as "unknown" or "non-lead." "If it's galvanized, it must be replaced," Moore said, adding that differences between investigation reports and the inventory "can't be excused."

Liz Rodriguez Johnson said the city submitted its initial inventory to EPA on Oct. 16, 2024 but has not corrected data deficiencies. She cited missing installation dates, absent material-source information and mapping errors that place properties away from their true addresses. She also said the utility has not offered lead tap-water sampling to customers served by lines identified as lead, galvanized or unknown—an EPA requirement.

Those public comments were placed on the record during the council's public-comment period. Council did not take formal action on the allegations at the meeting. No utility staff response or corrective plan was presented in the session record.