{"id":247914,"date":"2026-09-21T21:34:51","date_gmt":"2026-09-21T21:34:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/swefc.unm.edu\/home\/?page_id=247914"},"modified":"2026-10-21T20:03:21","modified_gmt":"2026-10-21T20:03:21","slug":"community-highlight-placitas-nm","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/swefc.unm.edu\/home\/community-highlight-placitas-nm\/","title":{"rendered":"Community Highlight – Placitas, NM"},"content":{"rendered":"

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COMMUNITY HIGHLIGHT<\/p>\n

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Turning a Compliance Challenge into Long-Term <\/span>Operational <\/span>Success<\/span><\/h1>\n

Placitas, NM – Desert Sky Mountain Water Cooperative <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n

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REGION 6<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Project Summary<\/h2>\n

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In October 2025, Desert Sky Mountain Water Cooperative (DSMWC) partnered with the Southwest Environmental Finance Center (SW EFC) project team to address health-risks posed by elevated arsenic levels. Maintaining arsenic concentrations below <\/span>EPA’s Maximum Contaminant Level<\/span><\/a> (MCL) of 10 parts per billion is critical for protecting public health and maintaining Safe Drinking Water Act compliance, as long-term exposure to elevated arsenic levels is associated with skin and circulatory effects and an increased risk of cancer. DSMWC initially anticipated that returning to compliance would require significant treatment system upgrades and associated costs, creating a substantial financial burden for the small system. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

Through a collaborative technical and organizational assessment, the project team determined that a combination of maintenance and equipment issues were limiting treatment system performance, including problems with chemical injection points, filter media, and control systems, and that targeted maintenance, rehabilitation, and operational improvements would return the system to compliance at a much lower cost than originally anticipated. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

After the assessment, DSMWC hired a new operator, and the project team worked closely with system staff to complete operation and maintenance (O&M) tasks, assess system hydraulics and controls, and develop and update standard operating procedures (SOPs) for arsenic treatment and routine operations. These interventions helped return the system to normal functionality and improve arsenic treatment. As of September 2026, the system is functioning as intended, and laboratory results indicate that DSMWC is on track to <\/span>meet their compliance deadline for reducing arsenic levels below the MCL<\/span>. (Note: Because arsenic compliance is based on a running annual average concentration based on quarterly sampling, it takes several quarters of compliant samples to meet this standard.)<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

DSMWC is continuing to strengthen its operations and protect water quality for its customers through additional improvements. These efforts include implementing a new method for treating backwash water, installing a new settling tank, and improving communication between the system\u2019s wells, filtering system control, and dosing pumps to support more reliable and autonomous operations.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

This work laid the foundation for long-term system functionality, regulatory compliance, and protects the public health of the citizens served by the cooperative at a significantly lower cost. <\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

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Project Details<\/h3>\n

Location:<\/strong> Placitas, N<\/span>ew Mexico<\/span><\/p>\n

Assistance Areas: <\/span><\/b>Operational Support & Optimization, System Rehabilitation, Compliance<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

System Overview: <\/span><\/b>Desert Sky Mountain Water Cooperative (DSMWC) <\/span>operates<\/span> a small community water system <\/span>serving approximately 1<\/span>90 people <\/span>across<\/span> 70 residences in Placitas, NM.<\/span><\/p>\n

Duration:<\/span><\/b> October 2025 \u2013 July 2026<\/span><\/p>\n

Partner(s):<\/span><\/b> Southwest EFC and <\/span>Howe Water Science<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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  • Arsenic concentrations exceeded the maximum contaminant level, resulting in a violation<\/span> <\/span><\/li>\n
  • Operations and maintenance updates needed <\/span> <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    [\/et_pb_toggle][et_pb_toggle title=”Outcomes ” open=”on” open_toggle_text_color=”#ffffff” open_toggle_background_color=”#000066″ closed_toggle_text_color=”#ffffff” closed_toggle_background_color=”#000066″ _builder_version=”4.27.9″ _module_preset=”default” title_text_color=”#ffffff” title_font=”Arial|700|||||||” body_text_color=”#ffffff” animation_style=”bounce” border_radii=”on|20px|20px|20px|20px” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n

      \n
    • DSMWC hired a new plant operator, and the project team provided on-site assistance to strengthen system operations including:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\n
        \n
      • Completing targeted O&M interventions\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
      • Developing and updating plant-specific SOPs\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
      • DSMWC is currently below the arsenic MCL in quarterly samples\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\n
          \n
        • Changes implemented due to this assistance effort have put the system on track to return to compliance with the arsenic MCL based on the running annual average of quarterly compliance samples.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
        • System returned to normal functionality<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
        • DSMWC c<\/span>ontinues to implement system improvements<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

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          \u201cMy goal as a TA provider is to determine the most effective and cost-efficient methods of helping a system maintain or achieve compliance, build technical, managerial, and financial capacity, and ensure public health and safety. The system initially thought they might have to install a brand-new treatment system at potentially $1 million but we wanted to investigate other, less-costly options with operations and maintenance improvements before going in that direction. We brought in one of our engineering contractors to provide detailed analysis and were able to systematically work through various operation and maintenance improvements from least costly to more costly until the system was back in compliance. It is so gratifying to be able to help a small system achieve its compliance goals without financial hardship. Desert Sky was such a great partner in this effort and participated throughout the effort.”<\/span><\/p>\n

          – Heather Himmelberger, Director, Southwest Environmental Finance Center<\/strong><\/p>\n

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          “Heather [SW EFC],<\/span> <\/span>I\u2019m delighted to say that with your involvement and help, the Co-Op is not only on the path to being in compliance with Arsenic Limits, but we are almost assured of making that milestone in 2026!… Kerry Howe [Howe Water Science] has been of inestimable help during the work that was done to get our facility back into full operation.”<\/span><\/p>\n

          – Brad Randall, Vice President, Desert Sky Mountain Water Cooperative<\/strong><\/p>\n

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          “Heather [SW EFC] and Kerry [Howe Water Science],<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

          Thank you again for your support and technical assistance as we move forward into more efficient operation and improved water quality for our clients.”<\/span><\/p>\n

            <\/ul>\n

            – Brad Randall, Vice President, Desert Sky Mountain Water Cooperative \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

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            COMMUNITY HIGHLIGHTTurning a Compliance Challenge into Long-Term Operational Success Placitas, NM – Desert Sky Mountain Water Cooperative  REGION 6Project SummaryIn October 2025, Desert Sky Mountain Water Cooperative (DSMWC) partnered with the Southwest Environmental Finance Center (SW EFC) project team to address health-risks posed by elevated arsenic levels. Maintaining arsenic concentrations below EPA’s Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) of 10 parts per billion is critical for protecting public health and maintaining Safe Drinking Water Act compliance, as long-term exposure to elevated arsenic levels is associated with skin and circulatory effects and an increased risk of cancer. DSMWC initially anticipated that returning to compliance would require significant treatment system upgrades and associated costs, creating a substantial financial burden for the small system.   Through a collaborative technical and organizational assessment, the project team determined that a combination of maintenance and equipment issues were limiting treatment system performance, including problems with chemical injection points, filter media, and control systems, and that targeted maintenance, rehabilitation, and operational improvements would return the system to compliance at a much lower cost than originally anticipated.   After the assessment, DSMWC hired a new operator, and the project team worked closely with system staff to complete operation and maintenance (O&M) tasks, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-247914","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t