LIVING OVER THE AQUIFER: WATER, POLLUTION AND INEQUALITY IN ALBUQUERQUE'S SOUTH VALLEY

Water and Infrastructure in the South Valley

Location: South Valley, Bernalillo County, New MexicoPrimary Issues: Drinking Water, Groundwater Contamination, Septic Systems and InfrastructureReporting: Imperial News Network

Just south of central Albuquerque lies a community whose relationship with water tells a larger story about infrastructure, industry, poverty and environmental justice in New Mexico.

The South Valley is one of the Albuquerque area's oldest and most culturally distinctive communities. Parts of it remain agricultural and semi-rural, with acequias, small farms and families whose connections to the valley stretch back generations.

But portions of the unincorporated South Valley have historically depended upon private groundwater wells and septic systems rather than the municipal water and sewer infrastructure available throughout much of metropolitan Albuquerque.

Today, government agencies are spending millions of dollars to change that.

WATER WELLS AND SEPTIC SYSTEMS

A Community Still Waiting for Infrastructure

A U.S. Geological Survey study of the South Valley describes its southern portion as more rural than metropolitan Albuquerque and notes that residences there rely upon groundwater wells and septic systems rather than city water and sewer.

The study estimated approximately 2,100 permitted septic systems and another 980 unpermitted systems in the South Valley based upon Bernalillo County wastewater-atlas information.

That matters because private wells and septic systems can exist in close proximity.

Bernalillo County planning materials have identified nitrates from septic systems, naturally occurring arsenic and industrial contamination as concerns in unincorporated areas.

For the South Valley specifically, county materials have identified contaminants of concern including nitrates, arsenic, fecal-coliform bacteria and synthetic chemicals.

A HISTORY OF GROUNDWATER CONTAMINATION

The Mountain View Community

Groundwater contamination has been part of the South Valley's history for decades.

A published case study of Albuquerque's Mountain View community reports that groundwater nitrate contamination was discovered there during the 1960s.

Residents were initially encouraged to drill deeper wells.

The situation became considerably more serious in 1984, when a child was poisoned and hospitalized with methemoglobinemia, commonly known as “blue baby syndrome.”

Most residents were subsequently placed on nearby municipal water, according to the study.

The episode demonstrated why access to basic water infrastructure can become an environmental-justice issue.

Having running water does not necessarily mean a household has the same protections as a home connected to a monitored public drinking-water system.

THE SOUTH VALLEY SUPERFUND SITE

Decades of Industrial Contamination

The South Valley also contains a federal Superfund site associated with historic industrial contamination.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency identifies the South Valley Superfund site as being located in an industrial area of southern Albuquerque.

The site includes two principal areas: the former Air Force Plant 83 site and the Univar site.

Groundwater contamination became serious enough that Albuquerque removed wells contaminated with volatile organic compounds from service in 1981.

The EPA identifies drinking contaminated groundwater as the greatest potential health risk historically associated with the site.

The agency currently reports that exposure pathways capable of producing unacceptable risks are being controlled and that there are no private wells within the area affected by the site's contamination.

The existence of the Superfund site therefore does not mean every South Valley resident is currently drinking contaminated water.

It does, however, form an important part of the South Valley's history of environmental and industrial problems.

THE RIO GRANDE

Water-Quality Concerns Above Ground

Groundwater is not the South Valley's only water concern.

The U.S. Geological Survey has studied E. coli and fecal bacteria in the Rio Grande through the South Valley.

Researchers examined an impaired section of the river to determine concentrations and potential sources of fecal-origin bacteria and to help identify ways of reducing E. coli contamination.

Separate USGS monitoring of the McEwen storm-drainage pond in the South Valley found that bacteria was the parameter that frequently exceeded New Mexico water-quality standards during the study.

For a community where the Rio Grande, acequias, agriculture and groundwater remain closely connected to the surrounding landscape, water quality has implications beyond individual household wells.

WATER IS NOT THE ONLY PROBLEM

Industry and Environmental Burdens

The South Valley's environmental concerns extend beyond water.

Mountain View has long existed alongside substantial industrial activity.

The area includes or has included asphalt operations, energy infrastructure, wastewater-related facilities and other industrial uses.

Residents have pushed for stronger environmental protections because of the cumulative effects of industrial activity around their community.

The New Mexico Environment Department identified Mountain View as an “overburdened area” as far back as 2004.

The South Valley therefore faces problems that can overlap: incomplete water infrastructure, historic groundwater contamination, industrial activity, air-quality concerns and economic disadvantage.

Looking at each issue separately can obscure the cumulative burden experienced by people living in the community.

SOUTH VALLEY DRINKING WATER PROJECT

Millions of Dollars for New Infrastructure

There has been progress.

Bernalillo County's federal recovery-funding plan includes $8 million for phases 8 and 9 of the South Valley Drinking Water Project.

The county describes the South Valley as a disadvantaged community that remains substantially dependent upon individual private domestic wells.

County documents acknowledge that these wells can be expensive to install and maintain and can experience water-quality problems associated with septic-system impacts upon the shallow groundwater aquifer.

The project is intended to expand access to potable drinking water to several hundred additional residents.

In 2026, the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority also moved forward with another $1.125 million state appropriation for South Valley water and wastewater system improvements, including planning, design, construction and expansion.

For households that have waited years for infrastructure already available elsewhere in metropolitan Albuquerque, those projects represent access to a basic public service.

ALBUQUERQUE'S PUBLIC WATER SYSTEM

An Important Distinction

Concerns involving private South Valley wells should not be confused with the quality of water distributed through the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority's public system.

The Water Authority supplies its service area using both groundwater from the Santa Fe Group Aquifer and surface water from the San Juan-Chama Drinking Water Project.

The Authority publishes annual water-quality reports and reports maintaining compliance with the federal 10-parts-per-billion maximum contaminant level for arsenic through selective well pumping, blending and treatment.

Its wastewater network contains approximately 2,400 miles of sewer lines, ultimately carrying wastewater to the Southside Water Reclamation Plant for treatment.

The larger South Valley issue is that historically not every household has had equal access to those systems.

AN INFRASTRUCTURE AND EQUITY PROBLEM

The story of water in Albuquerque's South Valley is more complicated than simply saying the community has “bad water.”

Some residents receive public water. Others have historically depended upon private wells. Specific groundwater contamination sites have been identified and managed. Municipal water is monitored. New infrastructure is being constructed.

But the larger question remains.

Why did a community immediately beside New Mexico's largest city enter the twenty-first century with significant areas still dependent upon individual wells and septic systems while simultaneously living amid documented groundwater, industrial and environmental concerns?

That question connects water to the broader history of the South Valley — involving infrastructure investment, land use, industrial development, environmental justice and access to public services.

The millions of dollars now being invested in South Valley water and wastewater infrastructure are meaningful.

But those investments also demonstrate how much work remained to be done.

For South Valley residents, clean water is not an environmental luxury.

It is infrastructure.

And it is something every community should be able to expect when the tap is turned on.

IMPERIAL NEWS NETWORK

INN | NEW MEXICO