Your Drinking Water

Sources

Albuquerque and Bernalillo County rely on groundwater from the Santa Fe Group Aquifer and surface water from the San Juan-Chama Drinking Water Project. Groundwater wells combine with the San Juan-Chama project to produce about 32 billion gallons of drinking water for the Water Authority’s service area every year.

Water Quality Report

Information on water quality is provided periodically to the public via our annual Water Quality Report. Information on our Cross-Connection program, which helps prevent contamination of the water in your household pipes, can be found here.

It is the Water Authority’s job to safeguard the quality of our drinking water while working to ensure a reliable long-term supply for our community. If you have a question or concern about the water quality at your home or business, please email waterquality@abcwua.org or call 842-WATR option 1 to speak with staff in the Communication Center. You may be able to troubleshoot some water quality issues on your own; check out the Alameda County (California) Water District website for some handy tips.

Source Water Protection

The Water Authority’s Source Water Protection Program is part of the agency’s draft Rivers and Aquifers Protection Plan, the 2018 updated version of the Water Quality Protection Policy and Action Plan, which establishes program goals, protection measures, and recommendations. The program also includes continuation of the Water Authority’s membership on Albuquerque’s Water Protection Advisory Board, which advises local governments on threats to our sources of drinking water.  For more information on local source-water protection efforts, an educational video is available for viewing on YouTube: https://youtu.be/J5VR2_rMcw4.

Reliability of Supply

Plans for ensuring a long-term supply center around a four-fold strategy involving conservation, aquifer storage and recovery, re-use, and the San Juan-Chama Drinking Water Project. Details are available in our WATER 2120 Resource Management Plan.  Details of Water Authority plans for protecting water resources during periods of drought can be found in our Drought Demand Reduction Plan.