AWWA JAW64841

The growing desert community of El Paso faced challenges in terms of identifying water supplies to meet demands and support the economy despite the fact that the community might not be able to afford the cost of infrastructure construction and repairs. This article describes how El Paso Water Utilities (EPWU) looked critically at its operations and made improvements, developed a rate structure that supported major goals such as conserving water, ensured that a safe and reliable water supply was available well into the future, and made the resource commitments necessary to involve the public and actively communicate with the community. EPWU learned that development of a sustainable water supply program requires planning and communicating about the value of water so the community will support the infrastructure investments it takes for this public-private partnership to continue to succeed.