Burn scar flooding puts Las Vegas water supply at risk, halts 4th of July Fiestas

LAS VEGAS, N.M. — Officials in Las Vegas say recent burn scar flooding is threatening the city’s water supply.

The Gallinas River was overflowing Friday. City leaders say all that water is compromised because of the ash and debris from the Hermit’s Peak/Calf Canyon Fire burn scar. The Mayor of Las Vegas says they’re implementing extreme water conservation measures until they can find a solution.

“Due to the limited amount of treated water, all nonessential businesses have been asked to close until further notice. Essential services will remain open. For example, hospitals, medical services, grocery stores, gas stations, daycare services, feed stores, hardware stores, and government services. I understand this is not the ideal situation, but we have no choice,” Mayor David Romero said.

Mayor Romero said he asked the state for more resources. In the meantime, people should limit water usage to essential needs only.

The city will also hand out cases of water to help keep usage low. The water is on a first-come, first-served basis. They handed out water Tuesday until 2 p.m. at Robertson High School.

In the wake of the flooding, the city also canceled the 4th of July Fiestas. They were set for July 4-7.

Officials posted a statement on social media stating, in part:

“The current water crisis is the result of a cascading flood event of the Hermit’s Peak/Calf Canyon Fire and is currently affecting the entire City of Las Vegas and surrounding areas, approximately 15,000 people. The 4th of July Fiestas is one of our greatest traditions, easily the largest and most popular event our community hosts and we pride ourselves in being able to be successful with this event.

Unfortunately, additional tourism of this nature would be detrimental to our community at this time. It has been estimated upward of 11,000 additional people would be traveling into our community if this event was to be held.

Over the past 48 hours, even with many businesses closed, the limited amount of water production has not been enough to meet our current demand, even with all restrictions in place. We simply cannot sustain an event of this stature.”