By Lee Ross
Mountain View Telegraph
The water system in Indian Hills may be suffering from more than just a case of low water pressure.
A hearing was held by the Public Regulation Commission on Friday to gather evidence about the system, which is in Torrance County roughly west of Lexco Road and south of Martinez Road.
The PRC got involved, in part, because several Indian Hills Water Co. customers have complained of water outages and insufficient water pressure since early June, but customers' apparent distrust for those who run the system may also be an issue.
"Our concern is not only low water pressure," Don Baehr, a customer who testified at the hearing, said.
He said the water company was not reading the meter correctly, and in some cases didn't read the meter at all but estimated water use.
Robert Aguilar and others also questioned the veracity of the meter readings.
He said when his neighbor's line sprung a leak, he came out to help shut the water off at the meter. When Aguilar arrived, he said the neighbor's meter was buried under several feet of dirt.
"How are they even reading the meter?" he asked. "It's a lie."
Bill Cenker said he'd been threatened with a beating by Bob Pinley, the president of the water company, during a phone conversation four months ago.
"That's the first time I'd ever laid eyes on that gentleman," Pinley said when asked about the comment in a phone interview.
Another customer said she was afraid of Pinley, but Pinley said he has "no idea why."
Carl Kirkbride, a fire chief for the Indian Hills District of the Torrance County Fire Department, complained of a different kind of threat. He said the system has changed for the worse since Indian Hills Water Co. took over several years ago. Several hydrants had low water flow, and that water is dirty and clogs the firefighting equipment, he said.
The area is east of three large fires that hit the Manzano Mountains recently, all of them within a year.
Kirkbride said the area is in the wildland-urban interface, where buildings meet the forest. If there were a fire, his crew's efforts would be slowed because they'd have to haul water from elsewhere, he said.
"Apparently whoever ran the system before you did a much better job," Kirkbride told Pinley. "I cannot rely on the water supply that is coming out of those hydrants to be even close to adequate."
Because it went on until 6 p.m., Friday's meeting will continue in Santa Fe, possibly sometime this week, according to Paul Carbajal, public information officer with the PRC. This first hearing to gather evidence may be followed by a full hearing with a hearing examiner.
Carbajal said one of the most significant items the commission will investigate is the issue of upkeep of the water system, but it will also look at concerns such as how well the water company informed customers of problems, rust and other contaminants that may interfere with water quality, and the fire safety issues in the area's Squaw Valley subdivision.
When asked about what he saw as the major focus of the hearing, Pinley said the water pressure and the issue of hard water, which he said is just the way the water is.
He said that because of the terrain in Squaw Valley, the only way to fix the water system there is by installing a large tank uphill and far away from the subdivision.
"There were 27 lots in Squaw Valley that were supposed to have drilled their own well," he said. "We didn't design (the system), put it in or even have anything to do with it at the time it was put in."
As far as informing customers, he also said some of them may not have been informed about recent water outages because many have cell phones rather than home phones and service in the area is not reliable.
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