El Paso Water Utilities congratulates customers for significantly reducing water consumption in 2012

Annual water consumption down more than half-a-billion gallons compared to last year

Year-end water consumption tallies once again prove that El Pasoans have adopted the “Less is the New More” lifestyle – conserving water, protecting our natural resources, and living more responsibly in the Chihuahuan Desert.

§  Collectively, customers of EPWU used 637 million gallons fewer in 2012 than in 2011.

§  Individually, each El Pasoan served by EPWU used an average of 134 gallons per day in 2012, down from 139 gallons per person per day in 2011.

“Congratulations and thank you to El Pasoans for once again proving why this community is a world-wide leader in water conservation,” said EPWU Vice President John Balliew. “Living in the Chihuahuan Desert, we each have a responsibility to conserve. The less water we use today, the more we’ll have tomorrow. That’s why we say LESS is the new MORE.”

While conservation is a decades-long commitment for El Pasoans, Balliew explained the need to conserve will remain especially important in 2013. Because of drought in New Mexico and Colorado, the reservoirs on which EPWU relies for much of the city’s drinking water remain very low. Therefore, El Paso Water Utilities anticipates a severely reduced river water supply again in the New Year.

While EPWU is drilling new wells, building new pipelines, and extending the network of “purple pipes” which delivers reclaimed water for irrigation and industrial use, conservation is a key stepping stone on the path to sustainability.

Updates on the region’s on-going drought along with resources to help El Pasoans conserve can be found at EPWU’s Water Conservation Web site: LessisMoreEP.org.