Laredo ends boil-water notice after 11 days, turns attention to illegal connections and old pipes

Residents in Laredo are free to use their water after a boil-water warning expired on Monday. (Credit: Evan L'Roy/The Texas Tribune)

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McALLEN — Laredo residents are free to use their water after an 11-day boil-water notice expired earlier this week.

City officials announced the end of the warning and pledged to address the factors believed to have caused the city’s water crisis. Those factors include illegal connections to the city’s water system and decades-old pipes that must be replaced.

Laredo Mayor Victor D. Treviño announced the city would start an amnesty program for illegal water connections to encourage residents to come forward about possible violations after the city identified more than 200 bad or illegal connections throughout their investigation.

People who report illegal connections during the amnesty period will not face fines or penalties.

"Since there were over 200 violations found just in the central Laredo area alone, I believe that stands to reason that there are many more in the city," Treviño said during a news conference Wednesday.

The city lifted the water boil notice for the entire city on Monday after having it in place since Oct. 10. It was first put in place when E. coli was discovered in the water. A city of more than 256,000 people, Laredo is one of the most populous to issue a boil-water notice after Houston did so in 2022. It is also the latest in Texas to deal with the consequences potentially caused by outdated water infrastructure.

During the investigation, city officials identified outdated water pipes throughout the entire city as a possible factor in the water crisis.

More than 30% of their water lines are over 50 years old, said Laredo City Manager Joseph Neeb, adding they intend to replace those pipes.

"Now that we are discovering the magnitude of the issue, our goal is to help correct that," Neeb said.

Treviño reiterated plans to provide rebates for residents on their water bills and provide financial assistance to businesses. To keep the public informed, the city is also planning a series of town hall meetings, the first of which is tentatively scheduled for Nov. 7.

Amid the fallout from the contamination, the city utilities department remains in a state of flux. Arturo Garcia, the city's assistant director of utilities, resigned from his position last week.

The city declined to provide more details on Garcia's resignation but Neeb had said the utility department had been in the midst of restructuring.

To lead the department, the city council approved a six-month, $200,000 contract with Strategic Government Resources, a consulting group, to provide an interim utilities director and provide a report on how the department can improve.

They also hope to fill other needed positions including inspectors and engineers.

"Now that the emergency is over, the real work begins," Neeb said.

Reporting in the Rio Grande Valley is supported in part by the Methodist Healthcare Ministries of South Texas, Inc.