The Lower Valley Water District (LVWD), created as a municipal utility district in 1986, is located in the southeastern portion of El Paso County, Texas. Shortly after World War II, the Ysleta Independent Water District was formed following citizens concerns that the water interests of the community of the lower valley were being ignored. In the late 1960s, the El Paso Water Utilities (EPWU) was able to envelope this governmental entity within its microcosm in the promise to better provide water to the lower valley. The failure to fulfill this promise led to a resurgence in the mid 1980s to bring back an autonomous water district to the lower valley. The LVWD has since served the communities of San Elizario, Socorro, Clint and Horizon City. The present population under the auspices of the LVWD is approximately 34,000. A population of 70,559 is projected by the year 2015.

In 1987, an estimated one-third of this segmented population was connected to a conventional water system owned and regulated by the LVWD. The remaining two-thirds of the population obtained their potable water from privately-owned shallow wells or from private water haulers. At the time, a conventional wastewater system did not exist in the area with a majority of the residents using individual septic systems. Unfortunately, a huge number of the septic systems placed were improperly designed and constructed, thus causing the contamination of the water table and the spread of disease in the area.

For the past decade, the LVWD has maintained an aggressive lobbying campaign targeting local, state, and federal agencies for funds to construct an adequate water and wastewater system. In 1987, the LVWD successfully received a research and planning grant from the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) to prepare a Water and Wastewater Management Plan for El Paso County. This management plan was completed in May of 1988 and presented a method for providing water and wastewater service by the year 2010 to the residents of El Paso County who live in the outlying areas of the City of El Paso. The plan presented existing conditions including: water resources, population, water and wastewater needs, management agencies, and special conditions. It also set goals, criteria, and priorities and used these in evaluating various water and wastewater alternatives. In addition, the plan recommended feasible methods for providing water and wastewater services to these areas; it described the facilities required; provided schedules for implementation of the facilities; provided estimates for implementation of the services; and, offered methods for financing and managing the water and wastewater systems. The plan recommended that the EPWU and the areas east of El Paso have a joint water treatment plant. Furthermore, the EPWU would provide contract treatment for wastewater.

After completion and approval of the Water and Wastewater Management Plan, the LVWD applied for additional funds from the TWDB to design and construct a water and wastewater system for the City of Socorro in accordance with the recommendations detailed in the management plan. The TWDB utilized its financial resources under the State Water Pollution Control Revolving Fund (SRF) Program to establish the Socorro wastewater system. Under the TWDB’s permanent rules, 31 TAC 375.35, an environmental review consistent with the National Environmental Policy Act was required for the project. The LVWD proceeded with the preparation of a Facility Engineering Plan and an Environmental Information Document, which were completed and approved by the TWDB in 1989. The Facility Engineering Plan called for the construction of a conventional wastewater system including major interceptor lines, collector lines and eleven lift stations which would ultimately carry the wastewater flows from this area to the EPWU Socorro Treatment Plant. The TWDB issued a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) on June 11, 1990, as a result of the environmental review for this project.

During the same period, the United States Department of the Interior - Bureau of Reclamation assisted the LVWD in the preparation of an Environmental Assessment in relation to a water delivery plan for the LVWD area. The assessment concluded that the best alternative for the area was to deliver potable water from a water treatment plant which would treat up to forty million gallons per day of Rio Grande surface water. The plant would be built near the El Paso and Socorro city limits. The plant would be managed by the EPWU. The United States Department of the Interior - Bureau of Reclamation, Upper Colorado region issued a FONSI on March 14, 1990 as a result of the environmental assessment performed for the Water Delivery Plan for the LVWD.

In 1992, the LVWD authorized the addition of seven subdivisions to the wastewater project as set forth in the 1989 Socorro Facilities Engineering Plan. The subdivisions included Hacienda Del Valle #1 and #2, Rancho Miravel, Santa Martina #2, El Gran Valle #1 and #2 and Bejar Estates. Due to the substantial additions to the previous project, the TWDB requested that the 1989 Socorro Facility Engineering Plan and EID be revised. In order to avoid confusion by preparing addenda to the previous reports, complete stand alone Facility Engineering Plans and EIDs were prepared for the City of Socorro and the Community of San Elizario. A separate Facility Engineering Plan and EID were prepared for the San Elizario area since it was in a separate sewer service area designated by the Water Quality Management Plan. The revised Socorro and San Elizario Facility Plans and EIDs were approved by the TWDB which issued a FONSI for the San Elizario area on December 8, 1993 and a FONSI for the Socorro area on December 10, 1993. The revised Facility Engineering Plans proposed the phasing of the full project into three parts. The first phase provided for the construction of a water supply system for several colonias in the City of Socorro. The second phase consisted of the construction of a wastewater collection system and a water supply for a portion of the City of Socorro. The third phase directed the construction of a wastewater system for the remaining portion of the City of Socorro and a portion of San Elizario.

During the planning and design phase of the aforementioned projects, several changes were proposed. First, installation of the interceptors and transmission mains were changed from roadways to agriculture drains because of their narrow width as well as to reduce the amount of pavement replacement required. Second, the wastewater system was redesigned to reduce the number of lift stations from eleven to eight. Third, the design target year was changed from 2010 to 2015 to allow for a 20-year period. Fourth, the pressure zone for this area was isolated to lessen high pressures in the system and to reduce energy costs associated with the supply of water to the pressure zone. As a result, the project will also accommodate flows from the Sparks Subdivision as requested by the TWDB and wastewater flows will be directed to the Roberto Bustamante Wastewater Treatment Plant instead of the Socorro Treatment Plant. Amendments to the 1993 Facility Engineering Plans and EIDs were prepared in 1995 to address these changes. The TWDB reviewed and approved the amendments and issued an amendment to the December 10, 1993 San Elizario FONSI on January 12, 1996.

The 1995 Facility Plans called for the extension of distribution and transmission lines ranging in size from 8-inches to 24-inches as part of the Phase II Wastewater System Project. This project outlined for the purchase of the existing water system from the EPWU, improvements to the Sparks Subdivision (financed outside of the TWDB), and the installation of collector and interceptor lines ranging in size from 8-inches to 42-inches and the installation of two lift stations in a tier formation which eventually would discharge into the Roberto Bustamante Treatment Plant. The Phase III Wastewater System Project proposed for the extension of distribution and transmission lines ranging in size from 8-inches to 36-inches. This project also detailed for the installation of a 15,250-gpm capacity booster station at the Jonathan Rogers Treatment Plant site and a 3-MG storage tank designed to create a separate pressure zone for the lower valley area. The Phase III Wastewater System Project envisioned the installation of collector and interceptor lines ranging in size from 8-inches to 36-inches and the installation of six lift stations in a tier formation which will eventually discharge into the Roberto Bustamante Treatment Plant. The water and wastewater systems follow the recommendations provided in the 1988 Water and Wastewater Management Plan. These systems will serve 70,559 people (approximately 15,000 connections) by the year 2015.

Going into the new millennium, the LVWD aims at successfully cooperating with local, state and federal governmental entities to ensure that all of the citizens of El Paso County have equitable access to water and sewage service. This goal is the central tenet in which the LVWD was founded upon, and the primary principle on which to take action.