Lower Des Montes Mdwca, NM
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 3.8 ppb (monitoring period 2026-2026). The federal action level is 15 ppb today and drops to 10 ppb in Nov 2027; EPA's health goal is 0. Lead was measured in sampled homes but the 90th percentile is under both action levels. EPA's health goal for lead is zero, so test your own tap if your home was built before 1986 or anyone in it is pregnant or a young child.
Who runs the water here
Lower Des Montes Mdwca serves about 319 people through 112 service connections, which makes it a very small system under EPA's size classes. It is owned by a local government (city, town, county or district) and draws groundwater, in Taos County, New Mexico. EPA system ID: NM3574729; phone on file: 575-776-3257. They can tell you what your service line is made of and whether they pay to replace it.
Lead results over time
That is down 2.2 ppb from 6 ppb in the period ending 2024. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Lower Des Montes Mdwca is 6 ppb across 6 monitoring periods, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2026 | 3.8 ppb |
| 2024 | 6 ppb |
| 2022 | 6 ppb |
| 2019 | 3.3 ppb |
| 2018 | 3.3 ppb |
| 2016 | 1 ppb |
How Lower Des Montes Mdwca compares
Of the 504 New Mexico systems with a lead result, the median latest reading is 1.4 ppb; 14 are over 15 ppb right now and 46 have gone over at some point. Lower Des Montes Mdwca's 3.8 ppb sits at the 81st percentile in New Mexico and the 86th nationally (higher means more lead).
Other water systems in Taos County
41 other systems share Taos County; 10 of them have a higher latest lead result than Lower Des Montes Mdwca. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Taos Municipal Water System | 5,528 | 5 ppb |
| Questa Water System | 2,337 | 3.3 ppb |
| El Prado Water & Sanitation District | 1,076 | 7 ppb |
| Village Of Taos Ski Valley | 1,025 | 2.6 ppb |
| Llano Quemado Mdwca | 800 | 2 ppb |
| Ranchos De Taos Mdwca | 750 | 2.7 ppb |
| Talpa Mdwca | 700 | 2.2 ppb |
| Red River Water System | 679 | - |
| Chamisal Mdwca | 550 | 1.7 ppb |
| Penasco Mdwca | 549 | 5.3 ppb |
What to do in your house
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Arroyo Seco, NM may offer free or low-cost kits through the utility. If your own line is lead, replacing the private side runs about $1,200-$12,300 (EPA average about $4,700). Ask Lower Des Montes Mdwca whether it covers that cost before hiring anyone - many utilities now do.
These figures describe homes the utility sampled, not your tap. Only your service line record or a test of your own water answers the question for your house. Why sampled homes are the worst-case ones is in the guide to reading the number. Systems that went over once often dip back under; here is what that means.