Mescalero Ridge Water Co-Op, NM
Lead detected, under the action levels
Latest 90th-percentile lead: 0.5 ppb (monitoring period 2018-2020). 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
Mescalero Ridge Water Co-Op serves about 76 people through 26 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 Lea County, New Mexico. EPA system ID: NM3521913. Ask the utility on your bill for your address in their service line inventory.
Lead results over time
The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Mescalero Ridge Water Co-Op is 0.5 ppb across 1 monitoring period, none of them over 15 ppb.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2020 | 0.5 ppb |
Where this result ranks
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. Mescalero Ridge Water Co-Op's 0.5 ppb sits at the 27th percentile in New Mexico and the 43rd nationally (higher means more lead).
Nearby utilities
9 other systems share Lea County; 5 of them have a higher latest lead result than Mescalero Ridge Water Co-Op. If you are unsure which one supplies your house, the name on your water bill decides it.
| System | People | Latest lead |
|---|---|---|
| Hobbs Municipal Water Supply | 40,418 | 0.6 ppb |
| Lovington Municipal Water Supply | 13,539 | 0 (not detected) |
| Jal Water Supply System | 5,500 | 0.6 ppb |
| Eunice Water Supply System | 4,487 | 0.99 ppb |
| Tatum Municipal Water System | 948 | 1.1 ppb |
| Monument Mdwca | 279 | 0 (not detected) |
| Adobe Village | 83 | 0 (not detected) |
| Monarchy Country Estates | 52 | 3.5 ppb |
| Morwest Corporation | - | - |
What to do in your house
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Maljamar, 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 Mescalero Ridge Water Co-Op 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. The lead result guide covers how utilities pick the homes they sample. Size matters more than most people expect: small vs large water systems.