Upper Ranchitos Mdwcasw, NM
Exceeded the action level in the past
Latest 90th-percentile lead: reported as 0 (not detected) (monitoring period 2025-2025). The federal action level is 15 ppb today and drops to 10 ppb in Nov 2027; EPA's health goal is 0. The latest result is under the action level, but this system has gone over 15 ppb before. Lead comes from pipes, not the source water, so a home with a lead service line can still be exposed. Test your own tap.
Upper Ranchitos Mdwcasw at a glance
Upper Ranchitos Mdwcasw serves about 222 people through 78 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: NM3575129; phone on file: 575-779-9220. Call that number and ask whether your address has a lead, galvanized or unknown service line.
Lead results over time
Against the period ending 2024 (1 ppb) the latest result is about the same. The highest 90th-percentile result EPA holds for Upper Ranchitos Mdwcasw is 21 ppb across 9 monitoring periods, 3 of them over the 15 ppb action level.
| Period ending | 90th-percentile lead |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 0 (not detected) |
| 2024 | 1 ppb |
| 2023 | 1 ppb |
| 2023 | 21 ppb over 15 |
| 2023 | 1 ppb |
| 2022 | 21 ppb over 15 |
| 2021 | 21 ppb over 15 |
| 2020 | 2 ppb |
| 2016 | 1 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. Upper Ranchitos Mdwcasw's reported as 0 (not detected) sits at the 13th percentile in New Mexico and the 16th nationally (higher means more lead). Systems reporting 0 tie at the bottom, so the rank mostly reflects size among them.
Neighbouring systems
41 other systems share Taos County; 35 of them have a higher latest lead result than Upper Ranchitos Mdwcasw. 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 |
Next steps for Taos, NM
Test your own tap with a certified lab first-draw sample; Taos, 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 Upper Ranchitos Mdwcasw 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. Why an old exceedance still matters: over the limit before, under it now.