Water Rights

El Paso Water Utilities Leases Rights to Rio Grande Surface Water. In 1962, the EPWU entered into a contract with the El Paso County Water Improvement District No. 1 for leasing rights to irrigation water from property owners in the Upper Valley, Serial and Ysleta Grants of El Paso County.

The El Paso Water Utilities (EPWU) provides a one-time cash compensation to lease rights to surface water from property owners in the Upper Valley, Serial and Ysleta Grants in El Paso County who own parcels 2.00 acres or less in size inside the City limits. The leases are for 75 years, and under the terms of the agreement EPWU pays all water rights taxes to the irrigation district and cleans that section of a community ditch associated with a leased property. All leases are carried with the property to successive owners, and are filed at the County Clerk's Office. At the end of the 75 year term, the surface water right reverts back to the property owner of record. Cash compensation offered is a one-time payment of $4,500.00 per acre (payment is prorated for actual acreage) for long term leases of rights to raw surface water, with a $765.00 minimum compensation for parcels of 0.17 acre or less. Compensation is paid upon approval of the leases by the District. The annual water rights tax savings available to landowners through leasing is approximately $30.00 per acre.

The figure below shows the land areas along the Rio Grande River within the City limits that have rights to raw, or untreated, irrigation water from the Rio Grande Project.

Water Rights Map

El Paso has been obtaining most of its water supply from ground water from the Hueco Bolson. Because of concerns that the Hueco someday would be depleted, El Paso completed a Water Resource Management Plan in 1991. The Plan calls for increased use of the Rio Grande, which mandates that the EPWU acquire additional rights to surface water. Most areas in El Paso can be served by both surface water and ground water, which is desirable for backup and redundancy. In effect, all water users in the city benefit from EPWU acquiring additional surface water rights.