On the edge of the West Texas oilfield, people in the tiny town of Toyah are once again having to boil their water before drinking it.
It's nothing new for locals, who previously spent six years on a boil water notice before it was finally lifted in July 2024.
Longtime Toyah resident Elida 'Angel' Machuca, who was initially skeptical that the water was safe, said her family actually started to feel comfortable using the water during the months-long period without the boil notice.
"We were using the water to take showers," she said. "We were a little at ease. It wasn't like before."
But the town's longstanding water issues resurfaced earlier this year, when a new boil water notice went into effect on May 10, the result of the City of Toyah no longer having a licensed water operator. The resignation of Brandie Baker — the city's previous operator who strived for years to obtain the kind of license needed to run the water treatment plant — meant the water quality was again at risk.
Now, officials are seeking new solutions like a groundwater well to alleviate the ongoing problem.
The city is currently paying $18,000 to $23,000 a month from its rainy day fund to haul in treated water from Pecos, according to Mayor Misty Begay, who has been in office since May.
Toyah's yearslong struggle to provide clean water to its residents has led some locals to distrust city officials and in 2022 prompted the Texas Attorney General's office to file a lawsuit against the city at the request of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ.) The lawsuit is ongoing.
Toyah's water system serves around 90 people, including two RV parks, according to an Oct. 31 investigative report from the TCEQ obtained by Marfa Public Radio. Last year, Toyah made national headlines when a geyser suddenly erupted from an abandoned oil and gas well.
Machuca and Mira Monton, another resident who spoke to Marfa Public Radio, said the municipal water has recently appeared yellow-brown, and at times has even smelled sulfuric. Monton, who has young children and recently moved to Toyah, said her family has taken to showering in Pecos at the gym or in hotels.
"If push comes to shove — if we had to shower in Toyah in our RV — it was in and out real quick," she said.
Monton said her husband is currently being treated for a rash on his back that they believe came from Toyah's municipal water.
"The doctor, the first thing he asked him was if he had been in some dirty water, or lake water, and my husband was like 'just Toyah water,'" she said.
Mayor Begay said the reason the water appeared discolored recently was that the city was flushing the water lines, a routine procedure that had not been done in "some time." According to the TCEQ, flushing helps keep disinfectants potent and removes accumulated sediment from water mains. Begay said the delay in flushing was, in part, due to limited staffing resources."We finally had some help, some physical help with flushing, and commenced to flush the water lines," she said. "[TCEQ] suggested that we do this once a month, once every other month if needed, just to keep the water circulated and fresh in those lines and properly chlorinated."
On October 24, TCEQ visited Toyah unannounced to investigate a complaint they had received days prior about the poor water quality, according to the recent report. The agency documented that water coming from a faucet at the Methodist Church in town was yellowish with "visible white suspended solids." Agency staffers spoke to Begay, who told them flushing was initiated due to the fact that a recent coliform test — which detects bacteria — had failed for the second month in a row. A log provided by the city to TCEQ showed around 80,800 gallons of water was flushed between October 19 and 26.
The city has 64 active violations which have been referred to the attorney general, according to the recent investigative report from the TCEQ. The Texas Attorney General's office did not respond to a request for comment about the status of the lawsuit, but the city could face fines or other regulatory actions as a result.
Begay said she recently met with TCEQ officials to try and foster a better relationship with the state moving forward.
"I wanted to let them know that I intend to be proactive and want to do everything that we can to be in compliance to the best of our abilities," she said.
TCEQ representatives are "actively working with the city to help them obtain a licensed operator and provide educational and technical assistance," an agency spokesperson said. The city is seeking to hire a new water operator, and is also in talks with environmental consultants who could potentially provide those services, Begay said.
Begay is also in contact with Reeves County officials about locating land to drill a well — at "little to no cost" to the city, she said — that could provide Toyah with groundwater in the future. Unlike the majority of West Texas cities, Toyah's water supply comes from a lake in the Davis Mountains rather than a well.
"We're in a lot of prayer, and we're very hopeful that these talks and planning that we're doing to work towards a groundwater well will be fruitful," Begay said.
The mayor said the local groundwater operator the town needs would require less qualifications than the surface water operator. The water treatment plant, she said, has been an undue burden on the city, which struggles to attract and keep qualified water operators.
"Because of the package plant that we have that was put in way back in about 2002, we're still required to have the same operators that a larger entity like Pecos or Odessa-Midland, even Dallas-Fort Worth would have, and that's very hard for a small community like ours," Begay said.
The nature of the previous water operator's departure is the latest in a string of mismanagement concerns expressed by some citizens that keep a close eye on city hall.
Baker told Marfa Public Radio that she resigned because the city was supposed to be deducting childcare payments from her paycheck and sending them to the state, a common practice referred to as wage withholding. But Baker claims $16,000 worth of payments never actually made it to the attorney general's office.
Baker said she was still willing to work for the city on a contract basis until she felt intentionally ousted by Begay. Begay did not respond to a request for comment about Baker's allegations.
Two Toyah City Council members have resigned since Baker left and the boil water notice was reissued, with one citing an inability to work with Mayor Begay.
Machuca said she questions whether the city's current leaders are professional enough to tackle the ongoing water issues given that they appear to be breaking basic rules of governance. At issue is the fact that Naomi Machuca — Angel Machuca's cousin — is serving as both the town's city secretary and mayor pro tem. Texas law generally prohibits public servants from dual-office holding. Begay claims that city council members previously worked with the city attorney to pass a resolution allowing the arrangement, and because Machuca is only being paid to be the city secretary, the situation is legal.
Machuca said small town politics should no longer be getting in the way of the city providing safe water to its residents.
"Moving forward, they need to set aside personal feelings and think about the major priority, which is the safety of the drinking water and keeping the citizen's health safe," she said.
Begay acknowledged mismanagement of the water treatment plant has taken place in the past, but said she's working hard to come into compliance so that locals feel "safe and secure." She encouraged people to volunteer, lend equipment, and share networking ideas — anything that can help Toyah improve.
"I'm not saying that those things didn't happen," Begay said. "I know that some of those things did happen, regrettably. I can just say that I'm here to try and help this community to the extent that I can try and move forward."
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