El Paso Water purchased a 300-acre Upper Valley site last month to preserve open space, but didn’t inspect a 117-year-old dam on the property that is now in danger of breaching and flooding nearby areas, utility officials said Friday in response to questions from El Paso Matters.
“Structural assessments of the dam were not conducted as part of the acquisition process,” El Paso Water spokesperson Denise Parra said. “After taking ownership, the EPWater Stormwater team identified the hazardous condition of the dam and immediately began to address structural issues.”
The dam is in an area known as Cement Lake or Portland Cement Reservoir, between Interstate 10 and Paisano Drive. The site was previously used by companies that made cement…