ESTANCIA, N.M. — The town of Estancia, New Mexico, has declared a water emergency and is hauling in water to fill its pipes. Estancia's Board of Trustees passed a vote of no confidence in Mayor Runnel Riley during a Tuesday evening meeting, after which Riley took a leave of absence.

The town has reduced water sales to the Torrance County Detention Facility, its largest commercial water customer. The facility, a federal immigration center run by CoreCivic, is trucking in water and has implemented contingency plans. Ryan Gustin, senior public affairs director at CoreCivic, said, "Drinking water is always available within our housing units and bottled water has been provided in addition to the readily available drinking water containers." He added, "At no point have those in our care been without drinking water."

As of Saturday, 116,700 gallons of water had been delivered to Estancia by trucks. The town is meeting with CoreCivic to discuss future steps, and water supply to the facility will gradually be restored when more water becomes available. Trustees stated they do not have data available on the exact proportion of the city's water that goes to the detention facility.

The state of New Mexico provided funding for a new well in Estancia, and a 30-day bidding process for this well will open this month. State Representative Stefani Lord, a Republican representing Torrance and Bernalillo counties, said, "Just get the well finished. That is the short-term problem. There are all kinds of things we can do in the future. But for this moment, we just have to focus on getting this done." Lord also said, "I called the mayor in January. He has never returned my phone calls."

Estancia asked residents to conserve water last year due to wells not producing adequately and issued another call for conservation in 2024. The town has prohibited private citizens from setting off fireworks over the 4th of July weekend due to drought and fire risk, though the town plans to hold its own fireworks display. The Office of the State Engineer has closed the Estancia Basin to new water rights and predicts continued groundwater decline if existing rights remain in use.

Riley was elected in November 2025 by five votes, replacing the incumbent mayor. He stopped attending trustee meetings as the town's water problems worsened. Drew Goretzka, a spokesperson for the New Mexico Environment Department, said, "NMED is supporting the Town of Estancia through emergency response coordination, including requesting assistance from other state agencies to provide alternate water sources."