Pipe crack shuts down Portales water

Staff report

Portales' water supply will be shut off for an unknown amount of time as of 4 p.m. today.

Students from Portales High School, Valencia Elementary and James Elementary were sent home just before noon today due to lack of water.

During construction on the reuse pipeline for the new wastewater plant, a worker contracted with the city of Portales accidentally cracked a city water line.

Public works Director John DeSha said city crews are prepared to work through the entire night to resolve the problem but how long it will take to fix the issue is unknown.

School officials said as far as they know, the schools will resume classes tomorrow.