Mancos Rural Water main breaks; about 653 customers without water
Montezuma County Emergency Management says the broken line has left about 653 rural water customers around Mancos with no water and no estimate for repairs. Drinking water is available at a distribution center at Mancos Brewery, and the county says water on your property or from your faucets must be boiled before use.
The main line of Mancos Rural Water is broken, and about 653 rural water customers around Mancos are without water, Montezuma County Emergency Management said in an emergency alert sent at 12:14 p.m. Wednesday. The county says it is “unknown when this will be repaired.”
Graphic: Cortez Current. Source: Montezuma County Emergency Management
Where to get water
The county has opened a water distribution center at Mancos Brewery, where it says there is potable water. It is also working on getting untreated water to the site for flushing toilets. The alert calls the location Mancos Brewery; Mancos Brewing Co. is at 484 E. Frontage Road.
The Town of Mancos’s own water system is not affected. The alert says the town “has a working water supply including the water dock if you need water for toilets or to drink.”
Boil it first
The alert reminds affected customers that “any water on your property or coming out of your faucets needs to be boiled before using.”
It also asks them to make sure their water heater is turned off, and to flush their lines before turning it back on.
How to help
The county is asking for volunteers with large water tanks to bring untreated water to the distribution point and help hand it out.
It also needs containers so people can carry water home, and says it will take donations of five-gallon buckets with lids and of drinking water.
What the alert does not say
The alert does not say where the line broke or what caused it, which neighborhoods or roads are affected, or what hours the distribution center is open. It gives no phone number and no separate drop-off point for donations.
The break comes days after flooding on the Mancos River. The Town of Mancos says its treated water is safe to drink, but it has asked residents to conserve water while flood sediment clears from its treatment system, which it put at about two weeks on November 2. The county’s alert does not connect the break to the flooding.
For an emergency, call 911.
Source: Montezuma County Emergency Alert System, “Mancos Rural water mainline broken,” sent by Montezuma County Emergency Management on November 4, 2026, at 12:14 p.m.