Water board members on Wednesday will consider an ordinance to require fluoridation of Albuquerque’s drinking water.

Albuquerque-Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority will take up the issue at 5 p.m. at the Albuquerque/Bernalillo County Government Center, One Civic Plaza, basement chamber.

Albuquerque began fluoridation after a 57 percent majority of city voters supported the practice in a November 1970 election. Voters that year approved an ordinance to add fluoride to the city’s water supply, by a vote of 25,689 to 19,526.

A state District Court judge upheld the ordinance in 1972 after opponents filed at least two lawsuits.

But the issue has reignited since 2011 when staff members at the Albuquerque-Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority ended the 39-year practice of adding fluoride to the water supply to help prevent tooth decay.

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