"An estimated 500,000 people live in thousands of colonias along the Texas-Mexico border. Largely built between the 1950s and 1980s, these communities have been promised water — but it has never come."
"Maria Martínez constantly calculates how much water is left in the 2,000-gallon tank that sits outside her home near El Paso.
When there’s less than 600 gallons, it’s time to place an order. A few loads of laundry and dirty dishes will use every last drop.
For the last 15 years — since Martínez moved to Colonia Hueco Tanks, a majority low-income Latino community outside the city limits — she has longed for running water.
“Aquí nunca habido agua,” Martínez said in Spanish. “Here there’s never been water.”
Colonia communities, like hers along the Texas-Mexico border, trace back to the 1950s and 1960s, when developers purchased less desirable tracts of land for cheap. These lands were susceptible to floods and not conducive for agriculture."
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