Water: Tex-Mex Blues

It’s not just a problem in developing countries; nearly 90,000 people living along the Texas-Mexico border are thought to live without access to running water.

An estimated tens of thousands more have running water, but the quality is so poor it poses grave public health risks. For example, in one village called Vinton, people are more likely than their neighbors to have skin problems and gastrointestinal issues, and researchers believe that high levels of arsenic, E. coli and other contaminants found in their drinking water are responsible.

Most Texans without running water live in colonias, unincorporated communities of cheap housing built by developers who took advantage of poor residents along the border without delivering basics like water & sewer services. Most of the people in colonias are Hispanics with low incomes and little political clout.
Texas Tribune