"No one knows how much water sits beneath the desert of Terlingua. Residents worry their wells will run dry, as developers and local officials cheer the tourism boom."

"TERLINGUA — A plume of dust trailed the pickup truck that drove through a maze of caliche roads. The driver and passenger were familiar with the route. Rick and Georganne Bradbury, husband and wife, have navigated it twice a month for four years to deliver hundreds of gallons of water to one of their favorite customers, an art gallery manager with three kids.

Coffee in hand, that customer, Shannon Montague, approached the water haulers from the entrance of her single-wide trailer home to greet them.

Rick pulled out a 40-foot hose, hooking one end to a gasoline-powered pump while Georganne dangled the other, a custom-made spout, inside Montague’s water tank. The engine sputtered to life, gushing water until it replenished the 750-gallon tank.

“What would we do without you?” Montague said."

Carlos Nogueras Ramos and Eli Hartman report for the Texas Tribune with graphics by Carla Astudillo June 6, 2024. [2]