Hispanics face serious drinking water issue along Texas border

The United States is considered an industrialized, developed nation, but some areas of the country are still experiencing very serious issues not associated with a higher global standing.

One of these issues is the availability of clean drinking water, a problem most evident in the towns of Texas along the Mexican border.

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“Some people have no idea that there’s still third-world conditions in the most powerful country in the world,” U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, a Laredo Democrat whose constituents live in some of the worst conditions, told The Texas Tribune.

According to a report from the publication, as many as 90,000 people along the Texas-Mexico border do not have running water, and countless others have water that is not safe enough to drink. Most of these residents are Hispanics, who, due to limited funds, were forced to move into housing developments in undesirable locations on land no one else wanted.

These areas  have water, but the water is full of contaminants, so much so that many residents experience significant health issues as a result. Researchers investigating illnesses in the village of Vinton, just outside El Paso, found high levels of arsenic, salt, E. coli and other contaminants in the drinking water were most likely causing the gastrointestinal and skin issues frequently found among residents.

“We conclude that current water sources do not meet drinking water standards in some cases and there is a risk of water scarcity in the short-term due to prolonged drought in the region,” stated the official investigative report. “El Paso Water Utilities draws water from multiple sources, includingdeeper and reliable aquifers, keeps adequate water pressure, and complies with drinking water standards. This supplier is more reliable and dependable for the future and increases trust in piped water that can result in less bottled water expenses.”

What’s more, experts found half of the area’s residents had poor septic tank management, a factor likely contributing the contamination of the water supply. Fire risk was also increased for residents along the Texas-Mexico border because low water pressure in the system made half of all fire hydrants inspected nonoperational.

Unfortunately, those without quality drinking water are likely to remain so; the government has already given more than $1 billion in aid to improve water issues along the border. Over the last 30 years, the money has gone into clean water initiatives as it should have; however, local leaders have failed in their responsibility to properly oversee such projects.

A new water treatment plant built in Rio Bravo and El Cenizo was supposed to clean the water for more than 10,000 residents, but due to lax local interest in seeing the project through, the facility was not managed properly, and last year was brought up on charges for falsifying water purity reports.