This West Texas town could lose a vital groundwater source to far-off cities

Houston Chronicle

By Megan Kimble

September 9, 2026

A new water fight is brewing in West Texas, where a distant public utility has bought the right to pump almost all of the available water from an aquifer near Fort Stockton that is a lifeline for dozens of local ranchers.

The utility, the Colorado River Municipal Water District, is based some 150 miles away and provides water to Abilene as well as the Permian basin oil hubs of Midland and Odessa. It finalized an agreement last year, which was made public this summer, with the sprawling La Escalera Ranch just off Highway 385.

Under Texas law, anyone who owns...

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