From Marfa Public Radio:
In the middle of the Chihuahuan Desert, at the base of the Davis Mountains, the San Solomon Springs fill a pool at Balmorhea State Park. It’s considered a crown jewel of West Texas and people from all over come there to swim. Just five miles down the road sits a small community that shares the name Balmorhea and for decades, the sleepy little town has relied heavily on the cash spent by visiting tourists. Well, at least it used to.
For the last three years, Balmorhea has been caught in the middle of America’s busiest oilfield, the Permian Basin, after the oil and gas company Apache announced it had made a significant oil and gas discovery, called the Alpine High, in Southern Reeves County. This was followed by an influx of workers, drilling rigs, and flares burning off natural gas to the region.
