Terlingua’s tourist season has started. Here’s why and how you can help conserve water on your visit.

South Brewster County residents and tourists congregate on the porch of the Terlingua Trading Company in December. (Credit: Eli Hartman/The Texas Tribune)

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The Original Terlingua International Championship Chili Cookoff began Wednesday, a time-honored tradition in the wild west of Texas that features live music, the chance to meet authors, and, you guessed it, chili competitions.

The event draws thousands of visitors from all over the U.S. and internationally and marks the start of tourist season in Terlingua, a fast-growing tourist haven that for years was known more as a recluse’ paradise than a hot spot for folks seeking refuge from city life.

Many tourists will spend their time exploring the desert community and congregating with its 154 full-time residents. Others might hike the breathtaking trails of nearby Big Bend National Park and camp in some of its pockets.

They will need water to hydrate, shower and cool down. And in this desert, the precise extent of available water is unknown. As more people visit and the demand for water increases, locals and experts recommend keeping a conservation mentality to help them protect this limited resource.

This guide is meant to help you use water like the locals and conserve.

Where is Terlingua?

Terlingua is a sequestered desert community roughly 42 miles east of Big Bend National Park that locals call the last frontier against a developed world. It is politically unincorporated, meaning there is no municipal government, and it operates under the jurisdiction of Brewster County.

The area’s proximity to the national park has made it a popular tourist destination nationwide. Particularly appealing to visitors are bespoke luxury short-term rentals: tipis, A-frames and bubble-like structures that boast 360-degree views of the night sky — the largest dark sky reserve on the planet.

In the last six years, tourism in Terlingua has tripled, according to Bram Gallagher, an economist with AirDNA, a data analytics firm tracking short-term rental data in the U.S. There were 133 short-term rental properties in 2018. In 2024, that number soared to 399.

If it’s a desert, where does the water come from?

With little rain, the Terlingua desert relies on springs and water naturally stored underground for its water supply.

Experts also believe an aquifer, a large sea of water similar to the Ogallala aquifer in the High Plains, flows underneath south Brewster County soil. Colloquially, it is known as the Santa Elena aquifer.

However, unlike all other aquifers in Texas, scientists have so far been unable to determine its precise boundaries. State officials said they are confident an aquifer lies beneath Terlinguan earth.

The last time the state studied the area was in the 1990s. And while there is renewed interest among local and state officials to study the aquifer, that effort could take hundreds of thousands of dollars, years and the cooperation of residents historically opposed to government regulation.

Why should people care about conserving water in the Terlingua area?

Water in Texas is not an infinite supply. Across the state, experts and farmers are imploring state officials to take water conservation and infrastructure concerns seriously.

In Terlingua, water is already hard to find. It is an expensive investment that entails drilling a well that can cost upwards of tens of thousands of dollars without any assurance of water.

“When I think about water conservation, I think about using water as efficiently as we can,” said Robert Mace, executive director of the Meadows Center for Water and the Environment. “Recognizing that it comes from somewhere and wherever it's coming from, your use of that water is having an impact, not only in the environment but other people that might rely on that water.”

Locals hope increased economic activity in the region won’t cost them their water.

Why is water a concern?

Terlingua’s appeal mostly rests on its untouched environment. There is no water plant servicing every resident in the area. Those who live there only have a handful of choices to access water.

In a neighboring community next to Terlingua called Study Butte, the Study Butte Water Supply Corporation provides water to a limited number of residents within a geographical boundary. Terlingua Ranch Lodge, a 200,000-acre complex where more than 5,000 people own land, has drilled five water wells. The ranch’s board sells that water to residents who register with the association. Residents outside the service area of both utilities must drill wells or develop water catchment systems to trap rainwater.

The absence of any major investment in water infrastructure has prevented local and state officials from understanding precisely how much water there is beneath the soil in the area.

With the rapid increase in water demand, residents are concerned there won’t be any water left after supplying it to the area’s visitors.

Has the growth impacted water sources?

Over the years, more people have tapped into the water. Data from the Texas Water Development Board, which maintains records on the state’s water supply, shows that property owners and developers have drilled more than 50 water wells since 2018.

Data from the Study Butte Water Supply Corporation provided exclusively to The Texas Tribune shows more customers using more water in the last decade. In 2014, water managers piped water into 227 taps hooked up to its tanks, selling 8.4 million gallons of water. In 2023, the number of taps did not significantly increase, but the amount of water did, with 18 million gallons sold. That is enough to fill roughly 27 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

This year, the Terlingua Ranch Property Owners Association took measures to reduce water consumption in its territory. Board managers in August told residents the ranch would reduce the amount of water available for sale when water levels decline.

What is being done to address water concerns in this region?

In short, not much just yet. Locally, there is disagreement about whether water levels are dramatically declining. State officials and scientists say there is not nearly enough technology to monitor the water levels to indicate a regionwide trend.

The Brewster County Groundwater Conservation District hopes that increased partnerships with state officials and more local outreach will help. An effort is underway to convince property owners to volunteer information about water well’s levels. Terlingua Ranch Lodge has agreed to place monitoring technology in one of its five wells.

What role can tourists play in water conservation?

Listen to the locals and follow the existing guidance. As state and local officials negotiate the best way to monitor the water supply, tourists can play an important role in helping residents conserve water.

“Choose lodging committed to water conservation,” said Larry Sunderland, a former member and water board chair of the Property Owners Association of Terlingua and longtime advocate of local water sources. “Question their hosts about the source of their water and what water-saving devices they have.”

• Consider timing your showers and try to limit them to five minutes.
• Turn off the shower while lathering.
• Avoid flushing the toilet frequently. One flush can use up more than a gallon of water.
• Turn off the faucet when you are not using it.