Letter Re: A West Texas Retreat Locale

I recommend that SurvivalBlog readers consider the land here in the desert of West Texas for rural remote retreats that are affordable and located away from the major city targets.

The desert acts as a sandy, hot, dry, moat around such retreats…and will attrite gangs of marauders roving out of the ruined cities. Land out here around

Balmorhea, Texas is cheap by your standards: $300 an acre average. The San Solomon spring brings in 26 million gallons of fresh water daily to the one mile square irrigation/fishing lake two miles east of Balmorhea. Balmorhea is about two miles south of Interstate 10, around mile marker 209.

There are about 20-30 farms on concrete viaducts that receive water from the lake for irrigation without pumping…and those can grow plenty of food to support those who live there and in the area. The population is only 700.

A natural gas pipeline supplies Balmorhea without compressors. There are over six new flowing gas wells on that line now so after the SHTF, Balmorhea and the area will still have unlimited gas service to power generators, heat homes, and so forth, even with the national power grid down permanently. It is an oasis in the desert of West Texas with lots of abandoned farm land in the area. Farmers have been driven out of business by the lift cost of water away from the irrigation lake. Madera Valley Water Supply has water lines running all over her supplying these abandoned farms, but their pumps are electric and will be down until we replace them with gas fired pumps or gas fired generators.

If your readers are not scared of good ol’ boy redneck west Texans. They can get a good deal out here on survival retreat property. But, don’t come expecting to have a high paying job. There aren’t any!. In fact, Reeves county has an official unemployment figure of 14 percent, but is commonly acknowledged to be above 20 percent due to the oil and gas exploration downturn. Use ZIP code 79718 for Balmorhea if you want to do a Google Earth flyover and look at the landscape. The circles are center pivot sprinkler systems that irrigate entire sections of land, and most are out of action because no one can now afford the electricity to pump them.

My condolences on your loss of your wife, Jim. Keep up the good work with your SurvivalBlog. It is linked to my SurvivingTheDayAfter@yahoogroups.com group and considered a must read daily. Semper paratus. – R.L.