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New Mexico Town Worries Over Hot Springs

Downtown Truth or Consequences is dotted with locally owned hotels that feature in-house bathhouses for hot mineral water soaks. (Mónica Ortiz Uribe)
Downtown Truth or Consequences is dotted with locally owned hotels that feature in-house bathhouses for hot mineral water soaks. (Mónica Ortiz Uribe)

The New Mexico town of Truth or Consequences not only has a funny name, but a funky history.

It was called Hot Springs, named for the ancient mineral water that bubbles beneath its downtown. Early settlers braved Apache raids to soak in these so-called healing waters.

Today the town’s economy is built around those springs, and there are concerns about how much of that precious natural resource is left.

From the Here & Now Contributors Network, Monica Ortiz Uribe of Fronteras Desk reports.

Reporter

  • Mónica Ortiz Uribe, correspondent for Fronteras Desk, a public radio collaboration in the Southwest that focuses on the border, immigration and changing demographics. She tweets @MOrtizUribe.

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