Rural Community Assistance Partnership

Practical solutions for improving rural communities
front-page-banner-img

Colonias

USDA announces new effort to improve water quality and public health in low-income communities in the Southwest

WASHINGTON (USDA) – Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced July 24 that low-income rural areas will benefit from changes in the way USDA funds water and wastewater projects. Rural Development Acting Deputy Under Secretary Judith Canales made the announcement on Vilsack's behalf while she toured the wastewater treatment system in the City of Peñitas, Texas.

ABC News profiles Colonias

ABC News, as part of its "Hidden America" series, produced a story on the Colonias in late April.

An ABC correspondent visited some of these communities in Texas along the Mexican border. The story desribes these communities as a "no-man's land" and "forgotten." These very poor communities that often have no services and where people live in make-shift homes are among the small, often unincorporated communities that RCAP works in.