What We Do


Tecopa Water Project

A small town in the heart of the Amargosa Basin needed access to clean drinking water

The community of Tecopa, California sits along the Amargosa River. Home to some 150 desert dwellers, it is rich in groundwater resources, with numerous hot and cool springs and wells throughout the town. Much of the water in these wells does not meet EPA standards for arsenic or flouride, elements with are naturally abundant in the groundwater. While some had been drinking the water for their entire lives and continue doing so today, others would make the 40 mile one-way drive to Pahrump, Nevada to get clean drinking water.

A team composed of the Amargosa Conservancy, the Inyo-Mono Integrated Regional Water Management Program, the Inyo County Water Department, and the Southern Inyo Fire Protection District collaborated to construct a permanent drinking water kiosk which now provides purified drinking water to the community of Tecopa.

The kiosk, maintained and managed by Southern Inyo Fire Protection District, dispenses reverse-osmosis filtered drinking water for 25 cents per gallon. The Tecopa water kiosk is located at the corner of Furnace Creek Road and Bob White Way and is available 24 hours a day for visitors and residents.

Amargosa Conservancy

The community’s push for access to safe drinking water is discussed in this excellent documentary by Bristlecone Media called Living in the Rain Shadow.

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