Irrigation

Technically, we are not in the dessert. A desert is defined by having less than 10 inches of rain per year. Balmorhea has an average of 14 inches. This area is primarily irrigated by the san solomon spring with it's million gallons of water per hour. From the state park website: The 77,053 square ft San Solomon Spring is the focal point of Balmorhea State Park. From 22 to 28 million gallons of water flow through the spring-fed swimming pool each day.

When the water leaves the pool it goes out to for the wetlands (more on that later) and then travels through irrigation canals to water the local farms and then to balmorhea lake. There are canals all over balmorhea. When you think about being in a place like this with only 14 inches of rain/year, at first, it seems unappealing but consider this; This town is one of the few places on earth that is virtually unaffected by drought.

Here are some pics of the girls playing in the park that runs down the middle of town right between business I-10 and main street.