The Aquifer That Changed Everything

Roswell was growing but not booming in the late eighteen eighties. Its population was modest, its economy dependent on cattle ranching, and its future uncertain. Then, in eighteen ninety, a merchant named Nathan Jaffa had a well drilled in the back yard of his establishment on Richardson Avenue. What the drill found changed everything.

The well struck a major artesian aquifer, a vast underground reservoir held under pressure, which meant water rose through the pipe on its own without a pump. In a landscape where water determined everything, the discovery of a self-filling aquifer was transformational. Word spread quickly. More wells were drilled. Every well found water at consistent depths, confirming the aquifer was vast and reliable.

Within a few years, farmers arrived and began irrigating fields around Roswell. Orchards were planted. Alfalfa fields spread across the valley. Vegetable crops and grain followed. The Pecos River valley had looked like ranching country, and it was, but with underground water it could also be farming country. The combination made Roswell a more stable and more prosperous community than the single-industry cattle towns surrounding it.

The Pecos Valley Railroad arrived within a few years, drawn partly by the growing agricultural activity. By the early twentieth century, Roswell was one of the fastest-growing communities in New Mexico Territory. The water under its streets had made the difference.