Colonias are substandard housing developments, often found along the Texas-Mexico border, where residents lack basic services such as clean drinking water and access to adequate sewage treatment. The State of Texas has undertaken a number of programs to remedy the conditions in existing colonias and to prevent new colonias, including authorizing enforcement lawsuits by the Office of the Attorney General. In addition, the Office provides access to historic colonias data found under the Colonia Geographic Database for the border region.
Information regarding Colonia Prevention and access to the database may be found at: