As one monster dies, another one emerges - For half a century, Black Mesa (Dził Yíjiin) was home to one of the largest coal strip-mining operations in the U.S., leaving the region after a half century with depleted and depressurized groundwater, along with thousands of acres of disturbed land.  Water is of the utmost importance in the southwest. It is critical, especially to communities such as the ones on Black Mesa, who rely on the deep aquifers for drinking water. For thousands of years, natural fissures in the ground brought water to the surface in the form of seeps and springs. But for the last 50 years, the communities of Black Mesa’s only source of potable water were used to support the largest strip mine in the U.S. This has both depleted and depressurized the hydrologic system beneath Black Mesa.  It’s been over 6 years since the coal mines stopped operating. But the communities are still waiting for the seeps and springs to return.  Meanwhile another project emerges that proposes to use even more groundwater, and further impact the regions water sources.