In what it described as a conservative estimate. the GAO said 110.000 Texans live in 566 colonias along the border. The report summed up the situationThese substandard housing subdivisions in rural districts consist of small plots of land with few or no roads and polluted water and inadequate sewage facilities. colonias are in unincorporated parts of counties. adjacent to American cities and towns along the border. The land for colonlas was usually acquired by migrant workers and other lowincome groups of Mexican descent. Because colonias exist In unincorporated parts of counties. local jurisdictions have not been obligated to provide water and sewage services. and the new owners have lacked the financial means to acquire such services. These substandard living conditions pose a health problem to the colonlas residents as well as to the entire populations of the border counties. according to the Texas Water Development Board.