"The copper tang of dust was the only flavor Carmen Rosales knew. It coated the back of her throat, a constant reminder that the earth was tired of giving. She looked at the cracked parchment on her desk—a map of a ghost river—and felt the familiar, pulsing ache in her chest. It wasn't dehydration. It was hope, and in this valley, hope was the most dangerous kind of thirst." Thirst by Marina Yuszczuk - Penguin Random House

Carmen finds an ancient map indicating a hidden source beneath the Well-Keepers' private estate. To reach it, she must navigate a world of corporate greed and environmental desperation.

There is no widely published work titled by an author named Carmen Rosales in current literary databases. It is possible you are thinking of Thirst by Marina Yuszczuk , a Gothic novel that explores desire and motherhood through a vampire's lens.

In a town where water is the only currency, a reclusive cartographer named Carmen Rosales discovers an underground aquifer that could save her community—or destroy it. Draft Outline:

A choice between releasing the water for all (risking a violent flood that could wash the town away) or keeping the secret to protect the delicate remaining ecosystem. Sample Opening Lines: