A West Texas ranch and resort will limit water to residents amid fears its wells will run dry
Residents at the sprawling Terlingua Ranch near Big Bend National Park will limit residents to 1,000 gallons of nondrinking water per month.
After six years, a Texas town’s boil-water notice has been lifted, but residents are still concerned
The town’s troubles started in 2018, when its water tested positive for the dangerous E.coli bacteria.
Texas Water Board details how it will spend $1 billion for water infrastructure projects
About $45 million will go to Texas towns with fewer than 1,000 residents — a boon for municipalities without a viable tax base.
As the Rio Grande runs dry, South Texas cities look to alternatives for water
Many of the solutions are costly, putting them out of reach for small towns. But the region's most populous cities are getting innovative.
South Texas needs rain. Tropical Storm Alberto didn’t deliver enough.
The region's two major reservoirs are at record-low levels and agriculture leaders are worried the citrus industry could be devastated this summer.
U.S. Supreme Court blocks the state’s Rio Grande water deal with New Mexico
Water law experts say the Supreme Court's recent decision will set a precedent for the federal government to intervene in water conflicts between states moving forward.
Unchecked growth around Big Bend sparks debate over water — a prelude for Texas
No one knows how much water sits beneath the desert of Terlingua. Residents worry their wells will run dry, as developers and local officials cheer the tourism boom.
Texas delegation urges Congress to withhold aid to Mexico over water treaty dispute
A bipartisan group of Texas lawmakers are demanding appropriators withhold funds for the country until Mexico lives up to its end of a 1944 water treaty that requires it to send 1.75 million acre-feet to the U.S. every five years.
North Texas landowners trying to stop a reservoir that Wichita Falls calls crucial
State regulators face a critical decision this week on whether to approve a permit for a new reservoir that the city of Wichita Falls says is vital for ensuring enough water for the region. But some locals are fighting the project.
South Texas farmers are in peril as the Rio Grande Valley runs dry — again
With the hottest days still ahead, local leaders have declared emergencies. And farmers are lobbying for the U.S. government to pressure Mexico to release water.
Dozens of Texas water systems exceed new federal limits on “forever chemicals”
The EPA set its first-ever drinking water limits for five types of PFAS chemicals, and nearly 50 Texas public water systems have reported exceeding the new limits for at least one.
Texas voters gave retired teachers raises and approved new infrastructure funds as most constitutional amendments passed
Voters approved a massive property tax cut and several other measures, but refused to raise the mandatory retirement age for judges.
Texans may approve billions for energy, water, parks and broadband on Nov. 7
At stake in next week’s constitutional amendment election is $13 billion in infrastructure spending. Supporters say it’s an opportunity for a once-in-a-lifetime investment.
Author Dan Egan talks with The Texas Tribune about phosphorus overuse and toxic algae blooms
Egan sat down with Tribune environmental reporter Alejandra Martinez to talk about his new book, “The Devil’s Element: Phosphorus and a World Out of Balance,” which explains how overuse of phosphorus is impacting the environment.
Llano River communities fight former oil executive’s plan for a private dam
Texas has thousands of private dams, but a former oil executive’s application to build one on the South Llano River would be the first in the watershed for recreational use. Opponents fear it would harm the river’s health and encourage more private dams.
Texas’ environmental agency enables companies to increase oilfield wastewater disposal in rivers
Researchers are still studying the chemical makeup of “produced water” from Permian Basin oil fields. But regulators say they’re ready to issue permits to discharge the water into rivers and creeks.
Texas towns are starving for capital and lack the resources to apply for grants. This group hopes to help.
Texas Rural Funders hopes a one-stop resource for grant applications and writers could help small towns win money to fund innovation and capital needs.
Without access to water lines, Texas colonias residents are pulling water from the desert air
Thousands of low-income, Latino residents in Texas still do not have safe drinking water. In one El Paso colonia, some residents are using solar distillation to generate water from the air.
Texas lawmakers allocated more than $2 billion to increase the state’s water supply and reduce flooding
Texans across the state are affected by declining water supplies, water infrastructure disruptions and flooding in their communities.
After historic drought, lawmakers agree on billion-dollar plan to expand water supplies, fix infrastructure
Following one of the hottest summers on record, lawmakers have set an ambitious target: By 2033, they want to bump up the state’s water supply by an amount equal to three of the largest reservoirs in the state.
Rural Texas landowners who lost water access due to San Antonio pipeline could soon get relief
Groundwater levels rapidly declined in rural Lee County after San Antonio began pumping the water and moving it 100 miles southwest. A Senate bill would help affected well owners.
House advances bill that could provide billions of dollars for new water projects and fixing aging infrastructure
The bill aims to create a water supply four times the size of Lake Livingston, one of the state’s largest reservoirs. But it may still be a “drop in the bucket” compared to the state’s needs.
Everything you need to know about Texas’ beleaguered water systems
Texas has more than 7,000 water systems. A fraction of them self-reported that they lost 30 billion gallons of water due to broken pipes and leaks in 2021.
Texas’ water infrastructure is broken, jeopardizing quality and supply for a growing state
On a daily basis, water managers in cities across the state move from crisis to crisis hoping to keep the water flowing to residents.
Texas has the fifth-highest percentage of water pipes made of lead
In a first-of-its-kind survey of public water utilities, the EPA estimates that 7% of water lines in Texas, more than 647,000, are lead based. It’s the fifth-highest proportion of lead-based water lines in the country.
Texas Senate moves to set aside billions for future water needs
The Senate on Monday passed a bill that would create a new state fund tailored for large or long-shot water supply projects, including marine desalination. The bill will advance to the House.
Texas Senate takes first step toward establishing billions for state’s water supply, infrastructure
Voters would have the final say on whether the state sets aside billions of dollars to acquire new water sources and invest in aging infrastructure.
Black and Hispanic Texans say they don’t trust the quality of their water
A survey was commissioned by the nonprofit organization Texas Water Trade and included responses from households in both rural border communities and in urban areas across Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth.
A new bipartisan group of Texas lawmakers wants to highlight the state’s fragile water infrastructure
So far there has been an average of six boil-water notices a day across Texas in 2023.
A boil-water notice in Houston made national news. In rural Texas, it’s a way of life.
Rural communities face compounding reasons they can’t improve their water infrastructure, including inflation and a lack of human resources.
Houston officials say state made the call on water boil notice
For more than 24 hours, nearly everyone in the nation’s fourth-most-populous city had been asked to boil water after a power outage at a water treatment plant Sunday.
Houstonians say the city fumbled sounding the alarm on boil water notice
Many residents in the nation’s fourth-most-populous city heard that they couldn’t drink tap water from friends or neighbors, not from City Hall.
Houston boil water notice forces schools to shut down
Millions of Houston residents are expected to be under a boil water notice until Tuesday after a power outage at a water treatment plant. At least four school districts canceled Monday classes.
An East Texas town must boil its water on Thanksgiving as officials seek a solution to aging infrastructure
Zavalla lost all water for several days. The Texas Department of Emergency Management has sent pallets of bottled water and a team to help.
Texas’ plan to provide water for a growing population virtually ignores climate change
Texas’ biggest single solution to providing enough water for its soaring population in the coming decades is using more surface water, including about two dozen new large reservoirs. But climate change has made damming rivers a riskier bet.
To save water in Texas, these nonprofits are paying farmers to leave it in reservoirs
As Texas continues to battle drought, groups are trying a market-based solution to help farmers and protect what little water is left.
EPA may try to block what could be the first seawater desalination plant built in Texas
Citing water quality concerns, the Environmental Protection Agency may refuse to recognize a permit that Texas approved Thursday for a marine desalination plant at the Port of Corpus Christi.
Gov. Greg Abbott declares Dallas-Fort Worth deluge a disaster, freeing up state resources to help in recovery
The declaration covers 23 counties across the state and comes after some saw more than 10 inches of rainfall Monday.
After decades of broken promises, a Texas “donut hole” community will get running water
Construction began in July to bring water to Cochran, one of several colonias along the border not served by public water systems. The project is expected to be completed by October.
“A perfect storm”: Drought, extreme heat and two faulty wells threaten a North Texas town’s water supply
“We’re on the brink. We’re teetering. It’s a balancing act. It’s a 50/50 proposition,” said Gunter City Manager Rick Chaffin.
The Odessa water outage underscores a growing problem: Aging pipes in Texas cities are getting more fragile
Texas had 3,866 water boil notices in 2021, the most in the last decade. Aging water systems threaten water supply and quality — and for many small towns across the state, they won’t be cheap to repair.
Tens of thousands of people in Odessa have endured nearly 48 hours without water to drink, wash or flush toilets
The outage left about 165,000 people without water in Odessa and some surrounding areas. It has been attributed to a main line break in the city’s aging water system and comes amid a dayslong heat wave.
Rural Texas was meant to get 10% of state bonds for water projects. A report shows it’s getting less than 1%.
Rural Texas communities often don’t have the resources, technical experience, or ability to take on large amounts of debt to pursue state funds for water supply and quality projects. So, many simply don’t apply.
Climate change is making Texas hotter, threatening public health, water supply and the state’s infrastructure
A report from the state climatologist finds that the state is experiencing hotter days with less relief from high temperatures at night.