Vol 2, Issue 21

Houston officials say state regulators did little about dioxin pollution, so they're suing three companies themselves and asking for billions of dollars in fines.

Texas is losing more farm, ranch and forest land than any other state, according to recent data. That has implications for water resources, which scientists say are better retained by undeveloped land. Use these maps to see the changes for individual counties.

Water and sewer bills are going up substantially across Texas and in many other places around the country as utilities struggle to maintain aging infrastructure, deal with drought or come to grips with the rising costs of a scarce resource while searching for new supplies. 

In which we review the latest from Colin's excellent Rio Grande adventure. Check out the dispatches and photos!

In this week’s Q&A, we interview Kent Satterwhite, general manager of the Canadian River Municipal Water Authority.

In this week's Bookshelf, our content partner Kirkus Reviews highlights The Last Beach.

The Meadows Center for Water and Environment at Texas State University is sponsoring a study to consider ways to improve experiences for visitors to Spring Lake, once known as Aquarena Springs.

A report from the Johnson Foundation says the nation's publicly owned water systems are in serious need of modernizing and reinvestment.

Responding to articles linking a drop in water demand to rising water rates, Mary Ann Dickinson of the Alliance for Water Efficiency says misrepresenting that relationship can have a negative effect on conservation efforts.

Data from Pennsylvania's Department of Environmental Protection includes more than 200 cases of possible water well contamination by wastewater from drilling involving conventional and shale gas wells.

Using data from the Texas Water Development Board's reservoir status tracker, our auto-updating map visualizes the current state of Texas reservoirs.