Vol 3, Issue 16

As oilfield waste disposal wells proliferate in Texas, groundwater managers are keenly interested in where they're going and how carefully they construct them. And they're asking the industry and regulators for further help.

President Obama on Monday unveiled the final version of his state-by-state effort to combat climate change by reshaping the nation’s energy sector – a plan that has roiled Republican leaders in Texas.

Pope Francis has called on people of faith and science to come together and address the perils of climate change, and President Obama has finalized his ambitious carbon-cutting Clean Power Plan. But Texas Republicans aren't signing on, Catholic or not.

In this week's Q&A, we interview Jason M. Evans, an assistant professor of environmental science at Florida's Stetson University who recently published a paper on drought and public opinion.

In this week's Bookshelf, our content partner Kirkus Reviews highlights Let There Be Water. 

A new study evaluates how much water is used in the fracking process in the Eagle Ford Shale while also looking at regulations in the area and making three policy recommendations.

California farmers are looking to urban wastewater as a way to irrigate their crops, part of their search for new water supplies as the state continues to struggle with drought.

The extent of pollution to Colorado's Animas River following an accidental dump of mining effluents during an EPA operation is still being assessed, with water supplies in New Mexico also threatened as pollutants leak into the San Juan River.

In a report to Congress, the EPA said the first five years of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative have resulted in better water quality, cleanups of contaminated shorelines, protection and restoration of native habitat and species as well as better control of invasive species.

Carlos Rubinstein, former chairman of the Texas Water Development Board, writes that Mexico's failure to meet its obligations to a 1944 treaty has "caused severe economic hardship to Texas communities and farmers."

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