U.S., Mexico agree to new deal that sends water to South Texas
The latest development in a years-long push by South Texas farmers and officials to get Mexico to fulfill a 1944 treaty would still fall short of what is owed. Full Story
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![The Lake Falcon Dam International Crossing, seen from Starr County, on May 15, 2024.]()
Credit: Carlos Kosienski/Sipa USA via REUTERS -
Can Texas lawmakers agree on how to spend billions to save the state's water supply?
The Texas House took its first step toward revising a priority Senate bill last week. The changes were lauded by the state’s water community. Full Story
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![Inside a primary clarifier, resembling petri-dish tanks, heavy solids and grease sink to the bottom and machines skim off particles at the top at the Roberto Bustamante Wastewater Treatment Plant in El Paso on March 5, 2025.]()
Credit: Justin Hamel for The Texas Tribune -
In booming Central Texas, wastewater is polluting rivers and streams
A bill in the Legislature would protect the last 21 pristine watersheds in Texas. But for years, previous attempts have been defeated by powerful homebuilders. Full Story
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![Margo Denke, co-founder of the group Friends of Hondo Canyon, surveys a stretch of Commissioners Creek on her ranch in Bandera County.]()
Credit: Dylan Baddour/Inside Climate News -
Bill would stop Texas oil drillers from secretly burying toxic waste on private property
House Bill 4572 would introduce new requirements for pits where drillers bury oil and gas waste. Full Story
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![A home across the street from an entrance to an oilfield waste disposal facility has a sign reading "DON'T DUMP ON NORDHEIM" on Sept. 10, 2023.]()
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East Texans united to stop a water sale to Dallas suburbs — for now
After a deal to pipe water from Lake O’ the Pines to North Texas came to light, residents voiced opposition everywhere they could to block it. Full Story
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![Mary Spearmon holds two of her grandchildren, Malikyi and Alajiah Elliott, at Hurricane Creek Park on the Lake o’ the Pines, where she would come with her late husband and their growing family to fish and enjoy the water, on April 9, 2025. “What about our future generations, our grandchildren and great grandchildren? What are they going to have if they take the lake?”]()
Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune -
Trump officials cut planning grant for Texas high-speed rail between Dallas and Houston
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said if the private sector wants the rail line, it should cover planning costs. Full Story
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![Railroad tracks near a proposed bullet train terminus on the outskirts of downtown Dallas, on Thursday, Aug. 25, 2022.]()
Credit: Ben Torres for The Texas Tribune -
To avoid a water crisis, Texas may bet big on desalination. Here’s how it works in El Paso.
Desalination can create millions of gallons of fresh water a day. But it is expensive and there are many environmental concerns. Full Story
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![An illustration of a glass of water, superimposed over reverse osmosis filters from El Paso's Kay Bailey Hutchison Desalination Plant.]()
Credit: Carla Astudillo/The Texas Tribune -
Toilet to tap: El Paso is about to embark on a whole new way to save its limited water supply
El Paso’s dry climate — it rains just 9 inches annually — is one of the reasons the city has taken water management so seriously. Full Story
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![Contractors work on expanding the Roberto Bustamante Wastewater Treatment Plant in El Paso on March 5, 2025. By 2028, the utility expects treated wastewater from the plant to be further purified at the new Pure Water Center next door to produce up to 10 million gallons of drinking water.]()
Credit: Justin Hamel for The Texas Tribune -
Texas energy company wins first-of-its-kind permit to suck carbon out of air, store underground
Environmental groups worry direct carbon capture is not the silver bullet to curb climate change many energy companies purport it to be. Full Story
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![A drone view of the Stratos Direct Air Capture Facility (DAC), a joint venture between Occidental Petroleum (OXY) and asset manager BlackRock, is seen in Ector County on July 28, 2024.]()
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The Rio Grande Valley was once covered in forest. One man is trying to bring it back.
The Tamaulipan thornforest once covered 1 million acres on both sides of the border with Mexico. Restoring even a fraction of it could help the region cope with the ravages of a warming world. Full Story
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![Jon Dale, a director at American Forests, hopes to further restore the once sprawling Tamaulipan thornforest in the Rio Grande Valley.]()
Credit: Grist/Laura Mallonee -
South Texas county leaders will lose some authority over SpaceX launches under new bill
The lawmakers behind the bill promised there would not be an increase in the number of days the beach is closed. Full Story
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![Members of the ENTRE Film Center, a local film center and regional archive, hosted the gathering at Boca Chica to celebrate the beach and motivate people to fight for its preservation, which they view as being in jeopardy since the arrival of Elon Musk's SpaceX. Aug. 8, 2024.]()
Credit: Ben Lowy for The Texas Tribune -
Texas’ Rio Grande Valley didn’t see last week’s historic storms coming
The region is still cleaning up after last week's storms in which at least six people died. Full Story
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![Floodwaters in Primera, Texas, on the morning of March 28, 2025.]()
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Sweeping water bill gets Texas Senate approval
Senate Bill 7, which won unanimous approval, is among legislation that seeks to avert a looming water crisis as the state’s population booms. Full Story
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![An irrigation system on a farm field near the High Plains town of Ralls, about 30 miles east of Lubbock, on Wednesday, June 22, 2022. Like much of Texas, the High Plains and Panhandle are facing drought conditions and extraordinary heat.]()
Credit: Trace Thomas for The Texas Tribune -
“Water is the new oil” as Texas cities square off over aquifer pipeline plans
Fast-growing Georgetown plans to pump 89 million gallons a day from the Carrizo Wilcox Aquifer but the project is being fought by Bryan, College Station and Texas A&M University, which depend on the same water. Full Story
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![A water pipeline project by Recharge through Lee County into Williamson County pictured on March 28, 2025.]()
Credit: Dylan Baddour / Inside Climate News -
Store, harvest, fix: How Texas can save its water supply
State lawmakers are poised to devote billions to save the state’s water supply. These are some of the ways the state could spend the money. Full Story
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![Treated water at the Walnut Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant on Tuesday, March 25, 2025 in Austin, TX. The treatment plant will undergo a billion dollar expansion starting this summer to meet the increasing demand due to the growth the city has faced. Sergio Flores for The Texas Tribune]()
Credit: Sergio Flores for The Texas Tribune -
3 dead, more than 200 rescued in South Texas after severe storms cause flooding
Homes were inundated with water and cars were abandoned across the Rio Grande Valley region. Full Story
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![A crowd of vehicles lay stranded on frontage road in front the McAllen Convention Center during a downpour on Thursday, March 26, 2025, in McAllen, Texas.]()
Credit: Joel Martinez/The Monitor via AP -
Bills seek to improve state’s response to wildfires a year after devastation in Panhandle
A proposal to create a statewide system connecting emergency personnel and agencies is among several bills that target problems exposed in 2024. Full Story
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![Trees marked from the 2024 Smokehouse Creek Fires line the sides of the main roads of Canadian, Texas, Feb. 7, 2025. The Smokehouse Creek Fire is the largest wildfire in Texas history.]()
Credit: Jacob Lujan for The Texas Tribune -
An abandoned West Texas oil well has created a 200-foot-wide sinkhole
The rapidly-growing sinkhole in Upton County is the latest of many problems caused by old wells in the Permian Basin. Full Story
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![A sinkhole formed by an old oil well on the Kelton Ranch in Upton County, Texas, has grown rapidly in the past year.]()
Credit: Martha Pskowski/Inside Climate News -
These are the proposals lawmakers hope will save Texas’ water supply. Track them here.
Most lawmakers — as well as Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick — want to invest big in water. Here are the proposals that would do it. Full Story
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![Cotton fields near the High Plains town of Ralls, about 30 miles east of Lubbock, on Wednesday, June 22, 2022. Like much of Texas, the High Plains and Panhandle are facing drought conditions and extraordinary heat.]()
Credit: Trace Thomas for The Texas Tribune -
Texas lawmakers will debate saving the state’s water supply after key legislation is introduced
The state House and Senate have similar proposals to solve the state's water crisis, but there are stark differences on how to invest billions of dollars to resolve. Full Story
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![A water tower in Starr County near the Falcon Dam on Aug. 18, 2022.]()
Credit: Michael Gonzalez for The Texas Tribune