SpaceX wins federal approval to launch more rockets in South Texas
The federal approval comes after vote from residents — mostly SpaceX employees — to form a new city at the Rio Grande Valley beach. Full Story
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![SpaceX's Starship lifts off from the company's Boca Chica launchpad on an uncrewed test flight before exploding, near Brownsville on April 20, 2023.]()
Credit: REUTERS/Joe Skipper -
As the Rio Grande runs dry, South Texas leaders look to new water supplies to sustain growth
Leaders hope to treat groundwater and capture more rain as the water from one of the nation’s most iconic rivers becomes less reliable. Full Story
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![An aerial view of the Tres Lagos neighborhood development in McAllen on May 12, 2025. Thousands of homes span the development which includes restaurants and a food truck park.]()
Credit: Michael Gonzalez for The Texas Tribune -
Texas bill seeking to keep toxic “forever chemicals” off farmland misses key deadline
Supporters say the bill would protect farmland in Texas. Opponents say limiting PFAS chemicals in biosolids will force water utilities to look at other disposal methods, which will lead to higher utility bills. Full Story
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![Tony Coleman passes by cattle while driving through their property in Grandview on Aug. 5, 2024.]()
Credit: Azul Sordo for The Texas Tribune -
Pressing deadlines, unfinished business: Where the Legislature stands on abortion, water, property tax and more
A raft of social conservative priorities backed by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick hang in the balance, including efforts to infuse more religion into public schools. Full Story
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![Texas Speaker of the House Dustin Burrows presides over discussion of SB 2 Amendment 1 in the House Chamber in Austin on April 16, 2025.]()
Credit: Kaylee Greenlee for The Texas Tribune -
They drove to the Capitol to testify on a bill and got a grueling lesson in Texas democracy
The group from Johnson County waited 18 hours to testify at a hearing that started at 1 a.m. on a bill to limit toxic chemicals in fertilizer. Full Story
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![Dana Ames speaks with Karen Coleman, right, awaiting a hearing on PFAs at the State Capitol on May 8, 2024.]()
Credit: Leila Saidane for The Texas Tribune -
Texas attorney general wins $60 million judgment in pollution lawsuit
A Texas business illegally dumped industrial waste into Skull Creek in Colorado County six years ago, then residents complained to the attorney general’s office. Full Story
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![Earthen dams separate black water (top) from muddy water (bottom) at Inland Environmental & Remediation, Inc., south of Columbus, Texas, on April 14, 2019.]()
Credit: Michael Stravato for The Texas Tribune -
Texas has thousands of abandoned oil and gas wells. Who is responsible for cleaning them up?
Across Texas, abandoned wells are erupting with chemical-infused liquid and some have created massive lakes of contaminated water. Regulators say they need more money to address the problem. Full Story
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![Men work to pull tubing from an orphan well in a field in Luling, Texas on March 27, 2025.]()
Credit: Lorianne Willett/The Texas Tribune -
Everything we know about the 3 people who want to run Starbase, Texas’ next city
All three — running unopposed — have longstanding connections with SpaceX, Elon Musk’s company headquartered in South Texas. Full Story
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![People take photos in front of a Starbase sign at SpaceX Starbase near Brownsville, Texas, on April 16, 2023.]()
Credit: REUTERS/Go Nakamura -
Plans advance for $10 billion Exxon plastics plant on the Texas coast
Officials at a rural school district voted on Tuesday to begin developing a tax break agreement intended to draw Exxon to their stretch of the Gulf Coast north of Corpus Christi. Full Story
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![The Formosa Plastics plant in Point Comfort, in Calhoun Co., on March 20, 2019. Exxon Mobil wants to build a massive plastics plant nearby.]()
Credit: Emree Weaver/The Texas Tribune -
Can Texas clean up fracking water enough to use for farming? One company thinks so.
The Texas Legislature has also invested millions in research to clean the fracking wastewater. Critics say it’s not a viable solution to the state’s water crisis. Full Story
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![Technical Research & Development Manager Adrianne Lopez gives a tour of the Texas Pacific Water Resources’ project site greenhouse on Friday, Feb. 14, 2025, outside of Midland.]()
Credit: Eli Hartman for The Texas Tribune -
Texas will share equipment database with local fire departments to help beat wildfires
The legislation, which won unanimous approval in both chambers, was written following the state’s historic Panhandle wildfires last year. Full Story
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![A firefighter with Forest Bend Fire Department extinguishes flames at the site of the Borrega wildfire on March 31, 2022. The wildfire burned through a large part of the King Ranch and surrounding areas in Brooks, Jim Wells and Kleberg counties.]()
Credit: Michael Gonzalez for The Texas Tribune -
The Texas House wants voters to approve billions to save the state’s water supply
The Senate has a similar proposal, but is more prescriptive in how the money should be spent. The two chambers must agree on the final proposal to send to voters. Full Story
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![Jairo Benavides, center, removes soil as the crew works on upgrading pipes and valves at a North Alamo Water Supply Corporation water plant in Donna on Thursday, July 18, 2024. In order to increase the amount of water the plant is able to distribute, pipes were upgraded and replaced, connect to the plant’s existing facility with the newly expanded infrastructure.]()
Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune -
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 -
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 -
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 -
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