Texas Environment: Climate, conservation & Policy

The Corpus Christi skyline along the north end of downtown includes city hall and the new Harbor Bridge over the Port of Corpus Christi.

Environment

Floodwater starts arriving in Corpus Christi reservoirs, sparking hope for a water crisis delay

By Alejandra Martinez
July 24, 2026July 25, 2026

Choke Canyon has almost doubled its supply of water this week, although the reservoir is still at 15% capacity.

Emergency vehicles cross the debris-covered San Antonio Street bridge in Center Point, on July 16, 2026, after floodwaters from the Guadalupe River overtook it that morning.

Environment

A third person has died in the Texas floods, Greg Abbott says

by Colleen DeGuzman July 24, 2026July 24, 2026

The victim was swept away while driving in Val Verde County, the governor said after assessing damage around Cotulla.

A view of Lake Palo Duro in Hansford County. The U.S. Geological Survey recorded a 5.0 magnitude earthquake near Spearman, the county seat.

Environment

Texas Panhandle shaken by strongest earthquake to hit the region

by Jayme Lozano Carver July 23, 2026

The 5.0 magnitude earthquake was felt early Thursday morning and is said to be stronger than what the region typically experiences.

A heavily wooded property off of a country road near Athens in Henderson Co. on April 1, 2019. Diode Ventures has withdrawn plans for a data center in the East Texas county.

Data Centers in Texas

East Texas data center project pulled after facing community backlash

by Jess Huff July 23, 2026

Diode Ventures said Gov. Greg Abbott’s tougher stance on data center development in rural areas drove the decision to cancel the project

Gabby Perez in her childhood home in the Chula Vista neighborhood just outside Crystal City after the July 17 Zavala County flood, on July 20, 2026.

Environment

“We didn’t know it would end up this way”: South Texas community grapples with flood’s aftermath

by Carlos Nogueras Ramos July 23, 2026

In Chula Vista, south of Crystal City, residents of the Hispanic community searched through the debris after a flood caught them off-guard.

People attend an informational meeting hosted by the Texas Animal Health Commission two days after the U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed that New World screwworm was detected in a Texas calf in Zavala County, at Cotulla High School in Cotulla, Texas, U.S., June 5, 2026. REUTERS/Kaylee Greenlee

Screwworm in Texas

Where is screwworm in Texas? Track cases here.

By Berenice Garcia, Jayme Lozano Carver and Stephen Simpson, graphics by Hien An Ngo and Alex Ford June 12, 2026July 23, 2026

The New World screwworm poses a multibillion-dollar threat to the state’s cattle industry. We’re keeping track of where these cases are reported.

Razor Dobbs, a Center Point Volunteer Fire Department volunteer and public information officer, poses for a portrait inside the damaged fire station in Center Point on Friday, July 17, 2026, as cleanup operations continue. Floodwaters from the Guadalupe River inundated the station the previous Thursday.

Environment

Last year’s Hill Country floods traumatized Texas first responders. Then the skies opened again.

by Ellie Ashby July 22, 2026

“We were all thinking to ourselves, this is déjà vu. Is it really happening, and can I deal with it?” a Center Point Volunteer Fire Department chaplain said.

A woman at the Dallas Daughtry Memorial Pavilion in Kerrville takes a video of the Guadalupe River on July 16, 2026, after devastating rounds of flooding hit the Hill Country and South Texas.

TribCast

TribCast: The Hill Country floods again

by Eleanor Klibanoff July 21, 2026

A little more than a year after catastrophic floods devastated Central Texas, another deluge hit the area. How are residents and the state responding to this new tragedy?