The latest environment news from The Texas Tribune.
Some farmers in West Texas oppose new regulations that cap the amount of water they can pump from wells that tap the Ogallala Aquifer. A two-year moratorium on enforcement has not appeased them. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/videos/TXTRIB--OGALLALA-017.jpg)
As the Ogallala Aquifer slowly declines, some West Texas farmers are facing a new type of regulation: a limit on the amount of water they would pump from wells on their own land. And many aren't happy about it. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/4Farmers.jpg)
In this episode of the Texas Tribune Weekend Insider, we look at growing elementary class sizes and limits on groundwater use in West Texas. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/videos/mar15.jpg)
In Texas, the natural gas boom has created jobs and reinvigorated the state's energy industry. But as Mose Buchele of KUT News reports for StateImpact Texas, some experts say the industry could slow dramatically in the coming years. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/Natural-Gas-Rig.jpg)
In 2011, residents of some large Texas cities increased their water usage — despite the widespread adoption of restrictions on lawn-watering. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/Sprinkler-Lawn.jpg)
Tar sands from Canada may provide the U.S. with a new source of oil. But as Dave Fehling of KUHF News reports for StateImpact Texas, what critics call the world's dirtiest oil could pose a risk to communities on the Gulf Coast, where the oil would be processed. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/GasPipeline-KUT.jpg)
The director of SpOILed, which has been described as a "love song to Big Oil," on who funded his film and why he gives short shrift to climate change. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/Mathis.jpg)
A federal auditor is recommending that Texas repay or find supporting documentation for $8 million in inflated labor costs related to the Ike-Dolly disaster recovery program. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/TxTrib-IkeKemah-003.jpg)
Nearly four years after Hurricanes Ike and Dolly ravaged the Texas coast, thousands are still waiting for housing assistance. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/HOUSTON_IKE0542.JPG)
John Tintera, executive director of the Texas Railroad Commission, which regulates the oil and gas industry, is leaving less than one week after the election of a new chairman, Barry Smitherman, to lead the agency. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/RailRoadCommissioner_2.jpg)
Texas' drilling boom has increased demand for skilled workers and blue-collar training. But as Dave Fehling of KUHF News reports for StateImpact Texas, the rising demand comes as community colleges face funding cuts, forcing companies to cope with fewer workers. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/OilWorker.jpg)
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department is considering letting hunters use silencers on the end of their rifles. But as Mose Buchele of KUT News reports for StateImpact Texas, the proposal has raised public safety concerns. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/SilencerHunting.jpg)
Aaronson and Tan interactively map women's health program providers in Texas, Galbraith talks to the state's climatologist about (what else?) the drought, Grissom with the latest on violence in youth prisons, Hamilton on why UTEP's low four-year graduation rate may not matter, Murphy's interactive comparing graduation rates and more at public universities in Texas, Ramsey on the redistricting end game (we think), Ramshaw on the state health commissioner's attack on Planned Parenthood and Root on the closing of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram's storied Austin bureau: The best of our best content from February 27 to March 2, 2012. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/TribWeek.jpg)
The Lower Colorado River Authority decided Thursday night that there wasn’t enough water in the Highland Lakes to send water downstream to rice farmers in Southeast Texas. Terrence Henry of KUT News and StateImpact Texas reports on where the farmers go from here. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/TxTrib-Rice-MS033.JPG)
Legal experts and property owners are still digesting the ramifications of a Texas Supreme Court ruling that landowners own the water beneath their land. As Mose Buchele of KUT News reports for StateImpact Texas, the consequences for landowners and conservationists remain murky. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/TxTrib-JacobsWell-CCR007_1.jpg)
In a new report, the state's electric grid operator has predicted another summer of above-average heat. And as Mose Buchele of KUT News reports for StateImpact Texas, that means Texans can expect another summer of close calls. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/Powerlines-Texas.jpg)
John Nielsen-Gammon, Texas' state climatologist since 2000, has seen his duties explode in the last 18 months amid public clamor for information on the drought. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/82958f558958c0a737fdb6399b6d989d/BD%20INC%20Climate%20Map%20Portrait%202012)
Texas rice farmers near the Gulf Coast are anxiously awaiting word on whether they'll get water from the Lower Colorado River Authority for a rice crop this spring. The LCRA says the farmers' prospects are not good — which will relieve other Texans who also have a stake in the water. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/LowWaterLevels_Travis.jpg)
University of Houston President Renu Khator is setting aside $30 million to bring in 60 new faculty members over the next two years, all of them in the science, technology, engineering and math fields. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/Renu.jpg)
For Texas industry, the drought has brought a conservation focus at many plants, which may have to pay more for future supplies. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/TxTrib-ConocoPhillips001.jpg)