The latest environment news from The Texas Tribune.
UPDATED: The Railroad Commission on Thursday sided with Marathon Oil Company’s bid to dismiss a groundwater conservation district’s protest of its application to inject waste into part of South Texas’ Carrizo-Wilcox aquifer. Full Story
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Farmers and ranchers in Texas are in trouble, according to recently-released data, but the candidates for Texas agriculture commissioner are talking more about conservative credentials and pot than farming woes. Full Story
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A Native American tribe has added a new layer to the border wall debate. Lipan Apaches allege the fence discriminates against them because they've been forced to give up some tribal land to accommodate it. Full Story
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In this week's edition of the Trib+Water newsletter: dirty water, planning for drought and an interview with Sarah B. Faust of Kemp Smith LLP. Full Story
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David Dewhurst and Dan Patrick, the Republican candidates for lieutenant governor, gave one last surprise in their final debate before the May 27 primary runoff election — a largely civil debate that avoided mention of the personal attacks that have come to dominate the last few weeks. Full Story
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Drought and urbanization in Texas have hit duck populations hard in recent years. But computers and satellites are now allowing scientists to pinpoint where to fund projects to restore or expand habitats. Full Story
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UPDATED: The Texas Water Development Board's executive director issued a final recommendation Monday that the controversial Marvin Nichols reservoir in northeast Texas remain in the state water plan for now. Full Story
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More bad news for Gulf Coast-area rice farmers: State regulators on Friday proposed a plan for managing the lower Colorado River basin that would likely deny them water deliveries for years to come. Full Story
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In a letter to President Obama, Gov. Rick Perry accuses the president of waging a war on coal and kicking the can down the road on the Keystone XL pipeline. Perry suggests that Washington should follow Texas’ lead in spurring energy production. Full Story
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Texas politicians' attempt to lure the sriracha sauce factory here from California is part of a strategy to bring more agribusiness to the state, they say. But some farming advocates complain that agriculture is being left behind in the scramble to accommodate growth. Full Story
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News reports late Thursday that lieutenant governor candidate Dan Patrick had received treatment for depression and exhaustion in the 1980s threatened to roil further an an already tense runoff contest just days before voters begin casting ballots. Full Story
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Recurrent Energy has signed a 20-year deal with Austin Energy to build a 150-megawatt solar farm in West Texas that would help power Austin. Expected to be completed in 2016, the facility would be the largest single solar site in the state. Full Story
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Gov. Rick Perry's attorney is asking for the ability to get witnesses for his client before a Travis County grand jury without making them appear in public. But in a twist in a case that has already had plenty of them, the only way to circumvent the public entrance is to go through DA Rosemary Lehmberg's office. Full Story
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UPDATED: The Texas Public Utility Commission on Friday heard oral arguments in the case of a Wise County rancher protesting a power line that he says was built in the wrong place on his property. The commission is poised to vote on the line’s fate on May 30. Full Story
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Wichita Falls has become the butt of late-night jokes and the subject of shocked headlines over plans to use treated sewer water as drinking water. But the town is hardly the only one to reuse dirty water. Full Story
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Wichita Falls is catching more than a little flak for its plan to take treated sewer water and use it for drinking water, a plan that got put on the fast track with the current drought. But the wisecracks hide an important fact — wastewater reuse is already common across the state. Full Story
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Betsy Madru, state Sen. Kel Seliger's former legislative director, now works for Waste Control Specialists, which runs a low-level radioactive waste site in Seliger's district. She says she understands why some would have questions about her move, but she added there was nothing improper. Full Story
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Texas' "sriracha delegation" on Monday made its long-awaited visit to California to woo the makers of the popular hot sauce, but it was no clearer at the conclusion of the visit what might come of it. Full Story
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In 2013, state lawmakers approved millions of dollars in funding to help repair roads damaged by trucks transporting fracking materials. A year later, many of the affected counties say that money will cover only a fraction of what they need. Full Story
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More than six months after a series of earthquakes surprised parts of North Texas, the mayors of two shaken-up towns told a state House subcommittee Monday that the state has moved too slowly in investigating what’s behind the phenomenon. Full Story
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