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.
Environment
Coverage of climate, conservation, natural resources, and environmental policy shaping the state, from The Texas Tribune.
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Texas Legislature 2025
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.
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Environment
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.
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Running Out: Texas’ Water Crisis
From desalination to water treatment: Bill that prioritizes creating new water supplies get Texas Senate OK
Senate Bill 7, which won unanimous approval, is among legislation that seeks to avert a looming water crisis as the state’s population booms.
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Running Out: Texas’ Water Crisis
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.
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Environment
“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.
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Environment
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.
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Environment
Texas farmers say sewage-based fertilizer tainted with “forever chemicals” poisoned their land and killed their livestock
The fertilizer was promoted as an environmental win-win for years. An untold number of farmers and ranchers across Texas have spread it on their land.
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Environment
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.
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Energy
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.