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.
Environment
Coverage of climate, conservation, natural resources, and environmental policy shaping the state, from The Texas Tribune.
Posted in
Economy
UH Creates Fund to Attract Science and Technology Faculty
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.
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Energy
Natural Gas Driving Away Investment in Power Plants
More power generation could help could help Texas’ increasingly strained electric grid. But as Mose Buchele of KUT News reports for StateImpact Texas, low natural gas prices are making it less attractive for investors to build power plants.
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Energy
Conservation a Growing Focus for Industrial Plants as Drought Stirs Fears
For Texas industry, the drought has brought a conservation focus at many plants, which may have to pay more for future supplies.
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Energy
Texas’ Coal-Fired Power Fell Sharply in January
The amount of Texas electrical power produced by coal plunged in January compared with a year earlier, and cheap natural gas appears to be the cause. Wind power production, meanwhile, has soared.
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Criminal Justice
Texas Supreme Court Hands Victory to Landowners in Landmark Water Case
In a case with potentially vast implications for groundwater rules, the court has unanimously ruled in favor of two farmers in the San Antonio area who challenged a local aquifer authority’s restrictions on their well use.
Posted in
Energy
TCEQ’s Executive Director Retiring
Mark Vickery, the executive director of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, will retire in May — and his successor has yet to be chosen.
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Energy
Updated: LCRA Passes Water Plan for Lakes
The Lower Colorado River Authority will soon decide whether rice farmers near the Gulf Coast will get water this year when the lakes near Austin are low because of the drought.
Posted in
Energy
In Texas, Repurposing Pollution to Pump for Oil
Texas leads the nation in making and using electricity, which also makes it the nation’s top polluter. But as Dave Fehling of StateImpact Texas and KUHF reports, the state’s biggest power plant has found a surprising use for some of that pollution: drilling for oil.
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Energy
River Authority to Consider Far-Reaching Water Plan
The Lower Colorado River Authority, the utility that controls water flowing from the Highland Lakes to the Gulf Coast, is set to approve a new plan for allocating water. But as Mose Buchele of StateImpact Texas reports, the authority will first hear from the various — and often feuding — communities relying on the affected water sources.