Rural communities face compounding reasons they can’t improve their water infrastructure, including inflation and a lack of human resources.
Environment
Coverage of climate, conservation, natural resources, and environmental policy shaping the state, from The Texas Tribune.
Justice Department tried to hide report warning that private border wall in Texas could collapse
The report confirms a ProPublica and Texas Tribune investigation that found the privately built fencing could collapse during major flooding. The federal government resisted making the findings public for more than a year.
Houston officials say state made the call on water boil notice
For more than 24 hours, nearly everyone in the nation’s fourth-most-populous city had been asked to boil water after a power outage at a water treatment plant Sunday.
Houstonians say the city fumbled sounding the alarm on boil water notice
Many residents in the nation’s fourth-most-populous city heard that they couldn’t drink tap water from friends or neighbors, not from City Hall.
Houston boil water notice forces schools to shut down
Millions of Houston residents are expected to be under a boil water notice until Tuesday after a power outage at a water treatment plant. At least four school districts canceled Monday classes.
An East Texas town must boil its water on Thanksgiving as officials seek a solution to aging infrastructure
Zavalla lost all water for several days. The Texas Department of Emergency Management has sent pallets of bottled water and a team to help.
Texans affected by pollution from concrete plants push state agency to tighten regulations
As the state’s environmental agency weighs new pollution limits on the plants, several lawmakers have filed bills that would put new restrictions on the facilities, which spew pollutants into mostly low-income neighborhoods.
Texas activists arrested in D.C. during protest against offshore oil export facility
Deepwater terminals proposed for the Gulf of Mexico will fuel oil output and export growth despite the Biden administration promises of steep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions.
Texas’ environmental regulators need to get tougher on polluters, group of lawmakers says
The group that reviews the effectiveness of state agencies recommended several changes to how the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality operates.
Texas votes: Abortion, border security and marijuana energize voters on Election Day
Texas voters cast their ballots Tuesday with a wide variety of issues on their minds, including the state’s grid and the Uvalde shooting.



