Texas’ biggest single solution to providing enough water for its soaring population in the coming decades is using more surface water, including about two dozen new large reservoirs. But climate change has made damming rivers a riskier bet.
Environment
Coverage of climate, conservation, natural resources, and environmental policy shaping the state, from The Texas Tribune.
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Environment
Black residents in Corpus Christi file a civil rights complaint to stop Texas’ first desalination plant
Since 2007, Hillcrest residents have sued to challenge plans for a sewage treatment plant in their neighborhood, and then bridge construction.
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Energy
Abandoned “dry hole” oil wells are polluting Texas farms, ranches and groundwater. The state won’t fix them.
Wildcatters drilled thousands of wells looking for oil and abandoned the dry holes. Some are spewing contaminated water.
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Climate Change in Texas
EPA will center climate change response in Texas on sea level rise, floods, drought and severe storms
The federal agency plans to increase efforts to help states adapt to the effects of climate change most damaging to each region.
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Climate Change in Texas
Texas will build more than 50 new electric car charging locations along major highways
The $408 million approved Tuesday by the Federal Highway Administration will help build a network of charging facilities every 50-70 miles along certain major Texas highways.
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Economy
They saved to buy their own mobile homes. Then the land beneath them was sold to an investor.
Mobile homes are a vital source of affordable housing for around 2 million Texans. But as Texas cities grow, many mobile home parks are being closed and redeveloped, pushing out longtime residents.
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Environment
To save water in Texas, these nonprofits are paying farmers to leave it in reservoirs
As Texas continues to battle drought, groups are trying a market-based solution to help farmers and protect what little water is left.
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The 2022 Texas Tribune Festival
After cancer-causing chemicals were found in Fifth Ward soil, Houston mayor says cleanup plans are inadequate
The city’s health department found dioxins in soil samples along the fence line of a Union Pacific rail yard. Mayor Sylvester Turner said during the 2022 Texas Tribune Festival that plans to clean up the contamination should now include relocating residents.
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Environment
EPA may try to block what could be the first seawater desalination plant built in Texas
Citing water quality concerns, the Environmental Protection Agency may refuse to recognize a permit that Texas approved Thursday for a marine desalination plant at the Port of Corpus Christi.
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Environment
Mandatory home buyouts are dismantling a flood-prone Houston community
Harris County’s mandatory program to buy homes in six neighborhoods that have found themselves under flood waters over and over is quickly tearing apart the community fabric of Allen Field.