Drought Response Sparks the Battle of St. Augustine
The state's drought and the resulting need for conservation is starting to affect voters who are not usually aware of water shortages — people in the suburbs, with lush, thirsty lawns. Full Story
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Wichita Falls Among Cities Whose Water Could Run Dry By Year's End
Wichita Falls is the largest city in Texas in danger of running out of water. According to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, the city of more than 100,000 could run out of water in less than six months. Full Story
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![A plant employee, Charles Cupp, takes water samples at the Cypress Water Treatment Plant in Wichita Falls, on Friday, January 25, 2013. This plant is responsible for the membrane reverse osmosis process being used on the city's water supply. The city estimates that it's total water reserves are hovering around the 40 percent mark as of this year forcing it to begin implementing it's stage 3 emergency water restrictions and furthering steps toward increasing its water reclamation initiative.]()
Credit: Brandon Thibodeaux -
Updated Data App: Track Texas Reservoir Levels
Texas endured the most intense drought in recorded state history in 2011, and it has yet to bounce back. Using data collected from the Texas Water Development Board's reservoir status tracker, we are relaunching our auto-updating map that visualizes the current state of Texas reservoirs. Full Story
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Recycling Oilfield Water Has Far to Go in Texas
In Pennsylvania's Marcellus Shale, natural gas companies recycle water as a matter of course. But recycling is only getting started in the Texas oilfields because using freshwater for hydraulic fracturing is cheap. Full Story
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![Employees at Omni Water Solutions working on the "HIPPO," a mobile frackwater recycling unit.]()
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Blue Mound Residents Boiling Over Water Rate
In the North Texas town of Blue Mound, the water system is owned by a private corporation. Residents say this results in painful rate hikes. Private water companies say their rates reflect the high costs of providing water to far-flung areas. Full Story
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![Roy Thornhill Sr. (center) voices his concern as residents of the City of Blue Mound, Texas, gather at their community center, on Monday, March 4, 2013. The small North Texas City of Blue Mound held a town hall meeting on Monday, March 4, for its residents to sign a petition against what they say are unjustifiably high water rate increases.]()
Credit: Brandon Thibodeaux -
The Polling Center: Water Not Floating to Top With Texas Voters
Despite water’s saturation of the political priority list, the public still appears ambivalent about Texas’ water needs and out of step with state legislators on how to pay for it, according to the latest UT/Texas Tribune Poll. Full Story
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Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman / Ed Schipul -
Lawmakers Say Mexico Falling Short on Its End of Water Treaty
A decades-old treaty that mandates how Mexico and the U.S. share water from rivers is once again the genesis of growing frustrations from U.S. landowners and lawmakers. Full Story
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![The Rio Grande is the ending place of many high-speed pursuits. People escape consequences by driving their vehicles into the water and swimming to Mexico.]()
Credit: Callie Richmond -
Ambiguities Reign in Regulations for Groundwater Fracking
Can groundwater authorities in Texas require oil and gas drillers to obtain permits for the water they use in hydraulic fracturing? No one knows for sure, thanks to ambiguities in the water code. Full Story
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TribWeek: In Case You Missed It
The results of the new University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll on everything from the top race of 2014 to the gun debate, Aaronson on Medicaid expansion, Aguilar on a financial thaw in the Mexican oil patch, Batheja on cents and sensibility, M. Smith on school choice, Rocha and Dehn on TWIA reform, Galbraith on water and fracking, Murphy’s interactive map of poverty in the state, E. Smith's TribLive interview with House Public Education Chairman Jimmie Don Aycock and Root on a lobby couple living large and reporting small: The best of our best content from March 4-8, 2013. Full Story
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Credit: Graphic by Todd Wiseman -
Fracking Increase Spurs Fears Over Water Use
The amount of water used in hydraulic fracturing has stirred concerns around Texas, especially as the drought wears on. Aware that they are under the spotlight, drillers are testing out recycling and other water-saving techniques. Full Story
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![A water truck parked near a West Texas drilling rig. Oil and gas companies' use of water for hydraulic fracturing has sparked growing concerns.]()
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UT/TT Poll: Texans Favor Surcharge to Help State Pay for Water Projects
Water is a top issue with lawmakers, if not quite there with voters, according to the University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll. And voters prefer adding a surcharge, based on water usage, to help pay for water projects. Full Story
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Water Planners Floating Several Reservoir Projects
Reservoir projects are inching forward throughout Texas as an answer to the drought, but environmentalists argue that they are unnecessary and expensive. Full Story
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![A view of Lake Gilmer in Gilmer, Texas.]()
Credit: Allison V. Smith -
Danny Krienke: The TT Interview
The North Plains Groundwater Conservation District board member on the district’s unusually strict water-meter requirements, the drought and how the iPad is making it possible to farm from a cafe. Full Story
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Fraser Seeks Overhaul of Water Development Board
In addition to the discussions of water infrastructure funding at the Capitol, an even more basic issue is also on the table: whether to restructure the Texas Water Development Board. Full Story
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Water-Reuse Projects Move Forward, Despite "Toilet-to-Tap" Concerns
Several Texas cities have plans to implement potable reuse projects, which put treated wastewater through extra chemical and biological processes before it eventually becomes part of the drinking supply. Full Story
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![Odor Control tanks stand outside the Wastewater Treatment Plant in Wichita Falls, on Friday, January 25, 2013.]()
Credit: Brandon Thibodeaux -
Hearing Targets Water Conservation, Cleanup
At a joint House and Senate Natural Resources Committee on Tuesday, officials found common ground over the need for conservation and the development of new technologies that could be used to increase the state’s water reserves. Full Story
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Pitts and Williams Say School Funding Debate Can Wait
Ongoing school finance litigation will likely prevent the Legislature from discussing education funding issues this session, two Republican budget leaders said at a TribLive event Thursday. Full Story
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Bills Aim to Douse HOAs' Xeriscaping Restrictions
Texas homeowners associations often require members to keep plush lawns. But some are easing their rules as the drought continues, and two Texas lawmakers have introduced legislation to prevent the groups from restricting xeriscaping. Full Story
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![A xeriscaped garden in Austin, TX]()
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Perry Talks Water, Tax Relief in State of the State
In his seventh State of the State address, Gov. Rick Perry ignored controversial issues and urged state lawmakers to do the nitty gritty work of government: fund water projects, build more roads and improve education. Full Story
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At Railroad Commission, a Push to Modernize
The Texas Railroad Commission regulates one of the most advanced industries in the world — oil and gas drilling. Yet the commission’s software systems, many of its rules and even its name are from another era. But change is coming. Full Story
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![Local pumper Bobby Thomason works on cleaning up an old well that was recently worked over to start producing again on a lease in Caldwell County near Luling, January 22, 2012.]()
Credit: Jennifer Whitney
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