Series Looks at Drought, How Texans Are Coping
The PBS NewsHour, in partnership with StateImpact Texas, takes a look at how two Texas communities are dealing with the Texas drought. Full Story
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State Needs to Plan Better for Droughts, Panel is Told
The process of desalination needs to be explored as an option for the future, experts testified Thursday in Austin before the House Natural Resources Committee. Full Story
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Opponents in Border County Aim to Put Brakes on Coal Rail Line Plan
Opponents of a coal company's plan to mine land in Eagle Pass are also fighting a plan to build a rail line to transport the coal to Mexico. Full Story
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![The bridge across the Rio Grande that connects Eagle Pass, Texas, to Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Mexico, Saturday, February 4, 2012.]()
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Video: Farmers Frustrated With Groundwater Regulations
Some farmers in West Texas oppose new regulations that cap the amount of water they can pump from wells that tap the Ogallala Aquifer. A two-year moratorium on enforcement has not appeased them. Full Story
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Farmers and Regulators Square Off in Battle Over Ogallala Aquifer Rules
As the Ogallala Aquifer slowly declines, some West Texas farmers are facing a new type of regulation: a limit on the amount of water they would pump from wells on their own land. And many aren't happy about it. Full Story
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![Left to right: Leland Stukey Kelly Young, J.O. Dawdy and Kirby Lewis photographed in Floydada, TX, on Mar. 8, 2012.]()
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Weekend Insider: Class Sizes, Groundwater Limits
In this episode of the Texas Tribune Weekend Insider, we look at growing elementary class sizes and limits on groundwater use in West Texas. Full Story
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Urban Water Use Climbs Despite Restrictions
In 2011, residents of some large Texas cities increased their water usage — despite the widespread adoption of restrictions on lawn-watering. Full Story
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TribWeek: In Case You Missed It
Aaronson and Tan interactively map women's health program providers in Texas, Galbraith talks to the state's climatologist about (what else?) the drought, Grissom with the latest on violence in youth prisons, Hamilton on why UTEP's low four-year graduation rate may not matter, Murphy's interactive comparing graduation rates and more at public universities in Texas, Ramsey on the redistricting end game (we think), Ramshaw on the state health commissioner's attack on Planned Parenthood and Root on the closing of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram's storied Austin bureau: The best of our best content from February 27 to March 2, 2012. Full Story
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With Water Denied, Rice Farmers Face an Uncertain Future
The Lower Colorado River Authority decided Thursday night that there wasn’t enough water in the Highland Lakes to send water downstream to rice farmers in Southeast Texas. Terrence Henry of KUT News and StateImpact Texas reports on where the farmers go from here. Full Story
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![Jose Avila, left, and Hilario Luna on June 13, 2011, repair an overflow damaged by crawdads on a levee of Mike Burnside's rice fields, flooded with water from the Colorado River, near Bay City.]()
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State Climatologist Has Eye on the Sky for Texas
John Nielsen-Gammon, Texas' state climatologist since 2000, has seen his duties explode in the last 18 months amid public clamor for information on the drought. Full Story
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Effects of Landmark Groundwater Ruling Still Unclear
Legal experts and property owners are still digesting the ramifications of a Texas Supreme Court ruling that landowners own the water beneath their land. As Mose Buchele of KUT News reports for StateImpact Texas, the consequences for landowners and conservationists remain murky. Full Story
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Bad News Expected Today for Texas Rice Farmers
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. Full Story
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![Residents of Lake Travis have extended staircases and moved docks further out to accommodate lower lake levels. Some say the declining levels are bringing down property values.]()
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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. Full Story
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![The Conoco Phillips Sweeny refinery in Old Ocean on February 21, 2012 along Texas 35.]()
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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. Full Story
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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. Full Story
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![Low water levels at Lake Travis because of drought; photo taken May 16, 2011.]()
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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. Full Story
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A Rush for Water Wells as Texas Drought Drags On
As the drought drags on, many Texans are getting their own water wells drilled. But the growing demand has some worried that the groundwater could start drying up, too. Full Story
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![Workers with Bee Cave Drilling install a jackhammer bit on the drilling rig while putting in a water well on a private lot in Spicewood, Texas on February 6, 2012.]()
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TribWeek: In Case You Missed It
Aguilar on an environmental battle in South Texas, Galbraith on the impact of the drought, Grissom on the latest in the Michael Morton case, Hamilton and Theobald on plans for greater scrutiny of faculty performance, Murphy on Rick Perry's campaign donors and expenditures, Ramsey on where we stand on redistricting, Ramshaw on the intense interest in stem cell rules, Root on a congressman's controversial pipeline holdings, M. Smith on the backlash against student testing and Tan on the fight for a new medical school in Austin: The best of our best content from February 6-10, 2012. Full Story
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What if There's a Mega-Drought? Comptroller Considers Impact
A report released Wednesday by the Texas comptroller's office looks at the impact of the current drought and other scenarios. Full Story
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BP Spill Money for Texas: $100M — and Counting
Unlike other Gulf states, Texas beaches did not get soaked with oil after the BP spill two years ago. Nonetheless, $100 million — and possibly far more, depending on the courts and Congress — is about to start flowing to Texas from BP for coastal restoration. Full Story
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![The beach in the Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge on South Padre Island.]()
Credit: Eddie Seal
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