The latest water supply news from The Texas Tribune.
Despite the record dry stretch, most Texans are still far from running out of water. But the drought's economic impact is beginning to extend beyond agriculture and into tourism, real estate and other staples of urban economies. Full Story
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On Nov. 8, Texans will vote on 10 constitutional amendments. Erika Aguilar of KUT News has a look at Proposition 2, which would allow the state to issue up to $6 billion in bonds for water infrastructure projects across Texas. Full Story
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An amendment to the Texas Constitution on the ballot next month will lower property taxes for landowners who practice good water stewardship. It received unanimous backing in the Legislature. Full Story
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Hamilton on efforts to boost faculty productivity, Grissom on newly uncovered evidence in an old murder case, Galbraith on a wind-powered construction boom, Dehn unfurls the new Texas Tribune Weekend Insider, Aguilar on this year's record number of deportations, Ramshaw and Tan on budget cuts and cervical cancer screenings, M. Smith on local control over student grades, Root and Ramshaw on Rick Perry's latest debate performance, Philpott on an issue that didn't get its due in that debate and Titus and Murphy on fundraising and spending in congressional races: The best of our best content from October 17 to 21, 2011. Full Story
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While already-sodden northern regions of the United States can prepare for above-average rains this winter, the worst one-year drought in Texas history looks set to persist, according to a federal winter forecast released today. Full Story
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You won't hear about the water problems out West during the GOP presidential debate, but as Ben Philpott reports for KUT News and the Texas Tribune, the problems are there — and the next President could play a role in the solutions. Full Story
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State Senate committees will soon begin studying the impact of drought on power generation, agriculture and the economy, along with how to improve Texas' response to wildfires, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst announced today. Full Story
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The town of Junction recently endured a six-week ban on outdoor watering, during which residents sometimes used bathwater to water lawns. With the prospect of drought becoming a way of life, Junction is searching for solutions. Full Story
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The deputy executive administrator of the Texas Water Development Board on overseeing the 295-page water plan, what the state should spend to fully ensure it has adequate water supplies and what scares her about the future. Full Story
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Murphy, Ramshaw and Root on Rick Perry and race, Philpott on Perry's vague economic plans, Tan and Wiseman on Barack Obama's foray into Texas to defend his jobs plan, Aguilar on Perry's proposal to send U.S. troops to Mexico, Ramshaw on efforts to leash rising health care costs, M. Smith on upcoming legal challenges to the state's school finance system, Aaronson interactively explores Medicare spending proposals, Galbraith on efforts to pass — and to oppose — a $6 billion water program, Grissom on the release of a man wrongly convicted of murder and Hamilton on efforts to let the public write some legislation: The best of our best content from October 3 to 7, 2011. Full Story
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Next month, Texans will go to the polls to decide whether to authorize $6 billion in bonding authority dedicated to building and fixing water infrastructure. But some conservatives and Tea Party members have concerns about the measure. Full Story
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The Texas Water Development Board's just-released 295-page report says that if Texas does not spend tens of billions more on water infrastructure, a drought as bad as that of the 1950s could cost Texans $116 billion per year by 2060. Full Story
The Texas Tech climate scientist and author of A Climate for Change: Global Warming Facts for Faith-Based Decisions on why why working in Texas, a state full of both prominent climate skeptics and extreme weather, is an "opportunity." Full Story
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At a board meeting on Wednesday, the Lower Colorado River Authority approved an emergency plan that could cut off water supplies to downriver rice farmers entirely next year if the drought worsens. Full Story
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The drought and extreme heat are taking their toll on school districts across Texas. Costly problems include cracks in building foundations, increased maintenance costs and loss of vegetation. Full Story
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If the drought continues well into next spring and summer, the electric grid could lose "potentially several thousand megawatts," according to an ERCOT official. That's roughly equivalent to several coal plants. Full Story
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Amidst a record-setting drought and neighborhood-devouring wildfires, we asked the insiders this week about water and fire policy. Full Story
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Fearing that this drought could reduce lake levels lower than ever before, the Lower Colorado River Authority's board will meet next week to discuss reducing or ending its water sales to downriver farmers next year. Full Story
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Odessa, running seriously low on water, is looking to the example set in El Paso, a desert city that has poured money into a desalination plant and invested in conservation. Full Story
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At a hearing today, power companies and state agencies slammed the Environmental Protection Agency over a measure aimed at reducing emissions from power plants in 27 states, including Texas. Full Story
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