A boil-water notice in Houston made national news. In rural Texas, it’s a way of life.
Rural communities face compounding reasons they can’t improve their water infrastructure, including inflation and a lack of human resources. Full Story
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![David Wilshusen, 69, stands outside his home in Houston County, Texas on on Wednesday, November 30, 2022. (Emil Lippe for The Texas Tribune)]()
Credit: Emil Lippe for 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. Full Story
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![Erosion can be seen along the privately funded border wall that was built less than a year ago on June 19, 2020 in Mission, Texas.
Verónica G. Cárdenas for The Texas Tribune/ProPublica]()
Credit: Verónica G. Cárdenas for The Texas Tribune/ProPublica -
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. Full Story
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![Isaiah Chirip helps push a pallet of bottled water during a water distribution and free flu vaccination event at the Holman Street Baptist Church in Houston on nov. 28, 2022.]()
Credit: Mark Felix for The Texas Tribune -
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. Full Story
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![Eboni Davis and her boyfriend Jesse Holloway load water into their car outside an H-E-B grocery store in Houston on Nov. 28, 2022.]()
Credit: Mark Felix for The Texas Tribune -
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. Full Story
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![A notice that customers are limited to two cases of water at a Houston HEB on Nov. 28, 2022.]()
Credit: Mark Felix for The Texas Tribune -
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. Full Story
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![An Ector Count resident, who declined to give their name, loads their car with cases of bottled water after the majority of Ector County was placed on a boil water notice early Tuesday, June 14, 2022 in Odessa, Texas. The resident and their partner, who also declined to give their name, stated that they had been without water since approximately 7 p.m. Monday evening. “I know I payed my water bill” one said when they were attempting to determine why they did not have any running water.]()
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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. Full Story
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![Easy Mix Concrete Services LLC in southwest Austin.]()
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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. Full Story
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![A tanker loads crude at a new onshore terminal operated by Enbridge outside Corpus Christi.]()
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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. Full Story
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![A view of the Texas Capitol from the extension building on June 22, 2022.]()
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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. Full Story
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Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune -
Rural Texas is the state’s foundation. And it’s in jeopardy.
Downtowns are deserted, hospitals are closing, teachers are leaving. Every part of life in rural Texas is harder — but it’s worth saving. Full Story
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![Vehicles pass through Dublin in Central Texas on March 25, 2021.]()
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Corpus Christi sold its water to Exxon, gambling on desalination. So far, it is losing the bet.
Concerns over ecological damage to Corpus Christi Bay have delayed plans to convert sea water to drinking water for years in this booming Gulf Coast city, where environmentalists see water supply as a “chokehold” to block new fossil fuel infrastructure. Full Story
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![A seabird on the shore of Nueces Bay showing Corpus Christi's refinery row. Plans to open plants that will turn seawater into fresh water have sparked concerns that their discharge will cause the bay's salinity to rise and devastate its ecosystem.]()
Credit: Dylan Baddour/Inside Climate News -
Port Arthur pollution fight shows how Texas blocks citizen protests
A local activist went before a judge, arguing for lower pollution limits on two new liquified natural gas facilities. The judge sided with him, but the state environmental agency sided with the companies. Full Story
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![John Beard, an environmental advocate who grew up in Port Arthur and worked in local refineries, on July 2, 2018.]()
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Texas’ plan to provide water for a growing population virtually ignores climate change
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. Full Story
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![Concerned residents Lindy Guest, 68, left, John Brooks, 74, center, and Jim Vignali, 70, far-right, look at a map of Red River County where the Marvin Nichols Reservoir will be located, at Cuthand United Methodist Church in Bogata, Texas, on July 26, 2022. The reservoir has been in the works for decades, but never gained momentum to start. Residents now fear a starting date is near as Texas droughts worsen, and water supply needs in the DFW metro area rapidly increase. Thousands of acres will be flooded and an estimated 60 homes will be lost.]()
Credit: Ben Torres for The Texas Tribune -
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. Full Story
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![Adam Carrington, pastor at Brooks AME Worship Center, said the city is “sacrificing Hillcrest yet again to support industry’s need.”]()
Credit: Dylan Baddour/Inside Climate News -
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. Full Story
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![Schuyler Wight at his property near the former sulfur well he's working on getting the state to plug.]()
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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. Full Story
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![A dry boat ramp at Falcon State Park on Aug. 18, 2022. Water levels usually come up to the pier but drought conditions have caused the water level to leave the boat ramp dry for almost a year.]()
Credit: Michael Gonzalez for The Texas Tribune -
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. Full Story
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![A Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV plug in hybrid vehicle is charged at a public charging station in Brooklyn, New York on Saturday, Sept. 3, 2022.]()
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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. Full Story
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![Sisters Edith, Carolina, and Maribel Velarde watch as workers from Magnolia Movers struggle to fit their fridge through the front door of their home at Congress Mobile Home Park in Austin on Aug. 29, 2022.]()
Credit: Evan L'Roy/The Texas Tribune -
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. Full Story
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![Water marks are seen on the dam gates and concrete at the Falcon Dam in Starr County on Aug. 18, 2022. This area of the reservoir is normally under water, but because of an extended drought, water levels have been below 20% full since earlier this year. The Falcon Dam was dedicated by U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower and Mexican President Adolfo Ruiz Cortines in 1953.]()
Credit: Michael Gonzalez for The Texas Tribune