Statewide reservoir levels are at their lowest point ever for this time of year, according to National Weather Service Southern Region climate program manager Victor Murphy. Murphy says many reservoir levels have not changed much since November, which is when reservoirs are typically at their lowest. “Quite honestly we should be higher,” Murphy says. “We [...]
Update: As of Thursday morning none of the bills mentioned in this article had been brought to the floor with the exception of HB2133 and HB1509. Wednesday, the legislative calendar is inundated with bills that would effect how the state handles its water issues. In total, six water bills are up for a second reading [...]
New legislation could plug the leaks in the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality’s (TCEQ) reporting requirements for municipalities running low on water. Right now, a water utility can be nearly tapped out, and it still isn’t required to report the problem. Lyle Larson, R-San Antonio, has filed a bill, HB 252, that would require water [...]
We recently sat down with a panel of land experts at the Texas Tribune‘s Oct. 29 summit on water to discuss agriculture and state water management. The panel featured Texas Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples, David Langford of the Texas Wildlife Association and Laura Huffman of The Nature Conservancy of Texas. You can watch it in full [...]
If water was gold, graywater recycling might be a watershed. But even in these drier times, a graywater recycling system remains a bit beyond the average homeowner’s budget and Texas’ water options.
A new report by the Texas AgriLife Extension Service says that only a few smart irrigation systems worked right during the drought. What’s a smart irrigation system? Normal sprinkler systems require their owners to manually set irrigation schedules. But, smart irrigation controllers use an array of sensors to determine just how much water is needed [...]
Water, water everywhere. Let’s keep some drops to drink. But how? That’s why scientists, politicians, and water utility leaders are meeting up today for the 2012 Texas Water Summit from the University of Texas at Austin’s Academy of Medicine, Engineering and Science. It will feature prominent statewide leaders on water issues like state climatologist John Nielsen-Gammon, San Antonio Water [...]
The Texas Supreme Court has reached a ruling in a case that will have widesweeping implications for the way groundwater is regulated across the state. The Edwards Aquifer Authority and the State of Texas, V Burrell Day and Joel McDaniel, centered on whether property owners could be compensated if a water authority limited the amount [...]
The next couple days will be busy ones at the headquarters of the Lower Colorado River Authority. The agency that controls the water flowing from the Highland Lakes to the Gulf Coast is set to approve a new Water Management Plan on Tuesday. But before it makes a final decision, it will hear from the [...]
Last week we reported on the top 25 water users in Austin, with a map showing where the biggest consumers are located (shown below). On the list were familiar names like Lance Armstrong, Cedric Benson and Roy Spence. Coming in at number seven was Congressman Michael McCaul, who lives in Westlake. He used 1.4 million [...]
StateImpact seeks to inform and engage local communities with broadcast and online news focused on how state government decisions affect your lives.
Learn More »