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Energy and Environment Reporting for Texas

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Drought, wildfires, and extreme weather — is this the new normal for Texas?

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January 26, 2012

How the Drought is Hurting Parks and Wildlife Funding

At a hearing this week on funding for Texas state parks, several people voiced concern that as drought and extreme temperatures continue, funding will evaporate for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. Erika Aguilar of KUT News, StateImpact Texas’ local radio partner, has more: “If we are going to keep these special treasures for all […]

January 25, 2012

Rain! Tornadoes! Hail! No, the Drought Ain’t Over

It was a wild night of weather for several parts of Texas last night. Parts of Austin got over six inches of rain, power went off and roads were closed in San Antonio, and parts of Houston are under a tornado warning. Three tornadoes have touched down northwest of the city this morning. Here’s a map […]

January 24, 2012

Spicewood Beach is Days Away from Running Out of Water

Monday we told you about Spicewood Beach, a community in Burnet County that was going to run out of water within weeks. Today, despite several inches of rain in the forecast, an alert was sent out saying that moment may be just days away. There are 500 water meters in the Spicewood Beach Regional Water System. […]

January 23, 2012

More Texas Water Woes, This Time at the Beach

It sounds strange to say it, but Spicewood Beach is running out of water. The Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) released an advisory today to communities in the Spicewood Beach Regional Water System in Burnet County asking customers “to immediately cut back on all nonessential water use.” Despite being adjacent to the Lower Colorado River, the wells […]

Another Texas Town Saved From Running Out of Water

Texas towns running out of water? It’s been a recurring story lately as the drought continues to take its toll on rivers, lakes and reservoirs. First, there was Groesbeck. Like many small towns in Texas, Groesbeck has been struggling with how to supply its residents with water in the midst of record-breaking heat and drought. In November, […]

January 17, 2012
January 16, 2012

Now Read This: The StateImpact Texas Top 5

It was a varied week of reporting for our StateImpact Texas readers over the last week, with articles on the drought, tax breaks, solar farms and tiger prawns. In case you missed any of them, here are the top five StateImpact Texas articles published since last week: The Rain in Texas is Mostly… Well, Everywhere: […]

January 12, 2012

Half a Percent of Texas is No Longer in Drought

The drought in the South has taken an enormous toll on the states of Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and New Mexico. In Texas alone, the state has lost billions of dollars and counting. The drought has affected many parts of everyday life: burgers, peanut butter, even Christmas trees were hurt. Well, those rains this week across much of […]

January 11, 2012

Texas and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Year

New year-end data and maps from the government show what a year 2011 was for heat and drought in Texas. Records were broken across the state, as extreme weather reached levels never seen before. First, Texas was truly a red state last year, winning the distinction of being the driest state in the nation. States […]

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