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Energy and Environment Reporting for Texas

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Water Rights

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After Days of Rain, the Drought is Still Here

Rains fell across much of Texas the past few days. The Dallas-Fort Worth area received between three and four inches of rain, Houston got under an inch,Ā and Austin got a good soaking of two inches. So what effect have these rains had on the drought? ā€œItā€™s really not a big change at all,ā€ says Bob […]

Five Ways to Survive the Drought

While rain is making its way across of much of Texas this weekend, it will likely not be enough to bring the state out of its record one-year drought. Ā All of Texas east of Interstate 35, the highway that runs through the middle of the state, needs between eight to twenty more inches of rain […]

The Texas Drought, As Seen from Space (Things Don’t Look Good)

A drought is a strange type of disaster. While hurricanes, tornadoes and floods do their damage quickly and dramatically, drought is like a slow death, a drying out of life and land. A house can be rebuilt after a flood recedes, but with a drought all you can do is wait for rain. And wait. […]

A History of Drought and Extreme Weather in Texas

What was it like to be there for the first drought in Texas? Does the past have anything to tell us about our future? A new timeline of droughts and heat in Texas has some answers. The list, put together by the Texas Water Resources Institute (TWRI), the state’s water research group at Texas A&M […]

Now Read This: Our Top 5 Stories From Last Week

In case you missed it, here are the most-read new stories from last week: Things Get Testy Between Rice Professor and Alaskan Congressman: At a recent hearing on drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, historian and Rice University professor Douglas Brinkley got into a heated exchange with Rep. Don Young of Alaska. Texas Asks […]

Small Texas Town Running Out of Water Makes National News

The town of Groesbeck’s water issues have been making news for over a week now. The town is running out of water, and while estimates vary as to exactly when that will happen, everyone seems to agree it’s a real enough possibility in the near future to be worried. The town approved a stopgap measure […]

The Drought Claims Another Victim: The A&M Student Bonfire

It was supposed to burn tonight, a stack of wood over thirty feet high, with an outhouse painted burnt orange on top. In a tradition dating back to 1909, Texas A&M University students and alumni gather together to light a massive bonfireĀ before the annual rivalry football game with the University of Texas at Austin. This […]

A Sign of Pride for Brown Lawns

Good news for the many Texans living through the drought who are letting their grass die. A new campaign by the Central Texas Water Efficiency Network (a group of water providers and conservation advocates) allows you to show off your dying grass as a model for conservation. Free signs are now available to residents to […]

Texas Town’s Taps Still Running

Earlier this week we asked, What Happens When Water Runs Out? One of the locales on a government list of places expected to run out of water looked poised to go dry any week now. The small town of Groesbeck, with just 4,328 people, gets all of its water from the Navasota river, which is […]

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