Rural Texas officials and civic leaders discuss economic development, health care and water supply in smaller communities

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Rural Texas officials, civic leaders and farmers spent two days discussing the challenges — and opportunities — the state’s more far-flung regions and communities face. From access to broadband internet and water supply to health care, people from every corner of Texas highlighted the economic and legislative needs the state’s rural residents have.

The Texas Tribune's rural symposium was held Nov. 13 and 14 at the University of Texas at San Antonio Downtown.

Lawmakers and rural Texas

Lawmakers representing rural areas of Texas foresee a Legislature emboldened by the 2024 elections bracing for a number of contentious political and policy battles this legislative session, including school vouchers and water infrastructure.

State Reps. Drew Darby, R-San Angelo; Mary González, D-Clint; and Gary VanDeaver, R-New Boston, acknowledged that the Texas House had lost several forceful voices for rural areas — some of whom were ousted for their opposition to school vouchers — and that the math on the issue had changed.

Still, they pledged that rural representatives would not stop fighting for their constituents’ interests, noting that fault lines in the Legislature often reflect an urban-rural divide rather than a partisan one. And they urged their urban colleagues to recognize that investing in rural communities, which power much of the state, would benefit all of Texas.

“It’s in our best interest to have a strong rural Texas,” VanDeaver said. “Because without a strong rural Texas, Texas ceases to become the Texas we all love.”

— Kayla Guo

Investing in Texas farms

Texas has the most farms in the country with 230,662 in total, but the state is losing about one farm a day, according to the Department of Agriculture.

Panelists David Gibson, Diana Padilla, Lillian Salerno, and David Volleman, discussed how changes in agriculture affect how farms do business and how more awareness of rural issues is needed. Issues with infrastructure and water supply have caused many farms to struggle. They said that there needs to be more funding for repairing water systems that help grow crops as well as further education about where Texans’ food comes from. In addition, they discussed how the next farm bill should address the need for more water storage, changes in urban policies for farms, and housing issues for farm workers.

Padilla, co-owner of Yahweh’s All Natural Farm and Garden in Harlingen, and Salerno, acting deputy undersecretary of the USDA, emphasized how urban areas are not prioritizing agricultural needs.

“Farming is really hard work but we have to have an awareness and respect (for) how important it is,” said Salerno. “I think we could really be an example for the rest of the country of showing that respect.”

– Xiomara Moore

Small town face rural brain drain

Small towns across the state, mainly in East and West Texas, have experienced population loss as mostly young people move to more urbanized areas after college, creating a rural brain drain.

Panelists Tania Moody, Lloyd Potter, Rick Rhodes and Wendy Cook discussed how small towns can save themselves from becoming ghost towns by investing in their communities and giving young people places that they are happy to live in. That includes improving these towns' infrastructure, supporting local businesses and revitalizing downtowns.

“If you love where you live, you need to prove it,” said Cook, who lives in Canadian and is executive director of the Citadelle Art Museum. “You prove it by training people to give them that capacity to serve on boards and leadership and you train them with connections. You ask them to bring that leverage back and use it to continually pour back into your community.”

– Xiomara Moore

Economic development in rural areas

Rural leaders talked about what is drawing young people to stay or leave their small communities, how they’re thinking about engaging and retaining young people, and ways to develop the youth to help them contribute to their towns.

The panelists included Michael Looney, vice president of economic development for the San Angelo Chamber of Commerce; Ann Vlach, executive director of Education to Employment Partners; and Jenni Winegarner, board president of the Canyon Independent School District.

The panelists discussed the importance of fostering more economic development that creates an incentive for young people to want to stay in their hometowns, helping students develop the “soft skills” of resume preparation and interviewing, and getting involved with and supporting public schools, which play an essential role in stimulating youth and community growth.

“We want to provide all these services and all these opportunities that are so important, but a lot of the kids coming through our schools today just want to have a say,” said Winegarner, who also emphasized the importance of helping students build and shape opportunities and not just consume what’s provided to them.

The speakers expressed a desire for lawmakers to help make it easier for rural communities to recruit large business enterprises, create more synergy between school districts and higher education institutions regarding career preparation, invest more funding into community colleges and increase the base funding that public schools receive.

— Jaden Edison

Withstanding natural disasters 

Texas is no stranger to extreme weather, but this past year has been particularly brutal — especially for rural Texas, a region that’s been walloped by severe storms and wildfires that left communities rebuilding.

“It’s been a rough time, but Texas is a place for tough people,” said Andy Holloway, a Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service agent based in Hemphill County. “Our ranchers are fighting like hell to survive and prosper again in the future.”

Going forward, James Henderson, a Panhandle rancher, and others on the panel said building resilience will require stronger community preparedness and improved interagency cooperation and communication.

Thomas Tunstall, director of the Center for Community and Business Research at the University of Texas at San Antonio, noted that Texas’s rapid growth contributes to escalating disaster-related damages, as new developments are often built in flood-prone areas.

"Larger cities like to base their structures on concrete. Well, where’s the water supposed to go?”" Murphy, the county judge, added.

– Alejandra Martinez

Rural health care

Dr. Deborah Birx, the former White House coronavirus response coordinator, discussed her latest public health project with Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center.

Last summer, she and a team from the Lubbock school spent weeks in Crane County, going door-to-door and surveying residents about their health.

With data like the kind Dr. Birx and her team were able to obtain, officials in Crane County and the Texas Legislature are now better equipped to tailor health care options and secure federal funding that directly impacts the community.

Birx also discussed that too often politicians and leaders focus too much on hospital closures in rural areas and not enough on how to develop health care so it fits into the lives of residents in more remote regions in the United States.

“I think what has happened is we try to apply urban standards to rural health care and rural health care hospitals and that totally misses the point,” she said. “You can’t make a rural hospital sustainable based on an urban model.”

— Terri Langford

Some places still waiting for broadband and water funds

Texas allocated an unprecedented $5 billion for broadband infrastructure and $1 billion for water infrastructure last year. In rural Texas, those investments have not automatically translated into immediate gains.

Rusty Moore, CEO of Big Bend Telephone Company, said that as the state continues to roll out funding, it needs to make sure accurate data informs which communities receive funding. Inaccurate mapping nationwide had made it difficult to identify which areas lack high speed internet access.

Rogelio Rodriguez, director of the Texas Infrastructure Fund at the Water Finance Exchange, said some rural communities lack the administrative capacity to seek state aid. To apply for state and federal dollars, communities typically have to submit considerable documentation, including audits and water conservation plans.

Laura Capper, CEO of EnergyMakers Advisory Group, hopes to see regulatory agencies at the federal and state level map out how the oil and gas industry can use desalination to get rid of its excess water efficiently, a process that could help address the state’s water shortage.

— Pooja Salhotra

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Disclosure: Texas A&M AgriLife, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, Texas Tech University, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center and University of Texas at San Antonio have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here.