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Running Out: Texas’ Water Crisis

Store, harvest, fix: How Texas can save its water supply

State lawmakers are poised to devote billions to save the state’s water supply. These are some of the ways the state could spend the money.

Treated water at the Walnut Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant on Tuesday, March 25, 2025 in Austin, TX. The treatment plant will undergo a billion dollar expansion starting this summer to meet the increasing demand due to the growth the city has faced. Sergio Flores for The Texas Tribune

Bartender Jimmy Verneuil washes glasses in a series of basins at the High Sierra Bar and Grill in Terlingua. The restaurant has taken a variety of steps to conserve water usage including reducing the flow of faucets and toilets, using sanitizing wash basins to clean glasses and only providing water to customers upon request. “It's amazing how many people in a restaurant say that they want water with their meal, and then they don't drink it,” said High Sierra owner Tamara Jo Drilling. “So we don't offer it.”

Conservation

City of Odessa Water Distribution employees work through the night as they attempt to repair a broken water main Tuesday, June 14, 2022 in Odessa. According to Mayor of Odessa Javier Joven, repairs were completed around 3:45 a.m. Wednesday.

Fixing old infrastructure

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Hector Sepúlveda pours a sample of the final concentrate water in the desalination process in the Kay Bailey Desalination Plant in El Paso, Texas on March 4, 2025.

Desalination

The Archimedes screw pump is used for moving water and sludge, from a lower to a higher elevation. Wastewater treatment process at SAWS’ Steven M. Clouse Water Recycling Center in San Antonio, Texas, Friday, Aug. 23, 2024.

Water reuse

RO filters in the Kay Bailey Hutchison Desalination Plant remove salt from the Hueco Bolson aquifer and purify the water to drinking quality in El Paso, Texas on March 4, 2025.

Aquifer storage and recovery

Darwyn Hanna, 75, designed his home in Bastrop County with a rain collection system that fills his 25,000 gallon gravity flow cistern which he currently uses on his pecan and fig trees; if need be, this cistern can be filtered and provide potable water for him and his wife for two years. Concerned about the future of water, specifically the poaching of water aquifers, Mr. Hanna is very active in supporting the Lost Pines Groundwater Conservation District. 
Monday, September 8, 2014.                                                                                                                                                                     
Callie Richmond for the Texas Tribune
(Satija:Water Marketing)

Rainwater harvesting

The American Dam diverts water in the Rio Grande between the U.S. and Mexico in El Paso, Texas on March 6, 2025.

Reservoirs


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Economy Energy Environment Politics State government 89th Legislative Session Greg Abbott Texas House of Representatives Texas Legislature Texas Senate