Here’s what you need to know if you don’t have access to clean water or are concerned about burst pipes
As power returns, half the state has issues with its water supply, and thawing pipes are at risk of bursting and flooding homes. Full Story
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![Nao Ohdrea pours water into a container at Meanwhile Brewery in Austin on Feb. 18, 2021. Several breweries were offering free water to residents without running water. Many Texas residents are still without power and many don't have clean drinking water or working water at all.]()
Credit: Sergio Flores for The Texas Tribune -
"What happened is completely unacceptable": Gov. Greg Abbott calls for winterization of Texas energy system
Abbott also blasted the Electric Reliability Council of Texas for its handling of the recent winter storm. Full Story
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![Gov. Greg Abbott speaks at a press conference regarding Texas’ emergency response to an unprecedented winter storm gripping Texas. Feb 13, 2021.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
Texas prepares to test for lead in schools’ drinking water for the first time
An updated EPA rule requires drinking water in elementary schools be tested for lead and copper — a mandate that emerged from the Flint, Michigan, water crisis. Full Story
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![Water fountains at Northside ISD in San Antonio on Aug. 11, 2020.]()
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Toxic substance or water supply? Lawmakers to weigh whether wastewater from oil fields could replenish the state's aquifers
A recent EPA decision will allow Texas to regulate water discharges from oil drilling operations. Some lawmakers see a future water supply for the state in the decision, while environmental groups — and some scientists — warn it could be risky. Full Story
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![Fracking water retention pond near Big Spring, Texas.]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera for The Texas Tribune -
Texas ranchers, activists and local officials are bracing for megadroughts brought by climate change
A new study from the University of Texas at Austin and Texas A&M University warns that droughts in the latter part of this century could be the worst on record. Full Story
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![Bill Hyman, executive director of the Independent Cattlemen’s Association of Texas, with cattle at his ranch in Austin on July 21, 2020.]()
Credit: Allie Goulding/The Texas Tribune -
West Texas detention facility enacting water conservation measures after depletion of local water tanks
The Sierra Blanca facility, which houses ICE detainees, shuts down its water supply at 11 p.m. daily to allow its on-site water tanks to replenish overnight. Full Story
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![West Texas detention facility in Sierra Blanca.]()
Credit: Tom Barry for The Texas Tribune -
Plastic company set to pay $50 million settlement in water pollution suit brought on by Texas residents
A judge had ruled that the company illegally dumped billions of plastic pellets and other pollutants into Lavaca Bay and other waterways. Full Story
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![Contractors hired by Formosa clean up plastic pellets and powder along the bank of Cox Creek. Wilson has said this has been largely uneffective and a waste of resources. Point Comfort, Texas. MArch 20, 2019.]()
Credit: Emree Weaver / The Texas Tribune -
The Texas water industry faces a looming workforce shortage as it struggles to attract new talent
As a generation of water and wastewater operators near retirement in Texas, it could become more difficult to provide safe drinking water and to protect state waterways from pollutants, experts say. Full Story
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![Austin's Ullrich water treatment plant off of Westlake Drive in west Austin on March 2, 2005.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
Amid industrial boom, Corpus Christi officials look to meet growing water demand
As more oil and gas facilities come online in the Coastal Bend, the city and port of Corpus — and a handful of private companies — are planning to build a bevy of seawater desalination plants. Full Story
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![The inside of the Kay Bailey Hutchison Desalination Plant in El Paso on April 16, 2012.]()
Credit: Ivan Pierre Aguirre for The Texas Tribune -
Report: Toxic herbicide found in many Texans' drinking water
Nearly 500 water utilities across the state tested positive for atrazine — a weed killer — which can lead to harmful health effects, according to a new report. The Environmental Working Group also found that utilities are testing water during times when the herbicide isn't being used as much — and that they may be lowballing the results. Full Story
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Austin lifts city-wide boil water notice
After seven days of boiling their water, Austin Water customers are once again allowed to consume water directly from the tap. Full Story
![Austin's Ullrich water treatment plant off of Westlake Drive in west Austin on March 2, 2005.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
Austin issues city-wide boil water notice; calls for action "to avoid running out of water"
As Austin Water works to stabilize the water treatment system, customers are being asked to boil water for at least three minutes before drinking it. Full Story
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![Record rainfall in Llano and Burnet counties in the Texas Hill Country cause major flooding in Marble Falls on Oct. 16, 2018.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
After historic Texas flooding, officials will likely open more floodgates on Central Texas dam
After the wettest September in Texas history, multiple Central Texas reservoirs are completely full. That has forced officials to consider releasing a historic amount of water down the Colorado River. Full Story
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![Record rainfall in Llano and Burnet counties in the Texas Hill Country cause major flooding in Marble Falls on Oct. 16, 2018.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
State lawmaker to Trump: Don't overlook Mexican water treaty
Allowing Mexico to fall short on its water deliveries is "rewarding bad behavior," state Rep. Lyle Larson said. But the commission that monitors the treaty says Mexico is currently ahead with its water obligations. Full Story
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![The Rio Grande at the New Mexico-Texas border on Monday, Dec. 9, 2013, in El Paso.]()
Credit: Ivan Pierre Aguirre -
Corpus Christi water tests clean after years of problems
City officials credit the improvement to a change in how water is treated. Full Story
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![The shelves in the bottled water section of a Walmart in Corpus Christi were nearly empty on the morning of Dec. 15, 2016. Nearly two years after the city's water ban, the area's water now has a clean bill of health.]()
Credit: Courtesy, Shalonn Simmons -
Hays County residents fear the fight to protect their water was all for nothing
Hays County well owners thought they won the water fight against Houston-based Electro Purification three years ago. Now, regulators are left trying to balance residential priorities with business interests. Full Story
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![Hays County residents Ann Arendarczyk, left, and Leigh Peterson look at water resource maps during a public meeting on June 18 at the Wimberley Community Center, where concerned residents learned about Electro Purification's proposed permit to pump up to 2.5 million gallons of water daily from the Trinity Aquifer.]()
Credit: Laura Skelding for The Texas Tribune -
Texas-New Mexico water fight could be impacted by SCOTUS ruling
The high court's decision lowers the burden of proof for states locked in similar water battles with upstream neighbors. Full Story
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![The Rio Grande has been the lifeblood of the valleys and civilizations it flowed through for more than 3,000 years. As cities and farms suck it dry and a warming climate makes it evaporate faster, the river's future has never been more uncertain.]()
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Seawater desalination plant proposed for Corpus Christi area
The proposed plant would be constructed in the city of Gregory and would be one of the first in Texas to use only seawater. Full Story
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![The inside of the Kay Bailey Hutchison Desalination Plant in El Paso on April 16, 2012.]()
Credit: Ivan Pierre Aguirre for The Texas Tribune -
As drought returns, experts say Texas cities aren't conserving enough water
Three years after one of the worst droughts in Wichita Falls history, life is returning to normal. But as Texas creeps back into a drought, water experts say residents in the city and around the state can do more to conserve water and prepare for the next shortage, which is always on the horizon. Full Story
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![A truck is washed at All American Super Car Wash in Wichita Falls. Business owner Larry Ayers almost had to shut down in 2015 due to a devastating drought and tightened water restrictions.]()
Credit: Leslie Boorhem-Stephenson for The Texas Tribune -
Federal government may fight alongside Texas in water dispute, U.S. Supreme Court rules
The ruling is an apparent victory for Texas in a legal battle that has dragged on for more than five years. The states are bickering over the distribution of water from the Rio Grande. Those allocations are laid out in the 1938 Rio Grande Compact. Full Story
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![The Rio Grande at the New Mexico-Texas border on Monday, December 9, 2013 in El Paso.]()
Credit: Ivan Pierre Aguirre