https://www.texastribune.org/about/staff/alejandra-martinez/The latest news by Alejandra Martinez.enMon, 28 Jul 2025 05:00:00 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/07/28/new-texas-state-parks-centennial-land-funding/The fund opens a new era of public land acquisition and park development for Texas, which ranks 35th nationally in state park acreage per capita.By Alejandra Martinez, Graphics by Edison WuMon, 28 Jul 2025 05:00:00 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/07/28/new-texas-state-parks-centennial-land-funding/Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Natural Resources Coordinator Andy Sipocz, center, stands as Nick Boysen, left, and Kaitlyn Skinner Morris examine remains possibly belonging to a feral hog near Yancey Creek in what will become Post Oak Ridge State Park on newly acquired land near Lampasas on June 5, 2025.Texas Parks and Wildlife Department biologists and staff use an anode, an electrical rod that temporarily stun fish during electrofishing for netting, during an aquatic sampling search at Yancey Creek in what will become Post Oak Ridge State Park, a newly acquired park near Lampasas, Texas, on Thursday, June 5, 2025. The park’s acquisition marks the first since $1 billion dollars were allocated to buy more land for the state parks system as part of the Centennial Parks Conservation Fund, approved by the state legislature in 2023. Before development can begin, survey teams collect samples and information regarding the environment and wildlife at the newly acquired land.Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/07/09/texas-legislature-hill-country-kerrville-floods-response-sirens/Gov. Greg Abbott has promised to add flood response to the agenda for the July 21 special session, with an expected focus on alert systems and local recovery.By Alejandra Martinez and Eleanor KlibanoffWed, 09 Jul 2025 13:53:19 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/07/09/texas-legislature-hill-country-kerrville-floods-response-sirens/Governor Greg Abbott holds an emergecy proclaimation during a press confrence at the Hill Country Youth Event Center on Saturday, June 5, 2025 in Kerrville, Texas.Gov. Greg Abbott holds an emergency proclamation during a press conference at Hill Country Youth Event Center on Saturday July 5, 2025, in Kerrville, Texas.Ronaldo Bolaños/The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/07/08/texas-weather-service-warning-kerr-county/Federal forecasters issued their first flood warning at 1:14 a.m. on July 4. Local officials haven’t shed light on when they saw the warnings or whether they saw them in time to take action.By Emily Foxhall, Terri Langford, Ayden Runnels, Jaden Edison, Alejandra Martinez and Carlos Nogueras RamosTue, 08 Jul 2025 18:01:56 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/07/08/texas-weather-service-warning-kerr-county/The National Weather Service's West Gulf River Forecast Center in Forth Worth helps other offices like the Austin/San Antonio office predict floods.Weather monitors at the National Weather Service West Gulf River Forecast Center in Fort Worth, Texas, on Wednesday, June 18, 2025.Desiree Rios for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/07/08/flooding-history-texas-hill-country/When storms roll in, water rushes downhill fast, gaining speed and force as it moves — often with deadly results.By Alejandra Martinez, Graphics by Edison WuTue, 08 Jul 2025 05:00:00 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/07/08/flooding-history-texas-hill-country/An overturned vehicle on the banks of the Blanco River on May 26, 2015, two days after catastrophic flooding in the Wimberley area.An overturned vehicle on the banks of the Blanco River on May 26, 2015, two days after catastrophic area flooding.Marjorie Kamys Cotera for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/12/water-texas-legislation/Among other changes is a new law that says homeowner associations can no longer fine Texans for not watering their grass during a drought.By Jayme Lozano Carver and Alejandra MartinezThu, 12 Jun 2025 12:21:37 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/12/water-texas-legislation/Texas lawmakers have pledged $20 billion over the next two decades to help the state manage its water supply. Voters will be asked to approve that committment in November.The secondary clarifier at the Bustamante Waste Water Treatment Plant expansion in El Paso, Texas on March 5, 2025.Justin Hamel for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/09/texas-noaa-hurricane-season-forecast-nws-trump-cuts/Houston’s National Weather Service office has lost its head meteorologist amid a federal requirement to cut 10% of NOAA’s staff.By Alejandra MartinezMon, 09 Jun 2025 12:00:00 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/09/texas-noaa-hurricane-season-forecast-nws-trump-cuts/The National Weather Service issued a hurricane warning for the Coastal Bend on July 6, 2024.The National Weather Service issued a Hurricane Warning for the Coastal Bend on July 6, 2024.Pete Garcia for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/02/texas-pfas-forever-chemicals-bills-legislation-fail/Texas lawmakers bypassed bills that would have restricted “forever chemicals” in sewage sludge, studied health impacts and banned some uses of PFAS-laced firefighting foams.By Alejandra MartinezMon, 02 Jun 2025 05:00:00 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/02/texas-pfas-forever-chemicals-bills-legislation-fail/Cattle graze in Grandview on Aug. 5, 2024. Some farmers in Johnson County have filed a lawsuit claiming that fertilizer tainted with "forever chemicals" poisoned their land and their livestock. A bill to address the issue failed in the Legislature.Cattle grazing in Grandview, Texas on Aug. 5, 2024.Azul Sordo for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/05/27/texas-water-supply-infrastructure-deal-bill/The deal allocates $1 billion a year to water projects for 20 years, which some groups estimate is a fraction of what Texas needs to save its water supply.By Alejandra Martinez and Jayme Lozano CarverTue, 27 May 2025 15:44:17 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/05/27/texas-water-supply-infrastructure-deal-bill/The SAWS’ Steven M. Clouse Water Recycling Center in San Antonio on Aug. 23, 2024.The SAWS’ Steven M. Clouse Water Recycling Center in San Antonio on Aug. 23, 2024.Chris Stokes for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/05/23/texas-ai-bill-legislation-regulation/As the state seeks to put guardrails around the fast-growing technology, some critics say the bill doesn’t go far enough to protect citizens while industry worries about stifling innovation.By Alejandra MartinezFri, 23 May 2025 05:00:00 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/05/23/texas-ai-bill-legislation-regulation/Texas lawmakers are considering legislation that would regulate the use of artificial intelligence in the state.Exterior of the state Capitol on Nov. 19, 2020.Amna Ijaz/The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/05/21/texas-water-bills-status-legislation/Gov. Greg Abbott and other leaders have called for a major investment to save the state’s water supply. How to spend the money has caused friction at the Capitol.By Alejandra MartinezWed, 21 May 2025 18:45:47 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/05/21/texas-water-bills-status-legislation/Workers conduct maintenance on the Fred Hervey Water Reclamation Plant March 5, in El Paso. The Texas Legislature is debating a pair of bills that could help save the state's water supply by finding new sources of water and fixing leaking pipes.Workers conduct maintenance on the Fred Hervey Water Reclamation Plant El Paso, Texas on March 5, 2025.Justin Hamel for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/05/14/texas-pfas-forever-chemicals-biosolids-fertilizer-legislation-stalled/Supporters say the bill would protect farmland in Texas. Opponents say limiting PFAS chemicals in biosolids will force water utilities to look at other disposal methods, which will lead to higher utility bills.By Alejandra MartinezWed, 14 May 2025 05:00:00 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/05/14/texas-pfas-forever-chemicals-biosolids-fertilizer-legislation-stalled/Tony Coleman passes by cattle while driving through his property in Grandview on Aug. 5, 2024. Coleman and his wife claim that fertilizer tainted with PFAS washed onto their land, contaminating it.Tony Coleman passes by cattle while driving through their property in Grandview on Aug. 5, 2024.Azul Sordo for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/05/09/texas-legislature-waiting-to-testify-pfas-bill-committee-hearing/The group from Johnson County waited 18 hours to testify at a hearing that started at 1 a.m. on a bill to limit toxic chemicals in fertilizer.By Alejandra MartinezFri, 09 May 2025 15:52:26 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/05/09/texas-legislature-waiting-to-testify-pfas-bill-committee-hearing/Johnson County resident Karen Coleman, right, chats with Dana Ames, the county’s environmental crime investigator, and fellow farmer John Farmer in the Capitol cafeteria while waiting to testify at a hearing on PFAS chemicals on May 8, 2024.Dana Ames speaks with Karen Coleman, right, awaiting a hearing on PFAs at the State Capitol on May 8, 2024.Leila Saidane for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/05/08/texas-orphan-wells-explained-railroad-commission-abandoned/Across Texas, abandoned wells are erupting with chemical-infused liquid and some have created massive lakes of contaminated water. Regulators say they need more money to address the problem.By Alejandra MartinezThu, 08 May 2025 11:00:00 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/05/08/texas-orphan-wells-explained-railroad-commission-abandoned/Oil workers pull tubing from an orphan well in a field in Luling on March 27, 2025.Men work to pull tubing from an orphan well in a field in Luling, Texas on March 27, 2025.Lorianne Willett/The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/04/28/texas-water-crisis-legislation-debate/The Texas House took its first step toward revising a priority Senate bill last week. The changes were lauded by the state’s water community.By Jayme Lozano Carver and Alejandra MartinezMon, 28 Apr 2025 05:00:00 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/04/28/texas-water-crisis-legislation-debate/Texas lawmakers are debating how prescriptive to be in legislation that would spend about $1 billion a year over the next decade to secure the state's water supply.Inside a primary clarifier, resembling petri-dish tanks, heavy solids and grease sink to the bottom and machines skim off particles at the top at the Roberto Bustamante Wastewater Treatment Plant in El Paso on March 5, 2025.Justin Hamel for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/04/17/texas-house-cecile-richards-republicans-planned-parenthood/Normally, memorial resolutions to honor Texans who have died are passed without controversy. But the resolution for Richards, a former president of Planned Parenthood who died this year, sparked a cascade of outrage from conservatives.By Alejandra MartinezThu, 17 Apr 2025 15:13:10 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/04/17/texas-house-cecile-richards-republicans-planned-parenthood/Flanked by House Republicans, state Rep. Nate Schatzline, R-Fort Worth, speaks against a memorial resolution honoring Cecile Richards in the Texas House on April 17, 2025.Flanked by House Republicans, state Rep. Nate Schatzline, R-Fort Worth, speaks against a memorial resolution honoring Cecile Richards in the Texas House on April 17, 2025.Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/04/17/east-texas-defends-water-lake-the-pines/After a deal to pipe water from Lake O’ the Pines to North Texas came to light, residents voiced opposition everywhere they could to block it.By Jess Huff and Alejandra Martinez, Graphics by Yuriko SchumacherThu, 17 Apr 2025 11:00:00 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/04/17/east-texas-defends-water-lake-the-pines/Mary Spearmon holds two of her grandchildren, Malikyi and Alajiah Elliott, at Hurricane Creek Park on the shores of Lake O’ the Pines, where she would come with her late husband and their growing family to fish and enjoy the water.Mary Spearmon holds two of her grandchildren, Malikyi and Alajiah Elliott, at Hurricane Creek Park on the Lake o’ the Pines, where she would come with her late husband and their growing family to fish and enjoy the water, on April 9, 2025. “What about our future generations, our grandchildren and great grandchildren? What are they going to have if they take the lake?”Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/04/11/el-paso-texas-water-crisis-desalination/Desalination can create millions of gallons of fresh water a day. But it is expensive and there are many environmental concerns.By Alejandra Martinez, Graphics by Carla AstudilloFri, 11 Apr 2025 05:00:00 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/04/11/el-paso-texas-water-crisis-desalination/An illustration of a glass of water, superimposed over reverse osmosis filters from El Paso's Kay Bailey Hutchison Desalination Plant.An illustration of a glass of water, superimposed over reverse osmosis filters from El Paso's Kay Bailey Hutchison Desalination Plant.Carla Astudillo/The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/04/10/el-paso-texas-water-crisis/El Paso’s dry climate — it rains just 9 inches annually — is one of the reasons the city has taken water management so seriously.By Alejandra MartinezThu, 10 Apr 2025 13:00:00 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/04/10/el-paso-texas-water-crisis/Contractors work on expanding the Roberto Bustamante Wastewater Treatment Plant in El Paso on March 5. By 2028, the utility expects treated wastewater from the plant to be further purified at the new Pure Water Center next door to produce up to 10 million gallons of drinking water.Contractors work on expanding the Roberto Bustamante Wastewater Treatment Plant in El Paso on March 5, 2025. By 2028, the utility expects treated wastewater from the plant to be further purified at the new Pure Water Center next door to produce up to 10 million gallons of drinking water.Justin Hamel for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/04/02/texas-water-senate-legislation-votes/Senate Bill 7, which won unanimous approval, is among legislation that seeks to avert a looming water crisis as the state’s population booms.By Jayme Lozano Carver and Alejandra MartinezWed, 02 Apr 2025 18:25:03 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/04/02/texas-water-senate-legislation-votes/Amid growth in Texas' population and the possibility of continued record-breaking drought, lawmakers have proposed legislation to preserve the state's water supply and create new sources.An irrigation system on a farm field near the High Plains town of Ralls, about 30 miles east of Lubbock, on Wednesday, June 22, 2022. Like much of Texas, the High Plains and Panhandle are facing drought conditions and extraordinary heat.Trace Thomas for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/03/31/texas-legislature-water-strategies-solutions/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.By Alejandra Martinez and Jayme Lozano CarverMon, 31 Mar 2025 05:00:00 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/03/31/texas-legislature-water-strategies-solutions/Treated water at the Walnut Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant on March 25 in Austin. 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.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 TribuneSergio Flores for The Texas Tribune