https://www.texastribune.org/about/staff/alejandra-martinez/The latest news by Alejandra Martinez.enFri, 11 Apr 2025 05:00:00 -0500https://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 Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/03/24/texas-legislature-water-supply-infrastructure-repair-perry-harris/Gov. Greg Abbott has made water a priority for this legislative session. Lawmakers will debate whether to invest more into new water supplies or repairing old, leaking pipes around Texas.By Jayme Lozano Carver and Alejandra MartinezMon, 24 Mar 2025 05:00:00 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/03/24/texas-legislature-water-supply-infrastructure-repair-perry-harris/Sen. Charles Perry, R-Lubbock, during a Senate meeting on March 11, 2025.Sen. Charles Perry, R-Lubbock, during a Senate meeting on March 11, 2025.Lorianne Willett/The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/03/17/texas-legislature-water-bills-tracker/Most lawmakers — as well as Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick — want to invest big in water. Here are the proposals that would do it.By Jayme Lozano Carver and Alejandra MartinezMon, 17 Mar 2025 05:00:00 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/03/17/texas-legislature-water-bills-tracker/Texas lawmakers are expected to debate dozens of bills to help save the state's water supply during the 2025 legislative session.Cotton fields 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/2025/03/13/texas-water-fund-new-supply-infrastructure/The state House and Senate have similar proposals to solve the state's water crisis, but there are stark differences on how to invest billions of dollars to resolve.By Alejandra Martinez and Jayme Lozano CarverThu, 13 Mar 2025 17:29:24 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/03/13/texas-water-fund-new-supply-infrastructure/Texas lawmakers are expected to settle differences between four pieces of legislation meant to save the state's water supply.A water tower in Starr County near the Falcon Dam on Aug. 18, 2022.Michael Gonzalez for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/03/13/texas-water-language-glossary/Water is complex. So are the terms used to describe it. Get to know the language as Texas debates how to save its water supply.By Jayme Lozano Carver and Alejandra MartinezThu, 13 Mar 2025 13:01:24 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/03/13/texas-water-language-glossary/A clarifier at the Bustamante Waste Water Treatment Plant expansion in El Paso, Texas on March 5, 2025.The secondary clarifier at the Bustamante Waste Water Treatment Plant expansion in El Paso on March 5, 2025.Justin Hamel for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/03/13/texas-water-explained-supply-demand/The state’s water supply faces numerous threats. And by one estimate, the state’s municipal supply will not meet demand by 2030 if there’s a severe drought and no water solutions are implemented.By Alejandra Martinez and Jayme Lozano Carver, Graphics by Carla Astudillo and Yuriko SchumacherThu, 13 Mar 2025 13:01:12 -0500https://www.texastribune.org/2025/03/13/texas-water-explained-supply-demand/Water gushes into a homeowner's reservoir during a water delivery in 2024 in Terlingua. Most Texans rely on water from utilities. In some remote parts of the state, like Terlingua, residents have water delivered. The state's water supply is under duress from a number of threats including overuse and outdated infrastructure.Water gushes from Rick Bradbury’s truck to Shannon Montague’s reservoir as the Bradbury’s make a delivery Saturday, March 16, 2024 in Terlingua.Eli Hartman/The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/02/28/texas-brian-harrison-DEI-water-board/The topic was a budget request from a state agency. The exchange grew emotional when a lawmaker pressed for answers about a strategic plan that praises diversity.By Alejandra MartinezFri, 28 Feb 2025 11:46:16 -0600https://www.texastribune.org/2025/02/28/texas-brian-harrison-DEI-water-board/Then-Texas Water Development Board member L’Oreal Stepney listens to comments during a board meeting Tuesday, July 23, 2024, in Austin. Stepney was named chair of the Board by Gov. Greg Abbott on January 8, 2025.Then-Texas Water Development Board member L’Oreal Stepney listens to comments during a board meeting Tuesday, July 23, 2024, in Austin. Stepney was named chair of the Board by Gov. Greg Abbott on January 8, 2025.Eli Hartman/The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/02/24/texas-harris-county-cancer-risk-epa-superfund-site-san-jacinto/State researchers found above normal levels of four types of cancer in communities near a toxic waste site.By Alejandra MartinezMon, 24 Feb 2025 15:52:59 -0600https://www.texastribune.org/2025/02/24/texas-harris-county-cancer-risk-epa-superfund-site-san-jacinto/The San Jacinto River Waste pits, an EPA Superfund site which is contaminated with dioxins, sits right on Interstate 10 east of Houston on Oct. 12, 2014.The San Jacinto River Waste pits, an EPA Superfund site which is contaminated with dioxins, sits right on Interstate 10 east of Houston on Oct. 12, 2014.Michael Stravato for Te Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/02/06/texas-primacy-carbon-capture-oil-gas/Environmentalists are worried the state — known for a lax approach to regulation — is not prepared for the added responsibility of regulating certain carbon capture projects.By Carlos Nogueras Ramos and Alejandra MartinezThu, 06 Feb 2025 11:00:00 -0600https://www.texastribune.org/2025/02/06/texas-primacy-carbon-capture-oil-gas/https://www.texastribune.org/2025/02/04/texas-leaking-abandoned-oil-water-wells-tceq-railroad-commission/Two years after lawmakers created a $10 million program to address leaking wells in rural counties, none of the money has been distributed.By Alejandra MartinezTue, 04 Feb 2025 05:00:00 -0600https://www.texastribune.org/2025/02/04/texas-leaking-abandoned-oil-water-wells-tceq-railroad-commission/Hawk Dunlap stands at the site of Lake Boehmer, a brine lake that has leaked out of an old well in Pecos County. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality received $10 million from lawmakers in 2023 to plug such wells but has yet to spend any of the money as it completes the rule making process.Hawk Dunlap stands at the site of Lake Boehmer, a brine lake that has leaked out of an old well in Pecos County.Pu Ying Huang/The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/31/texas-immigrants-undocumented-trump-deportation/Across the state, immigrants and their loved ones are changing their daily habits as the Trump administration orders at least 1,200 daily arrests of undocumented people.By Uriel J. García, Alejandra Martinez and Berenice GarciaFri, 31 Jan 2025 16:29:07 -0600https://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/31/texas-immigrants-undocumented-trump-deportation/People gather at Memorial Park in El Paso on Jan. 29 to protest immigration raids and deportations since President Donald Trump returned to the White House.People gather at Memorial Park in El Paso on Jan. 29, 2025 to protest ICE raids and deportations.Justin Hamel for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/17/texas-big-red-sage-endangered-species-act/Only seven native populations remain in Texas, all in the Edwards Plateau in Central Texas.By Alejandra MartinezFri, 17 Jan 2025 13:51:16 -0600https://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/17/texas-big-red-sage-endangered-species-act/https://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/16/texas-ken-paxton-lawsuit-methane-rule-biden/The rule fines certain oil and gas facilities that exceed federal limits for methane emissions.By Alejandra MartinezThu, 16 Jan 2025 15:56:38 -0600https://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/16/texas-ken-paxton-lawsuit-methane-rule-biden/A natural gas flare in Garden City. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has sued the federal government to stop a methane tax aimed at reducing emissions of the potent greenhouse gas.The Rebel Gas Plant vents off natural gas into two flare stacks Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2024, in Garden City.Eli Hartman/The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/16/texas-water-legislation-charles-perry-supply-infrastructure/Texas’ population is booming and there is not enough water for everyone. State Sen. Charles Perry hopes to fix that.By Jayme Lozano Carver and Alejandra MartinezThu, 16 Jan 2025 13:00:00 -0600https://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/16/texas-water-legislation-charles-perry-supply-infrastructure/State Sen. Charles Perry, R-Lubbock, on the Senate floor on May 15, 2019. Perry hopes the Legislature this year will create a dedicated fund for water issues.State Sen. Charles Perry, R-Lubbock, on the Senate floor on May 15, 2019.Juan Figueroa/The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/15/texas-particulate-matter-air-pollution-rule-epa/Critics say TCEQ is erroneously using a federal rule to exclude counties that are failing federal soot rules.By Alejandra MartinezWed, 15 Jan 2025 05:00:00 -0600https://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/15/texas-particulate-matter-air-pollution-rule-epa/https://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/14/epa-risk-assessment-pfas-forever-chemicals-sewage-sludge-biosolids-fer/Fertilizers that contain treated sewage tainted with toxic PFAS chemicals can be spread on farmland and pose a health risk to people who consume milk, eggs and beef, the agency says.By Alejandra MartinezTue, 14 Jan 2025 15:02:22 -0600https://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/14/epa-risk-assessment-pfas-forever-chemicals-sewage-sludge-biosolids-fer/Sewage being treated at the San Antonio Water System's Steven M. Clouse Water Recycling Center in San Antonio on Aug. 23, 2024.Bar screens are used to remove large portions of solids and garbage during the wastewater treatment process at SAWS’ Steven M. Clouse Water Recycling Center in San Antonio on Aug. 23, 2024.Chris Stokes for The Texas Tribunehttps://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/08/texas-immigration-mass-deportations-economy/“We wouldn’t survive” without undocumented workers, one South Texas produce business owner said. By one estimate, 8% of Texas’ workforce lacks legal status.By Alejandra Martinez, Alejandro Serrano, Berenice Garcia, Carlos Nogueras Ramos and Joshua FechterWed, 08 Jan 2025 05:00:00 -0600https://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/08/texas-immigration-mass-deportations-economy/Construction workers building homes in San Antonio on Dec. 10, 2024.Construction workers building homes in far west San Antonio on Dec. 10, 2024.Scott Stephen Ball for The Texas Tribune