Bills seek to improve state’s response to wildfires a year after devastation in Panhandle
A proposal to create a statewide system connecting emergency personnel and agencies is among several bills that target problems exposed in 2024. Full Story
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![Trees marked from the 2024 Smokehouse Creek Fires line the sides of the main roads of Canadian, Texas, Feb. 7, 2025. The Smokehouse Creek Fire is the largest wildfire in Texas history.]()
Credit: Jacob Lujan for The Texas Tribune -
An abandoned West Texas oil well has created a 200-foot-wide sinkhole
The rapidly-growing sinkhole in Upton County is the latest of many problems caused by old wells in the Permian Basin. Full Story
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![A sinkhole formed by an old oil well on the Kelton Ranch in Upton County, Texas, has grown rapidly in the past year.]()
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These are the proposals lawmakers hope will save Texas’ water supply. Track them here.
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. Full Story
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![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.]()
Credit: Trace Thomas for The Texas Tribune -
Texas lawmakers will debate saving the state’s water supply after key legislation is introduced
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. Full Story
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![A water tower in Starr County near the Falcon Dam on Aug. 18, 2022.]()
Credit: Michael Gonzalez for The Texas Tribune -
Want to understand Texas’ water crisis? Start with the guide to water terms.
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. Full Story
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![The secondary clarifier at the Bustamante Waste Water Treatment Plant expansion in El Paso on March 5, 2025.]()
Credit: Justin Hamel for The Texas Tribune -
Texas is running out of water. Here’s why and what state leaders plan to do about it.
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. Full Story
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![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.]()
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A Republican effort to set deadlines to plug orphan wells in Texas hits resistance
The bill would have set deadlines for the oil and gas industry to plug inactive wells, which can pose a danger to the environment. Full Story
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![A pump jack and a gas flare in the Eagle Ford oil patch south of San Antonio.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
“We’re doing what Canadian has always done,” Panhandle resident says a year after wildfires
Canadian — one of the communities hardest hit by last year’s wildfires — is on the road to recovery and working to be a resource for others around the state. Full Story
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Texas Senate panel sends message to Trump: Get our water from Mexico
Farmers and elected officials told a Senate committee Monday that the lack of water is becoming dire, with little relief in sight. Full Story
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![Water marks are seen on the dam gates and concrete at the Falcon Dam in Starr County on Aug. 18, 2022. This area of the reservoir is normally under water, but because of an extended drought, water levels have been below 20% full since earlier this year. The Falcon Dam was dedicated by U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower and Mexican President Adolfo Ruiz Cortines in 1953.]()
Credit: Michael Gonzalez for The Texas Tribune -
U.S. Supreme Court takes up Texas nuclear waste disposal case
The case could establish the nation’s first independent repository for spent nuclear fuel in West Texas, despite the objections of state leaders. Full Story
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![The entrance to the Waste Control Specialists site where radioactive and hazardous waste is being stored on Jan. 17, 2021.]()
Credit: Eli Hartman for The Texas Tribune -
A surge in bee deaths is hurting Texas beekeepers — and could affect the price of produce
Commercial beekeepers in Texas have lost about two thirds of their honey bees since June last year, according to a recent survey. Full Story
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![Luis Hernandez, a beekeeper with Frio Country Farms, shows off an empty bee frame from a hive where the bees have died at the Noria bee yard on Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025 in Davis, Texas. Robert Wheeler, co-owner of Frio Country Farms, estimates 35% of the bees at this particular bee yard have died since November. Beekeepers nationwide are experiencing their highest honey bee losses nationwide in decades, which has large implications for Texas, the top bee-keeping state in the nation.]()
Credit: Salgu Wissmath for The Texas Tribune -
Bills introduced a year after state’s largest blaze seek to limit wildfires
Among the proposals is a bill that would force more inspections of power lines, which a committee concluded ignited a blaze that burned more than 1 million acres last year. Full Story
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![A plane prepares drops retardant on the Roughneck fire Sunday, March. 3, 2024, in Sanford, Texas.]()
Credit: Justin Rex for The Texas Tribune -
A year after Texas’ largest wildfire, Panhandle residents tugged between hope and anxiety
The Panhandle town of Canadian is determined to move beyond the deadly fire. And yet, they are reminded almost daily another catastrophe is possible. Full Story
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![Remelle Farrar stands over the rubble of Lake Marvin's Lodge which was burned down in the 2024 Smokehouse Creek Fire in Canadian, Texas, Feb. 7, 2025.]()
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New study finds elevated cancer rates near toxic San Jacinto River waste pits
State researchers found above normal levels of four types of cancer in communities near a toxic waste site. Full Story
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![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.]()
Credit: Michael Stravato for Te Texas Tribune -
Freezing weather, wildfire and flood risk forecast across Texas
Gov. Greg Abbott said the state’s power grid “has never been stronger than it is now” and should weather the cold without issues. 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 on Feb 13, 2021.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
Large earthquake strikes West Texas, among strongest ever in state
The 5.0 magnitude earthquake is tied for the sixth strongest in state history. Scientists have warned for years that increased fracking in West Texas is causing higher earthquake activity. Full Story
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![A drilling rig in Pecos County on Feb. 4, 2023.]()
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Project 2025 adviser takes the reins at EPA region including Texas
Scott Mason IV, a former deputy energy secretary for Oklahoma and member of the Cherokee nation, is the new administrator for the region that covers Texas and four neighboring states. Full Story
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![An operational pumpjack neighbors a trailer home in Gardendale on Sunday, Feb. 6, 2022.]()
Credit: Eli Hartman for The Texas Tribune -
Why oil and gas companies want state oversight for carbon dioxide injection
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. Full Story
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Once the carbon dioxide is captured, the gas is compressed and transported, usually through pipelines, to a storage location, which is later injected into deep underground rock formations where it can be permanently stored.
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Petra Nova CCS Facility at NRG Power Plant in Richmond on May 18, 2018.]()
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Texas regulators grapple with a growing problem: old oil wells leaking polluted water
Two years after lawmakers created a $10 million program to address leaking wells in rural counties, none of the money has been distributed. Full Story
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![Hawk Dunlap stands at the site of Lake Boehmer, a brine lake that has leaked out of an old well in Pecos County.]()
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An East Texas town debates where to place EV charging stations as Trump threatens subsidies
Some residents see the charging stations as an economic boom to the town, while others find it an assault on the oil and gas industry in Texas. Full Story
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![Traffic makes its way throught the intersection of Loop 281 and Gilmer Road in Longview on Friday January 24, 2025.]()
Credit: Michael Cavazos for The Texas Tribune