WaterPR Water News
A collection of water-related news stories from Texas and around the globe, compiled by WaterPR for your convenience.
Texas bill would drastically revamp water agency
Houston Chronicle, Posted 5/19/13 "New revisions to a major water bill calls for ousting the six-member Texas Water Development Board and its top official before the state embarks on a new $2 billion fund to provide low-interest loans for projects..." FULL STORYBill seeks to address Mexico water debt
McAllen Monitor, Posted 5/15/13 "Federal legislation has been filed that would prevent the U.S. government from extending benefits to Mexico in an attempt to get the U.S. State Department more involved in the ongoing water-sharing dispute between the two countries..." FULL STORYWest Texas plant turns sewage into tap water
Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, Posted 5/13/13 "With every flush of a toilet, residents in parts of parched West Texas are adding to their drinking water supply. A $13 million reclamation plant in Big Spring began Monday blending sewage that's treated to drinking-water standards with treated water from lakes..." FULL STORYTexas rice farmers could get relief from new reservoir project
Southwest Farm Press, Posted 5/9/13 "One of the worst droughts in modern history caused the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) to propose two consecutive years of an emergency water plan that, once approved by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), left Texas rice growers in a three-county coastal region without adequate irrigation water to sustain their entire rice crops, forcing most farmers to limit rice acres and scramble to plant alternative crops, like cotton or sorghum..." FULL STORYWater Fights Flare
Frontera NorteSur, Posted 5/7/13 "'We are going to defend our water with bullets,' declared farmers in Chihuahua's El Sauz-Encinillas Valley. Small growers in the agricultural region located near the state capital of Chihuahua City are demanding that state and federal authorities put a brake on the over-extraction of groundwater..." FULL STORYThird year of drought threatens South Texas crops
Southwest Farm Press, Posted 4/30/13 "Farmers in the Texas Coastal Bend who were lucky enough to get crops out of the ground this spring could still make an average or a little less than average crop if they get something close to normal rainfall for the rest of the growing season..." FULL STORYOpinion: Mexico must release more water
San Antonio Express-News, Posted 4/30/13 "Perhaps residents in the parched Rio Grande Valley should just do a rain dance. It might prove more fruitful than ongoing federal negotiations to persuade Mexico to release more water from the Rio Grande. Those negotiations have yet to produce much of anything, and there is no resolution in sight..." FULL STORYBarrera: Mexico must pay its water debt
Austin American-Statesman, Posted 4/30/13 The Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas is suffering the effects of extreme drought from two sources: natural and manmade. There's not much that can be done about a lack of rainfall, but when drought is exacerbated by political decisions, something can and should be done. A good time to start is when President Barack Obama is scheduled to meet with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto in Mexico City on Thursday... FULL STORYStraus: House Will Find Way to Fund Water Projects
Texas Tribune, Posted 4/30/13 The morning after a major bill to authorize spending billions of dollars on state water projects faltered in the House, Speaker Joe Straus' office released a statement saying he wouldn't "let a technicality seal the debate on water..." FULL STORYTCEQ executive director recommends approval of LCRA's proposed Water Management Plan
WATRnews, Posted 4/17/13 The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has finished its technical review of LCRA's proposed Water Management Plan for lakes Travis and Buchanan and TCEQ's executive director is recommending that the plan be approved...FULL STORYRio Grande Valley Suffers While Mexico Withholds Water
Posted 4/16/13 "Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples and Texas Commission on Environmental Quality Commissioner Carlos Rubinstein today urged the International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC) and the U.S. State Department to compel Mexico to deliver Rio Grande system water to the United States..." FULL PRESS RELEASEGOP plan uses $6 billion from Rainy Day Fund
KXAN; Posted 4/12/13 "Abandoning resistance to dip into a stockpile of cash reserves, Senate Republicans unveiled a plan Thursday to spend $6 billion from Texas' Rainy Day Fund for urgent water and road projects, and did not rule out taking even more for public schools..." FULL STORYTCEQ warns of possible curtailment of water rights actions may need to be taken because of drought
Posted 4/5/13Despite recent rains, drought conditions remain widespread across the state. As a result, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality informed water rights holders today that the agency may need to administer water rights on a priority basis, as long as drought conditions persist...FULL STORY
In Texas, Underground Reservoirs Take Hold
Texas Tribune; Posted 4/4/13Texas summers are so hot that in many West Texas reservoirs, more water evaporates than gets used by people. In 2011, more water evaporated out of Lakes Travis and Buchanan in Central Texas than was used by their largest city customer, Austin. So what about storing water underground - in manmade reservoirs?...FULL STORY