WEATHER ALERT
Texas lawmakers will debate saving the stateโs water supply after key legislation is introduced
Read full article: Texas lawmakers will debate saving the stateโs water supply after key legislation is introducedThe 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.
EPA likely to move to further limit federal protections for wetlands
Read full article: EPA likely to move to further limit federal protections for wetlandsThe Trump administration on Wednesday announced it will reconsider the reach of the nationโs bedrock clean water law and likely further limit the wetlands it covers.
Laredo ends boil-water notice after 11 days, turns attention to illegal connections and old pipes
Read full article: Laredo ends boil-water notice after 11 days, turns attention to illegal connections and old pipesThe South Texas city has hired a consulting firm for $200,000 to provide an interim director for the utility amid a restructuring of the department.
After six years, a Texas townโs boil-water notice has been lifted, but residents are still concerned
Read full article: After six years, a Texas townโs boil-water notice has been lifted, but residents are still concernedThe townโs troubles started in 2018, when its water tested positive for the dangerous E.coli bacteria.
Texas Water Board details how it will spend $1 billion for water infrastructure projects
Read full article: Texas Water Board details how it will spend $1 billion for water infrastructure projectsAbout $45 million will go to Texas towns with fewer than 1,000 residents โ a boon for municipalities without a viable tax base.
Biden administration restores the power of states and tribes to review projects to protect waterways
Read full article: Biden administration restores the power of states and tribes to review projects to protect waterwaysStates and Native American tribes will have greater authority to block energy projects such as natural gas pipelines that could pollute rivers and streams under a final rule issued Thursday by the Biden administration.
House advances bill that could provide billions of dollars for new water projects and fixing aging infrastructure
Read full article: House advances bill that could provide billions of dollars for new water projects and fixing aging infrastructureThe bill aims to create a water supply four times the size of Lake Livingston, one of the stateโs largest reservoirs. But it may still be a โdrop in the bucketโ compared to the stateโs needs.
Environmental groups sue EPA over water pollution standards
Read full article: Environmental groups sue EPA over water pollution standardsA coalition of environmental groups claims the EPA has failed for decades to update limits on the discharge of some dangerous chemicals into waterways. Most of the worst polluters are in Texas.
Texas Senate takes first step toward establishing billions for stateโs water supply, infrastructure
Read full article: Texas Senate takes first step toward establishing billions for stateโs water supply, infrastructureVoters would have the final say on whether the state sets aside billions of dollars to acquire new water sources and invest in aging infrastructure.
House GOP votes to overturn Biden rule on water protections
Read full article: House GOP votes to overturn Biden rule on water protectionsThe House has voted 227-198 to overturn the Biden administrationโs protections for thousands of small streams, wetlands and other waterways, advancing long-held Republican arguments that the regulations are an environmental overreach and burden to business.
Black and Hispanic Texans say they donโt trust the quality of their water
Read full article: Black and Hispanic Texans say they donโt trust the quality of their waterA survey was commissioned by the nonprofit organization Texas Water Trade and included responses from households in both rural border communities and in urban areas across Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth.
Environmental advocates push feds to investigate Texasโ enforcement of water quality
Read full article: Environmental advocates push feds to investigate Texasโ enforcement of water qualityThe U.S. Environmental Protection Agency plans to investigate allegations that the state is failing to enforce the Clean Water Act. Environmentalists say the Texas Commission on Environmental Qualityโs system of issuing permits has made it too easy for industries to contaminate rivers, lakes and estuaries.
Correction: Supreme Court-Wetlands story
Read full article: Correction: Supreme Court-Wetlands storyIn a story published January 24, 2022, about the Supreme Court deciding to take up an important Clean Water Act case, The Associated Press erroneously reported the name of the Natural Resources Defense Council.
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New rule may strip pollution protections from popular lakes
Read full article: New rule may strip pollution protections from popular lakesThis Sept. 14, 2020 photo shows shows a Duke Energy natural gas-fired electric power plant on Sutton Lake in Wilmington, N.C. It went online in 2013 and replaced a coal-fired plant that had polluted the lake with coal ash. It would provide a source of steam to generate electricity and a place to cool hot water from an adjacent coal-fired plant. Sutton Lake became popular with boaters and anglers, yielding bass, crappie, bluegill and other panfish. But environmental groups challenging the Trump rule in court say it opens up reservoirs like Sutton Lake to similar abuse.