Texas Archives

Western States Propose Deal Over Beleaguered Rio Grande

October 26, 2022/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /Associated Pressby Susan Montoya Bryan

New Mexico, Texas and Colorado have negotiated a proposed settlement that they say will end a yearslong battle over management of one of the longest rivers in North America, but the federal government and two irrigation districts that depend on the Rio Grande are objecting. New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas on Tuesday announced that the states had brokered a deal following months of negotiations. While the terms remain confidential, his office called it “a comprehensive resolution of all the claims in the case.”

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Weather Whiplash: Summer Lurches From Drought to Flood

August 24, 2022/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Gayle Falkenthal /Associated Pressby Seth Borenstein

Parts of northern Texas, mired in a drought labeled as extreme and exceptional, are flooding under torrential rain. In a drought.

Sound familiar? It should. The Dallas region is just the latest drought-suffering-but-flooded locale during a summer of extreme weather whiplash, likely goosed by human-caused climate change, scientists say. Parts of the world are lurching from drought to deluge.

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La Niña Creating Sweltering Temperatures Across Much of U.S., Expert Says

July 19, 2022/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /CBS News

Several parts of Texas are under excessive heat warnings as temperatures are expected to hit triple digits for the 24th day in a row. Temperatures reached 110 degrees in the Dallas area on Tuesday. The high temperatures caused heat-fueled wildfires to burn several homes near Dallas on Monday and forced several people into mandatory evacuations.

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Irrigation Districts Plan for Another Dry Year as Drought Mars Rio Grande

April 26, 2022/in California and the U.S., Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /El Paso Timesby Martha Pskowski

Water districts in El Paso and southern New Mexico will start releasing irrigation water in June, as drought continues to pummel the Rio Grande Basin.

Elephant Butte Reservoir will open its gates June 1, releasing water for southern New Mexico, far west Texas and Mexico. The Elephant Butte Irrigation District (EBID) announced April 22 an allotment of 5 inches of water per acre, a far cry from the full allotment of 36 inches. El Paso County Water Improvement District No. 1 (EPCWID1) has yet to announce its allotments but manager Jesús Reyes estimated it will be 18 inches of water per acre.

“(18 inches) is about what we had last year,” Reyes said. “We try and conserve as much as we can because we’ve been in and out of drought for 20 years.”

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Biden Urged to Back Water Bill Amid Worst US Crisis in Decades

February 25, 2021/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Kimberlyn Velasquez /The Guardianby Nina Lakhani

Democratic lawmakers and advocates are urging Joe Biden to back legislation proposing unprecedented investment in America’s ailing water infrastructure amid the country’s worst crisis in decades that has left millions of people without access to clean, safe, affordable water.

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Opinion: Don’t be Smug About Texas’ Troubles. California Isn’t Prepared for Disasters Either

February 25, 2021/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Kimberlyn Velasquez /Los Angeles Timesby Lucy Jones

The collapse of the power grid in Texas last week, and the cascading infrastructure failures that resulted from it, are stark examples of why a proactive government matters. A complete evaluation will surely show that, like most accidents and failures, many factors played a role, but it is already easy to see that the avoidance of government regulation contributed to the cold-weather chaos.

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Opinion: The Energy Sector Must Prepare for More Extreme Weather

February 23, 2021/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Kimberlyn Velasquez /Wiredby Robert Rapier

Texas has always seen its share of extreme weather events, but over the past two decades they have intensified. A few years ago, after the fifth “ 500-year flood” in five years, I remarked to a friend, “We’re going to have to stop calling them that.”

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Nearly 12 Million Texans Now Face Water Disruptions. The State Needs Residents to Stop Dripping Taps

February 18, 2021/in California and the U.S., Media Coverage /by Kimberlyn Velasquez /The Texas Tribuneby Alex Samuels

After enduring multiple days of freezing temperatures and Texans dripping faucets to prevent frozen pipes from bursting, cities across the state warned Wednesday that water levels are dangerously low, and it may be unsafe to drink.

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