ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT

Enlarge graphic by: Jennifer Whitney

South Texas Rancher Hunts for Dangerous Air

Texas’ drilling boom has transformed the state’s economy. But its environmental impacts have created headaches — sometimes literally — for some South Texans. One rancher has taken matters into his own hands, training his foreman to use an infrared camera to detect gas and chemical leaks invisible to the naked eye. This story is part of our Shale Life project.

Lee County resident Hilde Sides protests the Vista Ridge Water Supply Project with other Lee and Bastrop County residents outside the San Antonio City Council public hearing on the project on Oct. 8.
Enlarge photo by: Charlie Pearce
Lee County resident Hilde Sides protests the Vista Ridge Water Supply Project with other Lee and Bastrop County residents outside the San Antonio City Council public hearing on the project on Oct. 8.

San Antonio Approves Historic Water Project

The San Antonio City Council on Thursday unanimously voted in front of a packed chamber to approve a controversial pipeline that would bring in groundwater from 142 miles away.

 

A cascade aerator is shown at the Twin Oaks Valley Water Treatment Plant outside of San Antonio, where the San Antonio Water System maintains an underground storage reservoir.
Enlarge photo by: Gabriel Cristóver Pérez
A cascade aerator is shown at the Twin Oaks Valley Water Treatment Plant outside of San Antonio, where the San Antonio Water System maintains an underground storage reservoir.

The Brief: Oct. 30, 2014

Questions continue to be raised about a giant water pipeline project that would pump roughly 16 billion gallons of groundwater annually from Burleson County to San Antonio.

San Antonio Approves Historic Water Project

Lee County resident Hilde Sides protests the Vista Ridge Water Supply Project with other Lee and Bastrop County residents outside the San Antonio City Council public hearing on the project on Oct. 8.
Enlarge photo by: Charlie Pearce
Lee County resident Hilde Sides protests the Vista Ridge Water Supply Project with other Lee and Bastrop County residents outside the San Antonio City Council public hearing on the project on Oct. 8.

The San Antonio City Council on Thursday unanimously voted in front of a packed chamber to approve a controversial pipeline that would bring in groundwater from 142 miles away.

 

The Brief: Oct. 30, 2014

A cascade aerator is shown at the Twin Oaks Valley Water Treatment Plant outside of San Antonio, where the San Antonio Water System maintains an underground storage reservoir.
Enlarge photo by: Gabriel Cristóver Pérez
A cascade aerator is shown at the Twin Oaks Valley Water Treatment Plant outside of San Antonio, where the San Antonio Water System maintains an underground storage reservoir.

Questions continue to be raised about a giant water pipeline project that would pump roughly 16 billion gallons of groundwater annually from Burleson County to San Antonio.

Featured Data

Understanding the Shale Boom

Enlarge photo illustration by: Emily Albracht

Vote Set on San Antonio's Historic Water Gamble

A map of the proposed pipeline that will deliver 16 billion gallons of water annually from underneath Burleson County to San Antonio, about 140 miles away.
Enlarge photo by: San Antonio Water System
A map of the proposed pipeline that will deliver 16 billion gallons of water annually from underneath Burleson County to San Antonio, about 140 miles away.

As San Antonio's City Council prepares to vote on a controversial water pipeline, new emails fuel concern that the project might not be necessary.

 

The Shale Life Project

  • by Texas Tribune Staff
Enlarge photo illustration by: Emily Albracht

The challenges the oil and gas boom present for communities across South and West Texas are immense. Use our 15-part multimedia series to see how surging energy production is changing lives and fortunes across Texas. 

Oil Price Tremors Not Rattling Texas. Yet.

Don Tymrak, city manager of Karnes City, in his downtown office. He says the recent tumble in oil prices shouldn't affect the South Texas city's conservative plans for development – at least not yet.
Enlarge photo by: Callie Richmond
Don Tymrak, city manager of Karnes City, in his downtown office. He says the recent tumble in oil prices shouldn't affect the South Texas city's conservative plans for development – at least not yet.

A steep drop in crude oil prices threatens to slow drilling in some U.S. oilfields, but officials in Texas' hottest shale plays say they're not worried. 

As Election Draws Near, Fracking Fight Puts Denton in Spotlight

  • by Mose Buchele, KUT News/StateImpact Texas
  • 5Comments
Pipes used for fracking are shown in front of a Fasken OIl and Ranch drilling rig outside of Midland on Oct. 8, 2013.
Enlarge photo by: Jerod Foster
Pipes used for fracking are shown in front of a Fasken OIl and Ranch drilling rig outside of Midland on Oct. 8, 2013.

A ballot initiative to ban fracking in Denton has put the North Texas city at the center of a nationwide debate over the safety of drilling, the money it produces and the role cities play in regulating it. As Election Day nears, the fight is growing fiercer. 

The Meadows Foundation and the Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation have supported energy coverage, and the Burdine Johnson Foundation has supported coverage of the environment.

Featured Video

TribLive: Keeping the Lights On in Texas

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The Brief: Oct. 29, 2014

Enlarge photo illustration by: Emily Albracht

The Tribune today launches its 15-part The Shale Life series, which tells in a variety of visual styles the stories of those who are living through the effects, both good and bad, of the shale boom in Texas.

The Brief: Oct. 28, 2014

Republican Gov. Rick Perry and Democratic nominee for governor Wendy Davis made separate appearances before national audiences on Monday, Oct. 27, 2014, Perry at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation, Davis on "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart."
Enlarge photo by: Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation/The Daily Show
Republican Gov. Rick Perry and Democratic nominee for governor Wendy Davis made separate appearances before national audiences on Monday, Oct. 27, 2014, Perry at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation, Davis on "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart."

Monday night was a big one for a pair of Texas politicos who were both given a national stage from which to galvanize support among their respective voter bases.

The Brief: Oct. 27, 2014

A Texas Parks and Wildlife Warden stands next to a 30 caliber rifle as he patrols the Rio Grand on the U.S.-Mexico border , Thursday, July 24, 2014, in Mission, Texas. Texas is spending $1.3 million a week for a bigger DPS presence along the border.
Enlarge photo by: Eric Gay / AP Pool Photo
A Texas Parks and Wildlife Warden stands next to a 30 caliber rifle as he patrols the Rio Grand on the U.S.-Mexico border , Thursday, July 24, 2014, in Mission, Texas. Texas is spending $1.3 million a week for a bigger DPS presence along the border.

Border security and immigration top the list of concerns in Texas, according to the most recent University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll.