Neena Satija
covers the environment for the Tribune. A native of the Washington, D.C. area, she graduated from Yale University in 2011, and then worked for a number of area news outlets, including the New Haven Independent, the Connecticut Mirror, and WNPR/Connecticut Public Radio. She has also been a regular contributor to National Public Radio. She previously worked for the Toledo Blade, the Dallas Morning News, and the Boston Globe. In her spare time, she enjoys singing (especially in group settings), running, and playing the addictive board game Settlers of Catan. As an East Coast transplant she is particularly thrilled with Austin tacos and warm weather.
Recent Contributions
Lake Texoma in October 2013. Once a major water supply for North Texas, it has been offline amid a zebra mussel infestation.
UPDATED: The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality voted Wednesday to refer protests over the proposed Lower Bois d'Arc Reservoir in northeast Texas to the State Office of Administrative Hearings.
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Land Commissioner candidate George P. Bush listens to an Evan Smith question at TribFest on Sept. 19, 2014
In a wide-ranging interview Friday night at The Texas Tribune Festival, Republican land commissioner candidate George P. Bush discussed a state law granting in-state tuition to undocumented immigrants and a controversial court case on the Texas Open Beaches Act.
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photo by: Rebecca Vanherdehaage
A 2013 look at at a boat dock at Lake Travis, whose water level has decreased markedly amid a historic drought. Lake Travis is part of the Central Texas' Highland Lakes.
The Lower Colorado River Authority approved a new plan on Wednesday to manage the Colorado River and its reservoirs, known as the Highland Lakes.
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Darwyn Hanna grows pecans and runs cattle on some of the land he owns in Bastrop County. He is contesting a water marketer's bid to pump about 15 billion gallons a year from the Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer in Bastrop County, saying the plan would devalue his property.
As drought continues to grip Central Texas, those looking to provide water to the region’s fast-growing cities and suburbs see a solution in the Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer. But others fear the resource will be drained at their expense.
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photo by: Texas Water Development Board / Todd Wiseman
This map shows all nine major aquifers in Texas. The Carrizo-Wilcox aquifer is shown in red.
In Central Texas, two groundwater districts have vastly different strategies on how to allow prospective water marketers to pump from the Carrizo-Wilcox aquifer.
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George P. Bush, the Republican candidate for Texas Land Commissioner, in Austin on Aug. 27, 2014.
Candidate George P. Bush speaks at the Republican State Convention on June 5, 2014.
Here's a transcript — edited for length and clarity — of The Texas Tribune's in-depth interview with land commissioner candidate George P. Bush, in which he lays out his positions on environmental policy.
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An environmentalist dressed as a "bag monster" protests HB 2416 on March 20, 2013 by State Rep. Drew Springer, R-Muenster, banning local bag ordinances.
Plastic bag bans in Texas cities such as Austin and Laredo may be legally sound, according to an opinion issued by Attorney General Greg Abbott's office handed down on Friday afternoon — that is, as long as they didn't ban bags for the purposes of "solid waste management."
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The McCarty Road Landfill in northeast Houston. As Houston considers a new plan for boosting its low recycling rate, some critics worry that it will continue the legacy of putting waste facilities in predominantly minority neighborhoods.
As Houston considers a radical new plan for boosting its dismally low recycling rate, some critics worry that it will continue the legacy of putting waste facilities in predominantly minority neighborhoods.
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photo by: Earl Nottingham / Texas Parks and Wildlife
An aerial view of fringe marshes around Powderhorn Lake.
Amid frustration that Texas has lagged behind in taking advantage of money that became available in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon disaster in 2010, state officials announced the largest conservation land purchase in Texas history.
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Gov. Jim “Pa” Ferguson.
Nearly a century ago, a sitting Texas governor was indicted for allegedly playing politics with public money and yanking funding from an institution. Sound familiar?
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photo illustration by: Todd Wiseman
Gov. Rick Perry has said that a new federal proposal to cut carbon emissions is "the most direct assault yet on the energy providers that employ thousands of Americans."
Texas should not bank on legal action to free itself from the Obama administration’s proposal to tackle climate change, two state regulators said Friday at a Public Utility Commission workshop.
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photo by: Gabriel Cristóver Pérez
A cascade aerator on the site of the Twin Oaks Valley Water Treatment Plant outside of San Antonio, where the San Antonio Water System maintains an underground storage reservoir.
San Antonio's water utility is negotiating to pipe in 16 billion gallons of water a year from Burleson County. Officials say the plan is key to securing future water needs, but others still have questions.
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Panhandle towns are once again pumping out of Lake Meredith again, which was recently empty but now 4% full.
Water systems in the Panhandle and South Plains last week started drawing water from a once-empty lake that is now just over 4 percent full. It's a sign of just how strapped the region is for water supplies.
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Steam rises from the stacks at the Martin Lake coal-fired power plant in Tatum, Texas.
Texas’ top environmental regulator suggested Thursday that the state may ignore a proposed directive from the Obama administration to reduce carbon emissions from power plants.
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