Families worry about health, water if proposed rock-crushing operation becomes neighbor

The air was thick as the sun was setting. The temperature had dropped just a little by Monday evening, but it didn’t do much to help with the sweltering heat. It didn’t faze the more than 70 homeowners, who live along or near County Road 284 in Williamson County, and...

Texas is drying up. We better protect our groundwater.

It is obvious to any Texan that we are in a horrific drought. According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, more than 80% of Texas has been facing drought conditions most of the year. Extreme or worse drought now covers 51% of the state. The drought is hurting water...

Don’t go with the flow

Do areas on your property look like this—sparse vegetation and very little topsoil? Hill County soils are notoriously thin. At one time, this spot likely had lots more soil and vegetation. What happened? Hard to tell exactly, but it’s likely due to a combination of...

The Odessa water outage underscores a growing problem: Aging pipes in Texas cities are getting more fragile

Odessa city officials are still investigating what caused a massive water line break that left the city without water for 48 hours last month. But they’ve shared one important detail: The water line was about 60 years old. “Aging water systems are common throughout...

Five things to know about drought in the American West

Harsh and unrelenting. But also transformative? The dry conditions blanketing much of the American West are setting records nearly every week. Lakes Mead and Powell, the country’s largest reservoirs by capacity, dropped to new lows this year. The Great Salt Lake did,...

Hill Country peach crops behind schedule due to heat, drought

Peaches can be seen growing on trees throughout the Texas Hill Country, but they are ripening about 2 to 3 weeks behind schedule. The amount being harvested at places like Jenschke Orchards is far less than what was picked the last two seasons. “We are very...