News & Updates
EPA announces the expected availability of $21.7 million in grant funding to support rural and small water systems
Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it expects to issue by October 15th a $21.7 million grant funding opportunity for technical assistance and training providers to support small drinking water and wastewater systems that are often...
Two distinctive Hill Country wineries show why Texas Wine Month is well worth celebrating
With more than 500 wineries driving an economy valued at $13 billion, it’s clear Texas wine has long passed the all-hat-and-no-cattle phase. That there’s red, white and rosé gold in them there hills is further underscored by other statistical rankings that put the...
If you think the Texas electrical grid is fragile, take a look at our water infrastructure
In August, during the second special session of the 87th Texas Legislature, the Texas Capitol flooded. After the water stopped cascading down the pink granite walls inside the Capitol extension, the Legislature resumed its deliberations. The August flood was preceded...
Already, 18 weather disasters costing at least $1 billion each have hit the U.S. this year
This year is on pace to be one of the most active and costliest years for disasters in the United States. Through the first nine months of 2021, the U.S. has endured 18 separate weather and climate disasters that have cost at least $1 billion, according to the latest...
Climate change is making Texas hotter, threatening public health, water supply and the state’s infrastructure
Climate change has made the Texas heat worse, with less relief as nighttime temperatures warm, a report from the state’s climatologist published Thursday found. Climate data also show that the state is experiencing extreme rainfall — especially in eastern Texas —...
All in the Family
Bryan Parras recalls a time in elementary school when he accompanied his dad on a work trip to Nederland, in Texas’ Golden Triangle. The warehouse where his dad organized county workers was “just one open vacant room with a bunch of chairs like you would see in a...
Return on Investment: How putting a dollar figure on the value of conserved lands can help save more of them
The fall issue of the Land Trust Alliance Saving Land magazine highlights recent grants to land trusts for remote monitoring projects, transformative partnerships between land trusts and Indigenous groups and NRI's work to define the economic value of protected lands....
25% of all critical infrastructure in the US is at risk of failure due to flooding, new report finds
As a massive investment to repair roads and adapt to climate change faces an uncertain fate in Congress, a new report finds much of the country's infrastructure is already at risk of being shut down by flooding. And as the planet heats up, the threat is expected to...
Building the Texas Water Data Hub from the ground up
Roughly five years ago, the Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation began gathering a small group of Texas water data stakeholders to discuss opportunities to improve decision-making in the water space by improving access to the data that decisions are based on....