Texas voters will decide Tuesday whether the state should continue spending $1 billion a year to secure the state’s water supply. Part of that investment will be spent to find new water supply.
Broken Pipes
Texas’ water infrastructure is in dire condition. The state is losing billions of gallons of water a year to broken pipes and leaks. And so far in 2023, the state has had about eight boil-water notices a day. The problem is more acute in the Lone Star State’s smaller and rural towns, which lack the sort of tax base needed to keep up with costly repairs. The Texas Legislature, during its 88th regular session, has a unique chance to inject billions of dollars into the state’s patchwork of local water systems. But water advocates worry it won’t be enough — just a drop in the bucket.
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Texas Legislature 2025
Texas has a big water problem. This state lawmaker hopes he has the solution.
Texas’ population is booming and there is not enough water for everyone. State Sen. Charles Perry hopes to fix that.
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Broken Pipes
Laredo ends boil-water notice after 11 days, turns attention to illegal connections and old pipes
The South Texas city has hired a consulting firm for $200,000 to provide an interim director for the utility amid a restructuring of the department.
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Broken Pipes
Laredo enters its sixth day of a boil-water notice after E. coli is discovered in water system
The South Texas city is the latest to grapple with aging water infrastructure, which officials suggested could have been the cause for the E. coli outbreak.
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Broken Pipes
After six years, a Texas town’s boil-water notice has been lifted, but residents are still concerned
The town’s troubles started in 2018, when its water tested positive for the dangerous E.coli bacteria.
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Broken Pipes
Texas Water Board details how it will spend $1 billion for water infrastructure projects
About $45 million will go to Texas towns with fewer than 1,000 residents — a boon for municipalities without a viable tax base.
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Broken Pipes
After three citywide water outages, Odessa will invest $25 million to fix infrastructure
The Odessa City Council approved the budget to replace nearly 200 water valves and 17,000 feet of pipe.
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Broken Pipes
Their water is undrinkable. So these West Texas residents have taken matters into their own hands.
The water in these four unincorporated communities near Lubbock has been undrinkable for years, residents say. They hope to win $3 million in state grants to improve their systems.
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Broken Pipes
Texas likely will spend billions fixing its water systems. Will it reach these forgotten colonias?
An estimated 500,000 people live in thousands of colonias along the Texas-Mexico border. Largely built between the 1950s and 1980s, these communities have been promised water — but it has never come.
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Broken Pipes
Texas towns need money, technical help and compromise to save their water systems
Water agencies have long resisted working together out of fear of losing their local powers. But an example from Florida could help save the Lone Star State’s water and infrastructure.