Skip to content

The Texas Observer

Since 1954

  • Get the Magazine
  • Donate
  • Digital Library
  • Sections
  • About
  • The Magazine
  • Support
  • The MOLLY Awards
  • Events
  • Donate
  • Digital Library
  • Toggle Search Search icon
  • Sections

    • Border and Immigration
    • Civil Rights
    • Criminal Justice
    • Culture
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Extremism
    • Housing
    • Indigenous Affairs
    • Labor
    • Loon Star State
    • Politics
    • Public Health
    • Reviews
    • Rural Texas
    • Photo Essays
    • Poetry
  • About

    • About the Observer
    • Staff
    • The Texas Democracy Foundation
    • Leak to the Observer
    • Work for the Texas Observer
    • Syndication
  • The Magazine

    • Get the Magazine
    • Current Issue
    • Archives
    • Digital Library
  • Support

    • Become a Member
    • Donate
    • Give a Membership
    • Legacy Giving
    • Member Portal
  • The MOLLY Awards

    • About the MOLLYs
  • Search

Socials

  • Find the Texas Observer on Facebook
  • Find the Texas Observer on Twitter
  • Find the Texas Observer on Instagram
  • Find the Texas Observer on Mastodon
  • Find the Texas Observer on Bluesky

Rio Grande

The Plight of the Monarch

All along their journey, from my hometown suburb to their winter home in Mexico, the iconic butterflies face human-made threats.

by Francesca D’Annunzio

Keep Reading

The River and the Fever Dream

by Jordan Vonderhaar

‘With What Water?’

by Chilton Tippin

She Fled Mexico as a Child. Now, She Teaches Migrant Kids in Tamaulipas.

by Francesca D’Annunzio

Aug 31, 2018

Eye on Texas: Fiesta Protesta

The Voices From Both Sides festival commemorates the 2002 closure of the border crossing between Lajitas and its Mexican sister city, Paso Lajitas.

by Jennifer Boomer

Aug 22, 2018

Dams and Reservoirs Won’t Save Us. This is the New Future of Water Infrastructure.

by Zoë Schlanger

Rio Grande Apr 18, 2018

Despite Trump, Water Agency Fosters Cross-Border Cooperation Between U.S. and Mexico

A binational agency is working to transcend the immigration, trade and border wall battle between the two countries.

by Naveena Sadasivam

immigrants, migrants, refugees Apr 11, 2018

Trump’s Border Wall Lands Rio Grande on List of Nation’s Most Endangered Rivers

The river has long suffered from pollution and overuse, but 33 new miles of border wall could be the “last nail in the coffin,” environmentalists say.

by Naveena Sadasivam

Mar 23, 2018

How the Fate of Texas’ Endangered Mussels Could Affect Water Usage Statewide

The designation could have significant consequences for people, farmers and companies along the Rio Grande and holds clues for how listing other rare mussels would change water use in Texas.

by Naveena Sadasivam

border, presidio, sasha von oldershausen, essay Jan 04, 2018

Somewhere It Hides a Well

Learning to look past borderland tropes in Presidio.

by Sasha von Oldershausen

photography, david taylor Dec 27, 2017

Houston Photo Exhibit Documents First Markers of Modern U.S.-Mexico Border

How strange, David Taylor’s camera seems to say, that this haphazard line has survived nearly 170 years as an international border, when so much else around it has changed.

by Michael Agresta

Nov 06, 2017

Documents: Texas National Guard Installed Cellphone Spying Devices on Surveillance Planes

“There are really big privacy and constitutional due-process concerns with the use of this technology,” a state lawmaker said.

by G.W. Schulz and Melissa del Bosque

Aug 04, 2017

National Butterfly Center Founder: Trump’s Border Wall Prep ‘Trampling on Private Property Rights’

Staff discovered workers with chainsaws on the center's private sanctuary clearing the way for Trump’s border wall in South Texas.

by Melissa del Bosque

Posts pagination

Previous 1 2 3 Next
  • Find the Texas Observer on Facebook
  • Find the Texas Observer on Twitter
  • Find the Texas Observer on Instagram
  • Find the Texas Observer on Mastodon
  • Find the Texas Observer on Bluesky

Sections

  • Border and Immigration
  • Civil Rights
  • Criminal Justice
  • Culture
  • Education
  • Environment
  • Eye on Texas
  • Extremism
  • Housing
  • Indigenous Affairs
  • Labor
  • Loon Star State
  • Politics
  • Public Health
  • Rural Texas
  • Reviews
  • Photo Essays
  • Poetry

About

  • About the Observer
  • Staff
  • The Texas Democracy Foundation
  • Republish Us (Syndication)
  • Work for the Texas Observer
  • The Molly National Journalism Prize

The Magazine

  • Get the Magazine
  • Archives
  • Where to Find the Texas Observer
  • Digital Library

Contact

  • Contacts List
  • Leak to the Observer
  • Pitch to the Texas Observer

Support

  • Donate
  • Become a Member
  • Legacy Giving
  • Member Portal

Events

  • RSVP

Get the newsletter

Sign up for The Lede

Get the stories you need to know about each week. Delivered every Sunday.

Sign Up Now

© 2026 The Texas Observer. All rights reserved. Site made in collaboration with CMYK.

Privacy Policy • Terms and Conditions