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Rural Texas

A stream of brown liquid spills from a long pipe onto a polluted looking, muddy and desolate field.

Texas Has a Water Shortage and a Water Glut. They’re the Same Problem.

Every day the Permian Basin brings up more water than nearby communities use, and treats most of it as waste. The state can no longer afford to do so.

by Mezabahnur Masum

Keep Reading

Texas’ Fight Against the Screwworm Will Be Nasty and Brutish

by Christopher Collins

Data Center Boom Exposes GOP Faultlines over Local Control

by Candice Bernd

When the AI Cloud Comes for Texas Water

by Miranda Williamson

Nov 27, 2024

Riding the Pines in Palestine and Rusk

Railways have long defined these East Texas towns, and the Texas State Railroad aims to keep that history on the books.

by Michelle Pitcher

Sep 12, 2024

A Slice of Life in Watermelon Country

The annual Luling Watermelon Thump has been a Central Texas staple for more than 70 years.

by Michelle Pitcher

Jun 20, 2024

A Small-Town Texas Librarian’s Big Stand Against Book Bans

In Llano County, a local librarian fought back against censorship, prompting a federal court fight and national recognition but losing the job of her dreams.

by Lise Olsen

Jun 11, 2024

‘Ride’ Paints Cowboy Life in Shades of Gray

A new movie set in Stephenville complicates, without vilifying, one of our state’s central mythic figures.

by Michelle Pitcher

Apr 25, 2024

Texas Exotic Hunts Are Dangerously Unregulated

Some hunting ranches in Texas routinely offer hunts of endangered or threatened exotic species. This should not be allowed.

by Amber Gobell

Apr 17, 2024

The Epic Texas Panhandle Fire Is Just a Preview

Texas officials go to bat for oil and gas while the climate-fueled Smokehouse Creek Fire still rages.

by Christopher Collins

Mar 04, 2024

Uninsured Country: Affordable Health Care Eludes Many Family Farmers and Ranchers

Americans who operate small family farms and ranches often cannot get adequate health care and insurance. A journalist who spent her summers on her family’s Texas ranch writes about family members’ struggles and the challenges rural residents face today.

by Jordan Gass-Pooré

A cartoon illustration of Molly Ivins says, “Howdy, y’all. Texas sure can be the Strangest State.” Feb 02, 2024

Strangest State: Hello Possum, Goodbye Fish

Sharing the latest dispatches from far-flung Texas.

by Texas Observer Staff

Jan 31, 2024

Abbott’s Border Standoff Fueled by a Climate Crisis He Helped to Create

Record levels of forced migration are tied to an environmental collapse that Republicans worsened on behalf of the fossil fuel industry.

by Greg Harman

Posts pagination

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