exTRA by the Trinity River Authority of Texas

During the Port Commission of the Port of Houston Authority's February meeting, Chairman Campo highlighted a $136 million contract award on the Port Commission’s agenda for segment 1C of the Houston Ship Channel Expansion - Project 11. Callan Marine Ltd., the newly awarded segment 1C contractor, will use its recently christened 32-inch cutter suction dredge, the GENERAL ARNOLD, considered the newest, largest, and most environmentally friendly cutter suction dredge in the U.S. fleet for the undertaking. The dredge features four EPA Tier 4 engines developing a combined 24,000 horsepower and utilizing exhaust gas re-circulation technology to reduce emissions to sub-Tier 4 levels.

Many of the underground water stores often critical to life in Texas, where rain is rare and the sun beats out of a pitiless sky, are running dry. Across the state, water gushes out of nearly 300 springs — a hidden array of reservoirs that creates creeks, rivers and swimming holes, and that once made agriculture in the western half of the state possible.

Corpus Christi will likely enter Stage 2 drought within less than a week, according to city officials. As of Wednesday morning, the two primary surface water sources that supply the region – Lake Corpus Christi and Choke Canyon Reservoir – stood at about 30.2%, city data shows.

The life cycle of a Dallas homeless encampment goes like this: the bigger it grows, the wider and deeper the moat of garbage and junk surrounding the place. Every time one of these makeshift communities pops up, the mounds of trash are a sorry sight and health hazard. After neighbors complain long enough, the city takes action.

Thursday’s meeting of the Brenham City Council will include the issuance of up to $11 million in certificates of obligation (COs) and a vote on an increase in water rates. The COs will be used to fund water and wastewater system improvements.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has approved a Candidate Conservation Agreement with Assurances (CCAA) with the Trinity River Authority of Texas (TRA) to conserve six imperiled species. The 10-year agreement addresses the conservation needs of four species of freshwater mussels (Texas heelsplitter, Trinity pigtoe, Texas fawnsfoot and Louisiana pigtoe) and two species of turtles (western chicken turtle and alligator snapping turtle). 

The river’s spikes in salinity are killing crops in the Rio Grande Valley. Finding a solution will require negotiations between Texas and Mexico.

Friday morning, March 1, saw an announcement of closures at the Spring Lake Natural Area and Purgatory Creek Natural Area made by San Marcos Parks and Recreation. The department said trails at the locations will be closed for golden-cheeked warbler nesting season from March 1 to May 31. 

Blocked in Louisiana, Formosa Plastics looks to grow around Lavaca Bay instead. But it and other interested industrial plants are waiting for more water.

Spring break is days away, and many are heading to the coast to spend their days in the sun. But before jumping into the ocean, people should be aware of surges in contamination levels that have washed up on the Texas shores in recent years. 

A new $1 billion fund will help Texas communities fix crumbling water infrastructure. Advocates say much more will be needed due to population growth and climate change.

The LCRA provides water to certain customers, such as coastal farmers, on an interruptible basis dependent on storage levels in its two reservoirs, Buchanan and Travis. The water supply is evaluated by the authority on March 1 and July 1 each year to determine how much water will be made available to interruptible customers. This year's evaluation determined the Highland Lakes region is experiencing an "extraordinary drought," the most severe rating on LCRA's scale. 

Texas is no stranger to winter wildfires, but the ferocity of the Smokehouse Creek fire — the state’s largest on record after burning through more than 1 million acres — caught even the experts off guard. Its severity was due to a perfect storm of environmental factors: highly flammable grasses and strong winds combined with record-high temperatures and dry conditions — the kind of extreme weather often exacerbated by climate change.

The Gulf of Mexico is experiencing sea level rise two to three times as fast as the global average due to a combination of warmer waters and wind circulation patterns. Now, a newly released long-term study from marine scientists at The University of Texas at Austin has found rising sea levels can be linked to a loss of valuable seagrass habitats in Texas.

The discovery was made during a recent Mission Reach Intensive Nekton Survey (MRINS) conducted by SARA scientists along with scientists from Texas A&M University and Texas State University.