Water

Activists gathered nearly 13,000 signatures on a petition to levy fees on chemical plants and refineries during drought.

City officials are asking residents in Canyon to limit “nonessential” water usage, making it the latest Texas Panhandle city to enact drought condition, ahead of what experts worry will be a dry and dangerous month for the region. Construction has begun on Lubbock Lake Landmark's Wildflower Trail, which was damaged by vandalism last year. Our Riley Wilson reports the Landmark is seeking $35,000 in donations to help with the repairs. You can donate to the fundraiser here or in person at 2401 Landmark Dr.

As more and more data center developers submit proposals to build in Texas, questions about how they will impact Texas' grid and contribute to drought conditions across the state are widespread.

As a heatwave approaches Lubbock, The Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center warns about the risk of dehydration. Our Riley Wilson reports on what to look out for. People who claim the popular weedkiller Roundup caused their cancer now have fewer legal options after the Supreme Court sided with the product’s manufacturer last month. Harvest Public Media’s Jess Savage explains the ruling overturns an earlier decision from a Missouri court.

Lake Meredith, near Amarillo is a municipal water source for eleven cities, including Lubbock. Last month it was designated by Texas Parks and Wildlife Department as “fully infested” with invasive zebra mussels. Our Samantha Larned reports the mussels are known to impact infrastructure, such as pipes used for water treatment.

Lake Meredith, near Amarillo, was recently designated as “fully infested” with invasive zebra mussels. The mussels have been spreading across Texas for more than 15 years and Lake Meredith is the north-most body of water in the state to be infected. TPWD says the mussels have the potential to damage treatment equipment in what is a municipal water source for the region, but water officials with the lake say they're prepared.

In some parts of Kansas, groundwater is polluted with enough nitrates that it can fulfill some of the fertilizing needs for farmers.

On July 7, the City of Lubbock hosted a public meeting to hear residents’ thoughts and concerns about large-scale data centers. As city officials try to balance the potential benefits with the risks, a majority of the approximately 70 members of the public who spoke at the meeting were against allowing data centers in the city.

Data centers use water to cool their massive arrays of computer servers. A state agency sent out a survey to figure out how much, but less than a third of the companies responded.

Ag Commissioner Sid Miller has proposed a temporary moratorium on data center development.