Texas Tribune
Texas averages five abortions a month after Dobbs
by By Eleanor Klibanoff, The Texas Tribune – 2024-06-24 05:00:00
SUMMARY: Since the Dobbs ruling overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022, Texas has seen a drastic decrease in abortions, from 4,400 to an average of five per month. Legal, medical, and personal challenges have arisen due to the stringent abortion laws. While some women have successfully sought abortions out of state or through telehealth and international providers, many face severe hurdles and delays, sometimes resulting in severe complications. The laws allow abortions to save a woman's life, but vague language and fear of penalties leave doctors hesitant. Anti-abortion activists continue efforts to restrict abortion access further.
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In the last two years, Texas abortion clinics closed, legal challenges raced through the court system, towns tried to ban out-of-state travel, conservative activists made abortion pills and emergency rooms into battlegrounds, and woman after woman after woman came forward with stories of medical care delayed or denied because of confusion over Texas' abortion laws.
And five women were able to get an abortion, on average, each month.
Texas, with 30 million residents and 10% of the women of reproductive age in the nation, used to see about 4,400 abortions a month.
Now, five.
State data, which is available only through January 2024, shows some months, no abortions were performed at all; there were never more than 10 in one month.
The drop in abortions in Texas is so large it's difficult to visualize in numbers: a 99.89% decline, a sheer cliff face on a line graph. But the meaning behind the metrics is perhaps even more difficult to discern.
For abortion-rights advocates, each missing number represents an individual in turmoil — a life derailed by an unintended pregnancy or a heartbreaking pregnancy complication worsened by delayed medical care.
Across the aisle, this number represents a dream achieved and evidence that the laws are working, both in banning elective abortions and ensuring women who need to terminate for medical reasons are able to. If some women have been able to get an abortion — the laws can't be that restrictive, can they?
Of course, these numbers don't tell the whole story. They don't capture the frantic trips out of state, the pills secreted in a bathroom, the forays over the border, all the ways Texans are managing to terminate their pregnancies despite the laws.
But two years after the June 2022 Dobbs ruling overturned Roe v. Wade, those abortions tell us a lot about how Texas' laws are working — exactly as designed.
Who has an abortion
Before Texas banned nearly all abortions, people sought to terminate their pregnancies for all sorts of reasons. They couldn't afford another child; they felt they were too young; they were in an unstable, or even abusive, home; they were sexually assaulted; they just weren't ready.
These people, and their reasons, still exist, and they face enormous challenges in either seeking abortions elsewhere or carrying these pregnancies to term. But since the Dobbs decision, much of the focus of the courts, the legislature, the media and advocates has narrowed in on one aspect — abortions for medically complicated pregnancies.
Performing an abortion in Texas is punishable by up to life in prison, unless, “in the exercise of reasonable medical judgment,” a doctor believes the pregnant patient is at risk of death or “substantial impairment of a major bodily function.”
This “life of the mother” exception, as it is often called, is supposed to allow doctors to perform an abortion when medically necessary. In practice, many doctors say the vagueness of the language and the extreme penalties leave them paralyzed.
“You sometimes feel like you're damned if you do, damned if you don't,” Dr. Todd Ivey, a Houston OB-GYN, told the Texas Tribune in April. “Patients are in very difficult situations … and then you have the threat from the other side of civil penalties in addition to criminal penalties, along with the loss of your license and prison time. It's incredibly frightening.”
The fact that some women are getting abortions under this exception is proof enough for many anti-abortion groups that it is working.
“We can see that there are doctors in Texas who clearly understand that the law allows them to intervene to save a woman's life,” said Amy O'Donnell with Texas Alliance for Life. “Not a single woman has lost their life, and no doctor has faced any kind of prosecution, lost their medical license or faced any penalties.”
The numbers, however, don't shed light on the process a woman goes through to get that abortion. Amanda Zurawski's membrane ruptured when she was 18 weeks pregnant, guaranteeing she would miscarry. Her doctors repeatedly refused to perform an abortion because they could still detect a fetal heartbeat. It wasn't until she went into sepsis, eventually spending three days in the intensive care unit, that they acted.
Zurawski led a lawsuit that challenged Texas' abortion laws on the grounds that they resulted in delayed or denied care for medically complicated pregnancies. Ultimately, 19 other women and two doctors signed on to the suit with their own stories
“The preventable harm inflicted on me will, medically, make it harder than it already was for me to get pregnant again,” Zurawski said at a news conference announcing the lawsuit last March. “The barbaric restrictions our lawmakers have passed are having real- life implications on real people. I may have been one of the first who was affected by the overturning of Roe in Texas, but I'm certainly not the last.”
The state and anti-abortion activists have argued that the laws are clear — it is the doctors who are being overly timid or, perhaps, intentionally obstinate.
“Our law allowed that doctor to intervene sooner, and so that's not an issue with the law,” O'Donnell said. “Her story is heartbreaking, but it is not an outcome that's based on Texas law, but just a doctor who didn't perform the life-saving abortion.”
During a hearing in which Zurawski and other plaintiffs testified against the laws, lawyers for the state encouraged them to file complaints or bring medical malpractice suits against their doctors for failing to act.
“Given the nature of plaintiffs' past experiences, it is understandable that they are seeking to place blame,” assistant attorney general Amy Pletscher said at the hearing. “But the blame directed at defendants is misplaced. Rather, plaintiffs sustained their alleged injuries as a direct result of their own medical providers failing them.”
Last month, the Texas Supreme Court rejected Zurawski v. Texas, and further endorsed this view.
“A physician who tells a patient, ‘Your life is threatened by a complication that has arisen during your pregnancy, and you may die, or there is a serious risk you will suffer substantial physical impairment unless an abortion is performed,' and in the same breath states ‘but the law won't allow me to provide an abortion in these circumstances' is simply wrong in that legal assessment,” the court wrote in its May 31 opinion.
The Texas Supreme Court has ruled, in this case but more explicitly in an earlier case, that the law doesn't require doctors to wait until a pregnant patient is “within an inch of death or her bodily impairment is fully manifest or practically irreversible.” A doctor can act before the harm to the mother is imminent, the court ruled.
But state data shows that 88 of the 90 abortions performed in the 18 months for which data is available happened because there was a medical emergency, as well as being necessary to preserve the health of the patient. And while no doctor has been prosecuted, there is a three-year statute of limitations and both state and private attorneys have shown their willingness to bring long-shot cases to test the limits of the law.
When an Austin district judge ruled 31-year-old Kate Cox could terminate her nonviable pregnancy, Attorney General Ken Paxton sent letters to Houston hospitals telling them he would pursue legal action if they allowed Cox to have an abortion on their premises. The Texas Supreme Court later ruled Cox did not qualify for an abortion.
“A physician thought that abortion was necessary, but the court came right behind and said, ‘No, we don't think so. We disagree,'” said Dr. Ivey, the Houston obstetrician, who is also an officer in the Texas chapter of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. “How can a physician feel protected enough to provide good medical care when the ultimate decision is going to be made by the court, and they may not support the physician?”
Paxton also sued the federal government for reminding emergency rooms of their obligation to stabilize patients experiencing a medical emergency, even if stabilization requires an abortion. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with Texas; the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule any day on a related case out of Idaho that could impact that ruling.
Even while it upheld the state law on abortions as it applied to complicated pregnancies, the Texas Supreme Court conceded that more clarity is needed. Late last year, justices asked the Texas Medical Board, the state licensing agency, to issue clearer guidance to doctors to help them interpret the laws and feel more confident performing medically necessary abortions.
The board's initial attempt at guidance focused mostly on listing paperwork doctors should prepare if they've performed a medically necessary abortion. At a stakeholder meeting last month, doctors, lawyers and women who had experienced complicated pregnancies said this wasn't enough to clear up the confusion and get Texans the care they need.
“We need clarity. Women's maternal health and fertility are dependent on the state getting this right,” said Dr. Joseph Valenti, a north Texas OB-GYN and chair of the Texas Medical Association's Board of Trustees.
On Friday, the board adopted a slightly modified version of their proposed rule.
How many more
While the plight of women with complicated pregnancies has moved into the foreground, Texans continue to seek abortions for a wide-range of reasons. What we don't know — and likely will never know — is just how many have found ways to terminate their pregnancies post-Dobbs, and how they did so.
#WeCount, a research project from the Society of Family Planning, has found the number of abortions nationally has stayed pretty consistent from before Dobbs, even as 14 states have banned abortion. They attribute this to other states expanding access to abortion and the wider access to telehealth.
Texans are a big part of this out-of-state abortion travel. More than 35,000 Texans went to another state to get an abortion in 2023, compared to just 2,400 in 2019, according to a study from the Guttmacher Institute. They primarily traveled to New Mexico, the only state bordering Texas that still allows abortion. Almost three-quarters of abortions there in 2023 were provided to out-of-state residents. Several clinics that used to operate in Texas have set up shop over the border in New Mexico.
And a countless number of Texans have ended pregnancies without ever leaving the state, thanks to widespread access to medication abortions, pills that induce abortion and are often obtained through telehealth appointments with out-of-state providers.
While prescribing and mailing abortion-inducing drugs is illegal in Texas, at least half a dozen states have passed so-called “shield laws” that aim to protect health care providers who prescribe abortion pills to patients in Texas and other restrictive states. The laws have not yet been tested in court.
Other women use international providers, like AidAccess, a European nonprofit that saw demand spike after the Dobbs decision, make quiet trips to pharmacies over the U.S.-Mexico border, or obtain the pills through an ever-growing whisper network.
Frustrated by this workaround, anti-abortion activists have focused on restricting out-of-state travel and access to abortion-inducing medications.
Several small towns, as well as Lubbock County, have passed a legally dubious ordinance that tries to prevent people from using local roads to transport anyone out-of-state for an abortion. The ordinance, which is enforced through private civil lawsuits, recently hit resistance in Amarillo, the largest city to consider it.
Jonathan Mitchell, the former Texas solicitor general responsible for many of the most aggressive conservative legal arguments in recent years, has taken things a step further. Mitchell has filed legal petitions seeking to depose women who terminated their pregnancies outside of Texas, as well as groups that fund out-of-state abortions for Texans. None of those petitions has yet resulted in depositions.
Mitchell has also filed a wrongful death lawsuit against three women who he says helped a friend obtain and take abortion-inducing drugs. The women have countersued Mitchell's client, the ex-husband of the woman who had been pregnant. That case is slowly moving through the court system.
Other conservative groups filed a lawsuit seeking to revoke the Food and Drug Administration's approval for mifepristone, one of two drugs taken together to terminate a pregnancy. While U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, the only federal judge in Amarillo, granted their petition, the Supreme Court recently overturned it, ruling that the doctors did not have standing to bring the suit.
Mifepristone remains approved, but the case may not be over.
Even further out of the spotlight are the Texans who did not get an abortion, but might have if laws were different. Maybe they lacked the resources to travel out of state, the information on how to get the medication, or the willingness to wade into these uncertain legal waters.
The clearest picture about who and how many people carried pregnancies to term as a result of the new abortion laws will eventually come from birth data. Early fertility data for Texas shows Hispanic women are seeing the greatest increase in births, and teen pregnancy has ticked up for the first time in decades. Some may turn to adoption, but the vast majority will likely parent children they did not intend to have.
Last legislative session, in a moment of bipartisan agreement motivated by the overturn of Roe v. Wade, the state extended health care coverage for poor mothers to one year postpartum, and eliminated the sales tax on diapers. It has invested in crisis pregnancy centers to give supplies to new moms.
Whether that commitment will be equally front of mind in the upcoming session will be determined when the legislature convenes in January. While lawmakers in other states have paid for their anti-abortion stances at the ballot box, Texas has continued to march steadily to the right, helped by voters who are more focused on issues like the border and the economy.
Two years after the overturn of Roe v. Wade, Texas voters say abortion is only the sixth most important issue facing the state.
Disclosure: Texas Medical Association has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here.
Just in: Former U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyoming; U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pennsylvania; and Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt will take the stage at The Texas Tribune Festival, Sept. 5–7 in downtown Austin. Buy tickets today!
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The Texas Tribune is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans — and engages with them — about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.
Texas Tribune
UT-Austin offers probation to students arrested in protests
by By Asad Jung, The Texas Tribune – 2024-07-05 17:44:44
SUMMARY: The University of Texas at Austin is disciplining students arrested during pro-Palestinian protests in April by offering “deferred suspension,” allowing students to avoid suspension by proving educational growth. Deferred suspension requires students to take an exam on university rules and avoid appealing the decision. Some students, like Ari Lenahan, see this as a relief compared to harsher penalties faced by peers at other universities. Over 130 protesters were arrested, but Travis County Attorney Delia Garza declined to pursue criminal trespassing charges. The university's heavy-handed response has sparked criticism from students, faculty, and free speech advocates.
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The University of Texas at Austin has begun disciplining students who were arrested in pro-Palestinian demonstrations in April, scolding them for their actions but offering them a path to avoid suspension.
In letters sent out to students this week, first reported by KUT, university officials said it would be appropriate to suspend them for their actions during the protests but would give them the option to take “deferred suspension” instead, a form of probation that would allow students to remain in class and keep the disciplinary action from appearing on their final transcripts.
“Recognizing our commitment to educational growth, we want to offer you an alternative path to avoid suspension by proving that you have learned from this experience,” reads one of the letters obtained by The Texas Tribune.
Students who choose deferred suspension must agree to take an exam testing their knowledge of the university's rules and agree not to appeal the decision. The status would be active until July 7, 2025.
Those who decline that option would be suspended, the letter says. Students may also appeal the disciplinary sanctions through a university hearing.
Ari Lenahan, a UT-Austin student set to graduate in December, said he was relieved the university offered him deferred suspension since students at other universities across the country are facing harsher punishments after participating in pro-Palestinian demonstrations. He said it may be the best choice for him since he aims to graduate this year.
“It's a lot clearer where I stand now, at least in the university's eyes,” he said.
Lenahan still has a hold on his account preventing him from registering for classes in the fall but said the letter he received Wednesday states any holds will be removed once his case is resolved.
Anne-Marie Jardine, a recent graduate, received a sanction letter concerning her involvement in an April 24 pro-Palestinian demonstration. Jardine was told she would be under deferred suspension for one year if she were to re-enroll at UT-Austin. Jardine said she hasn't received her official diploma from the university yet.
Many other students under investigation have not yet been informed about how the university plans to move forward with their cases. Sam Law, a PhD candidate who was arrested on April 29, said that he expects the university will contact him soon.
More than 130 protesters were arrested at pro-Palestinian demonstrations on UT-Austin's campus in late April. In resolute efforts to dispel the protesters, law enforcement at the time deployed pepper spray and flash-bang explosives and charged students with horses. State troopers were deployed by Gov. Greg Abbott to help quash the protests and had a hand in the arrests.
Those arrested were charged with criminal trespassing but Travis County Attorney Delia Garza declined to pursue those charges.
In the aftermath of the protest, many students, faculty and free speech advocates questioned UT-Austin's heavy-handed response to the protests and criticized state GOP leaders' support of the arrests. Just a few years ago, Abbott had championed state legislation that protected free speech on college campuses, leading free speech advocates to ask who gets to enjoy free speech protections in Texas.
UT-Austin leaders, meanwhile, have vowed to carry out discipline against students who violated campus policies. Seniors in the class of 2024 were afraid their diplomas would be withheld, though they were permitted to join graduation ceremonies in the spring.
Sneha Dey contributed to this story.
Disclosure: University of Texas at Austin has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here.
Just in: Former U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyoming; U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pennsylvania; and Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt will take the stage at The Texas Tribune Festival, Sept. 5–7 in downtown Austin. Buy tickets today!
The post UT-Austin offers probation to students arrested in protests appeared first on TexasTribune.org.
The Texas Tribune is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans — and engages with them — about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.
Texas Tribune
Hurricane Beryl likely to hit Texas coast Monday
by By Emily Foxhall, Berenice Garcia and Stephen Simpson, The Texas Tribune – 2024-07-05 16:47:07
SUMMARY: Texans are being urged to prepare for Hurricane Beryl, expected to make landfall as a Category 1 or 2 storm along the Texas coast on Monday. Currently crossing Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, Beryl could hit anywhere from northern Mexico to the mid-Texas coast. Officials stress vigilance and preparation, especially for those along the Gulf coast, and advise stocking up on essentials like food and water. Emergency measures include distributing sandbags and readying evacuation plans. Beryl, an unusually strong early-season storm, has already caused significant Caribbean damage, with forecasters predicting a highly active hurricane season exacerbated by climate change.
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Texans need to prepare for Hurricane Beryl, which is likely to make landfall on the state's coast as a Category 1 or 2 storm on Monday, state emergency officials said.
The record-setting storm was moving across Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula on Friday, leaving forecasters still unsure exactly where along the Texas coast will see the worst rainfall and wind.
As Beryl left behind a trail of destruction across Caribbean islands, state officials urged Texans along the entire Gulf coast to pay close attention and prepare for a dangerous storm, particularly people vacationing during the July 4 holiday weekend.
“Everyone along the coast should be paying attention to this storm,” Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said at a news conference in Austin. Patrick is serving as acting governor as Gov. Greg Abbott travels in Asia on an economic development trip.
Residents should be gassing up their vehicles and making sure they have food and water for themselves and their pets, Texas Division of Emergency Management Chief Nim Kidd said.
“A lot of people are out having fun right now, and that's a good thing, and we want them to continue to do that, but we also want them to prepare,” Kidd said. “We need a prepared community, not a panicked community.”
Boarded windows at the H-E-B Plus! grocery store in Brownsville on July 5, 2024.
Credit:
Michael Gonzalez for The Texas Tribune
Officials in the Rio Grande Valley and Corpus Christi have been distributing thousands of sandbags to help people prepare for potential flooding. South Texans have been eager for rain because the two major reservoirs on the Rio Grande have reached near or record lows in June.
Forecasters on Friday expected Beryl to make landfall anywhere from northern Mexico to the mid-Texas coast. The storm appeared likely aimed for South Texas but experts warned its path could shift north to Corpus Christi or Matagorda Bay.
Tropical storm-level winds would likely arrive Sunday night, according to the National Hurricane Center. Areas from Brownsville to Corpus Christi faced the greatest wind threat under the current forecast.
Heavy rain could begin Sunday and last through Tuesday. The National Hurricane Center predicted four to eight inches to fall along the South Texas coastline, with higher amounts in some spots, and up to six inches from Corpus Christi to Matagorda Bay. Forecasters expected the storm to slow over land, which would increase the risk of flooding.
Rip currents and high seas starting late Friday will make coastal conditions dangerous.
In the Rio Grande Valley, officials were preparing for possible flooding.
The eastern part of Hidalgo County tends to be hit the hardest during heavy rains, but the county was taking steps to mitigate flooding there, said Ricardo Saldaña, Hidalgo County's emergency management coordinator. Officials have placed water pumps near flood-prone areas and worked with contractors to prevent flooding at drainage project sites by covering up excavation holes.
Saldaña warned residents to make their own preparations by stocking up on food and water, preparing an emergency kit, and making arrangements with friends and family to relocate if necessary.
Sandbags at a county facility in Brownsville on July 5, 2024.
Credit:
Michael Gonzalez for The Texas Tribune
Cameron County Judge Eddie Treviño, Jr. recommended that people in recreational vehicles leave county parks.
“If you don't feel safe, evacuate,” said Tom Hushen, Cameron County's emergency management coordinator.
If there is flooding, Hushen said they were prepared to mobilize fire trucks and ambulances to help people evacuate. But high winds could pose another threat. Winds of more than 90 miles per hour could cause those vehicles to topple over. In that scenario, county officials would have to deploy larger vehicles like dump trucks.
Hushen said any power outages would prompt the opening of emergency shelters. He also advised residents to tie down any loose items in their yards and to bring in all patio furniture because high winds could turn those objects into projectiles.
“Listen to the warnings,” Hushen advised residents. “Things could change at a moment's notice.”
Beryl has astounded meteorologists with its strength so early in the summer. Warmer-than-normal ocean temperatures helped Beryl rapidly strengthen into a Category 4 storm in late June — becoming the first recorded Category 4 storm to form in June, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Beryl strengthened into a Category 5 and tore across the Caribbean, causing devastation in Grenada and Jamaica. It pushed onto the Yucatan Peninsula early Friday as a Category 2 storm.
“Beryl is so out of place historically given how early in the season it is and how strong it got,” said Houston-based meteorologist Matt Lanza, who helps write a blog on tropical weather called The Eyewall. “Typically you don't see that sort of thing until August — not the end of June, beginning of July.”
Federal forecasters expect this hurricane season, which began June 1, to be a bad one. They predicted to see 17 to 25 named storms form, which was more than they had ever forecast before a season's start. They believed four to seven of those would be Category 3 storms or stronger.
Climate change driven by people burning fossil fuels is causing oceans to warm and makes hurricanes more likely to be stronger. Scientists also say climate change may make rapid intensification of storms more likely — as happened with Beryl.
“To look at a satellite on June the 30th or July the 1st and to see a storm of Beryl's magnitude is almost unbelievable,” said Michael Lowry, a hurricane expert for WPLG TV in Miami.
Reporting in the Rio Grande Valley is supported in part by the Methodist Healthcare Ministries of South Texas, Inc.
Just in: Former U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyoming; U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pennsylvania; and Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt will take the stage at The Texas Tribune Festival, Sept. 5–7 in downtown Austin. Buy tickets today!
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Texas Tribune
Texas cities lost 88 billion gallons of water in 2023
by By Juan Salinas II, The Texas Tribune – 2024-07-05 05:00:00
SUMMARY: Texas' major cities reported losing approximately 88 billion gallons of water in 2023 due to aging infrastructure and extreme heat, leading to substantial financial losses and strained water supplies. The largest losses were in Houston (31.8 billion gallons), San Antonio, and Dallas, attributed mainly to leaks and main breaks. Efforts to address this include Houston Public Works' pursuit of funding, Fort Worth's advanced metering and water management, and San Antonio Water System's new conservation plan. The state now has a $1 billion Water Fund for infrastructure, though experts like Jennifer Walker argue that significantly more investment is needed.
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Texas' most populous cities lost roughly 88 billion gallons of water last year because of aging water infrastructure and extreme heat, costing them millions of dollars and straining the state's water supply, according to self-reported water loss audits.
The documents show that bigger municipalities are not immune to water issues often seen in smaller, less-resourced communities around the state. All but one big city saw increased water loss from last year's audits.
While cities are losing water because of inaccurate meters or other data issues, the main factors are leaks and main breaks.
Here's how much each of Texas' biggest cities lost last year, according to their self-reported audits:
- Houston: 31.8 billion
- San Antonio: 19.5 billion
- Dallas: 17.6 billion
- Austin: 7.1 billion
- Fort Worth: 5.9 billion
- El Paso: 4.8 billion
Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, Austin, Fort Worth and El Paso must submit water loss audits to the Texas Water Development Board yearly. Other water agencies must do audits only every five years, unless the city has over 3,300 connections or receives money from the board.
“What we have right now is not sustainable [or] tenable,” said Jennifer Walker, National Wildlife Federation's Texas Coast and Water Program director.
The cities of Houston and Dallas saw the biggest increase in lost water reported. Houston saw a 30% jump from last year's audit, while Dallas saw an increase of 18%.
Houston is the largest populous city in the state, home to roughly 2.3 million Texans; it lost around 31 billion gallons of water last year.
Houston Public Works blames the region's long drought from June 2022 to December last year for the increase. Droughts cause clay in soil to dry up and shrink, stressing older water lines and making them more likely to break and leak. Officials said this, combined with aging infrastructure, led to a significant increase in water leaks across the city.
“HPW will continue to pursue all funding options available to help replace aging infrastructure,” the Houston spokesperson said.
Aging infrastructure isn't only a Houston problem. Dallas officials said they only expected a roughly 4% increase in water loss in 2023. They saw a double-digit increase instead.
A Dallas Water Utilities spokesperson said the city is investigating the cause of the increase and “reviewing records to ensure all allowable unbilled/unmetered authorized uses were properly accounted for in the 2023 calculation.”
On the other side of North Texas, Fort Worth saw an increase from 5.6 billion gallons lost in 2022 to 5.9 billion gallons in 2023, losing Cowtown more than $8 million.
Walker, from the National Wildlife Federation, said numbers are also rising because cities are getting more accurate in reporting water loss.
Fort Worth has a “MyH2O program” that replaced all manual read meters with remote read meters and implemented a Real Water Loss Management Plan in 2020 to focus the city efforts related to leak surveys, leak detection and the creation of district metering areas.
“It is actually a testament to how we are using available data to make better decisions and improve reporting with a higher level of confidence,” said Fort Worth Water Conservation Manager Micah Reed.
Last year, voters passed a proposition that created a new fund specifically for water infrastructure projects that are overseen by the Texas Water Development Board.
The agency now has $1 billion to invest in projects that address various issues, from water loss and quality to acquiring new water sources and addressing Texas' deteriorating pipes. It's the largest investment in water infrastructure by state lawmakers since 2013.
Walker calls the $1 billion a “drop in the bucket.”
Texas 2036, an Austin-based think tank, expects the state needs to spend more than $150 billion over the next 50 years on water infrastructure.
While some of the Texas Water Fund must be focused on projects in rural areas with populations of less than 150,000, Walker said the bigger cities could also receive some funding.
In San Antonio, the San Antonio Water System isn't “waiting for [the state] to come and tackle the problem for us.”
The city lost around 19 billion gallons of water in 2023 and has seen an increase over the last five years.
“We're in a state that doesn't even fund public education,” said Robert Puente, president and CEO of the San Antonio Water System. “So good luck to us getting some money from the state on these issues.”
Earlier this week, the SAWS board of trustees unanimously approved a new five-year water conservation plan.
The city of Austin lost around 7 billion gallons of water in 2023.
Austin has hired a consultant to review it's water loss practices and metrics, according to city officials. The capital city is also in the process of replacing water mains around Austin.
Walker said while Texas lawmakers should invest more money in water infrastructure, city officials also need to hire more staff and better planning to address water loss.
The one city that lost less water in 2023 was El Paso, which reported losing 475 million fewer gallons last year. Since El Paso is in the desert, water conservation and having a “watertight” infrastructure is the city's main focus, said Aide Fuentes, El Paso Wastewater Treatment Manager.
“That makes us a little bit different from the rest of Texas in that sense,” Fuentes said.
El Paso Water officials aim to reduce water loss by 10%.
Walker said the data shows that cities should make the case to state lawmakers to continue addressing water infrastructure in the next legislative session. She added this issue isn't going away.
“We really need [to] try to live with what we have and not lose the water that we already have in place and make sure that it's reaching its intended destination,” Walker said.
Disclosure: San Antonio Water System and Texas 2036 have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here.
Just in: Former U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyoming; U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pennsylvania; and Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt will take the stage at The Texas Tribune Festival, Sept. 5–7 in downtown Austin. Buy tickets today!
The post Texas cities lost 88 billion gallons of water in 2023 appeared first on TexasTribune.org.
The Texas Tribune is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans — and engages with them — about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.
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