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Drought Fells a Texas Town’s Biggest Employer
Posted by New York Times: Manny Fernandez on February 28th, 2013
New York Times: After two years of drought, people are starting to leave this parched West Texas town. The lack of significant rainfall has slowed the rush of cattle that came to the largest employer here, a beef processing plant that employed 2,300 people in a town of 22,343. When the plant shut this month, it took with it an annual payroll of $15.5 million. The closing has challenged families who had worked at the plant off Interstate 27 for generations. Sons and daughters stood alongside their fathers and mothers,...
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Texas Drought Pushes Lawmakers to Focus on Water in New Session
Posted by New York Times: Manny Fernandez on January 12th, 2013
New York Times: There is usually no shortage of controversial and politically divisive issues for lawmakers to address in the opening days of a state legislative session, from abortion to immigration to gun rights. But throughout the opening of the 83rd Texas Legislature last week, one of the most frequently discussed topics had bipartisan support: improving the state’s water infrastructure as the population booms and a devastating two-year drought drags on. Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and other Republicans proposed...
Texas drought forces a town to sip from a truck
Posted by New York Times: Manny Fernandez on February 4th, 2012
New York Times: The water that once nourished this central Texas community never traveled far: it came from a fenced-in well at the edge of Lake Travis, down a winding street next to the golf course. These days, the water that flows from kitchen and bathroom faucets takes an extraordinary journey that can be measured not in feet but in miles. This drought-stricken place in the scenic hills outside Austin has been forced to bring in water by truck from more than 10 miles away because its sole well came close to...