alexander
@texaswaterpunk.bsky.social
former east dallasite turned riverbottom rambler, dabbling in riparian restoration. volunteer- and wildland firefighter
http://TXRIVERS.ORG
http://TXRIVERS.ORG
Pinned
alexander
@texaswaterpunk.bsky.social
· Nov 20
this was fun + horrifying to kayak on. In May the lying City of Dallas staff shed their skin via a FOIA request + shared the true leak rate at 1,005 gal per minute.
1,005 gpm ➡ 60K gal per hour ➡ 1.45 M gal per day ➡ 43.4 M gal per month ➡ 521 M gal per year ➡ 5.7 B gal over the 11-year leak.
1,005 gpm ➡ 60K gal per hour ➡ 1.45 M gal per day ➡ 43.4 M gal per month ➡ 521 M gal per year ➡ 5.7 B gal over the 11-year leak.
In case you missed this quick listen on legal and political updates at The Cutoff.
A long-running access fight at The Cutoff—a former branch of the Trinity River in East Texas—just got a new twist. txst.us/gradgv
Lawmakers back campaign donor in fight over East Texas waterway
A landowner fenced off a former branch of the Trinity River where locals hunt and fish.
txst.us
October 27, 2025 at 4:07 PM
In case you missed this quick listen on legal and political updates at The Cutoff.
New updates and history on the Cutoff of the Trinity River in Henderson County, where legal battles abound regarding stream navigation law. Last week from @texastribune.org:
www.texastribune.org/2025/10/23/e...
www.texastribune.org/2025/10/23/e...
East Texas fishermen fight to keep stream public
Phillip Surls, a local businessman who owns much of the property around the Cutoff, has argued he blocked access to the stream to protect his cattle and that the waterway is not public.
www.texastribune.org
October 27, 2025 at 4:00 PM
New updates and history on the Cutoff of the Trinity River in Henderson County, where legal battles abound regarding stream navigation law. Last week from @texastribune.org:
www.texastribune.org/2025/10/23/e...
www.texastribune.org/2025/10/23/e...
Hearing @gregjstoker.bsky.social on @texasstandard.bsky.social this morning is awesome.
October 8, 2025 at 3:36 PM
Hearing @gregjstoker.bsky.social on @texasstandard.bsky.social this morning is awesome.
Last night, identities of 3 individuals were released who have been directing TXDOT to aid a landowner on his conquest to privatize a beloved 735-acre waterbody (The Cutoff) owned by the State of Texas. They are: House Representatives Keith Bell and Cody Harris, and Senator Robert Nichols.
October 3, 2025 at 4:57 PM
Last night, identities of 3 individuals were released who have been directing TXDOT to aid a landowner on his conquest to privatize a beloved 735-acre waterbody (The Cutoff) owned by the State of Texas. They are: House Representatives Keith Bell and Cody Harris, and Senator Robert Nichols.
as gale force winds endure 200 miles south of the eyewall, masked bobbies plunging into the seawater amid 20+ foot waves to feed on various fish potentially including flying fish, squid, small tuna
August 19, 2025 at 4:47 PM
as gale force winds endure 200 miles south of the eyewall, masked bobbies plunging into the seawater amid 20+ foot waves to feed on various fish potentially including flying fish, squid, small tuna
up close and personal with the spiral rainbands of Hurricane Erin this morning aboard @royalcaribbeanintl.bsky.social's Wonder of the Seas. ~200 miles south of the eye, enduring gale force winds from SW, wave heights well over 15 feet
August 19, 2025 at 4:45 PM
up close and personal with the spiral rainbands of Hurricane Erin this morning aboard @royalcaribbeanintl.bsky.social's Wonder of the Seas. ~200 miles south of the eye, enduring gale force winds from SW, wave heights well over 15 feet
can't wait to paddle the upper Guadalupe River later this year and witness all the thousands of cypress trees which survived flow rates that more than doubled that of Niagara Falls
some pictures I took from Guadalupe River State Park this spring:
some pictures I took from Guadalupe River State Park this spring:
August 12, 2025 at 3:14 PM
can't wait to paddle the upper Guadalupe River later this year and witness all the thousands of cypress trees which survived flow rates that more than doubled that of Niagara Falls
some pictures I took from Guadalupe River State Park this spring:
some pictures I took from Guadalupe River State Park this spring:
Per the Rio Grande Guardian this week: City of Brownsville, Cameron County, and their partners (Freese and Nichols and a real estate broker) are being completely secretive about this $500 million project and its "River Walk" along the fourth longest river in the US. rgv.me/thread/3954
Jokl: River Walk-type project planned for Downtown Brownsville – Rio Grande Guardian
The Renaissance Park project will cost upwards of $500 million and be the biggest thing to happen to Downtown Brownsville for many years, says real estate broker Larry Jokl.
riograndeguardian.com
August 5, 2025 at 5:36 PM
Per the Rio Grande Guardian this week: City of Brownsville, Cameron County, and their partners (Freese and Nichols and a real estate broker) are being completely secretive about this $500 million project and its "River Walk" along the fourth longest river in the US. rgv.me/thread/3954
Reposted by alexander
I grew up poor and in the country without cable. Know what channel always came in? PBS.
Fuck Trump.
Fuck Trump.
August 2, 2025 at 7:33 PM
I grew up poor and in the country without cable. Know what channel always came in? PBS.
Fuck Trump.
Fuck Trump.
Greg Abbott Killed the Best Chance to Save Jacob's Well
www.texasmonthly.com/news-politic...
www.texasmonthly.com/news-politic...
Why the Best Chance to Save One of Texas’s Most Iconic Swimming Holes Drained Away
The Legislature passed a measure to help save the iconic watering hole and Hays County’s dwindling aquifer. Then Greg Abbott vetoed it.
www.texasmonthly.com
August 1, 2025 at 9:00 PM
Greg Abbott Killed the Best Chance to Save Jacob's Well
www.texasmonthly.com/news-politic...
www.texasmonthly.com/news-politic...
From historian Char Miller, author of West Side Rising: How San Antonio’s 1921 Flood Devastated a City and Sparked a Latino Environmental Justice Movement (2021):
People did not die solely because of forgetfulness but because amnesia allowed succeeding generations to erase the past and their responsibilities to the future. When they could have enacted post-flood, life-saving interventions, they chose not to act on their progeny’s behalf.
The San Antonio Flood of 1921 Held Lessons We Refuse to Learn
There is nothing unknown about what triggered the brutal Hill Country flood of 2025 and so many others dating back to the nineteenth century.
www.texasobserver.org
July 28, 2025 at 4:19 PM
From historian Char Miller, author of West Side Rising: How San Antonio’s 1921 Flood Devastated a City and Sparked a Latino Environmental Justice Movement (2021):
Reposted by alexander
Federal DEI funding cuts threaten the work of the few remaining Black farmers in East Texas
Federal DEI funding cuts threaten the work of the few remaining Black farmers in East Texas
Trump’s rollback is another example of the federal government’s lackluster efforts at giving Black farmers a boost in recent years.
www.texastribune.org
July 17, 2025 at 4:03 PM
Federal DEI funding cuts threaten the work of the few remaining Black farmers in East Texas
Guadalupe River at further risk: I am hearing reports from Kerr County that debris removal contractors have been emphasizing getting out as much material as possible because they are being paid by weight - so they were getting material out while it was still wet, green and heavy.
July 25, 2025 at 7:29 PM
Guadalupe River at further risk: I am hearing reports from Kerr County that debris removal contractors have been emphasizing getting out as much material as possible because they are being paid by weight - so they were getting material out while it was still wet, green and heavy.
Reposted by alexander
Out today: Although Texans have been doing flood-prevention planning, most of those analyses are based on the statistics from past storms without attempts being made to better define the current reality. More importantly, we don’t treat floodplains with the respect they deserve and demand.
Floodplains Belong to the Rivers
From Houston to the Hill Country, we Texans keep doing the same thing over and over while expecting a different result.
www.texasobserver.org
July 24, 2025 at 8:09 PM
Out today: Although Texans have been doing flood-prevention planning, most of those analyses are based on the statistics from past storms without attempts being made to better define the current reality. More importantly, we don’t treat floodplains with the respect they deserve and demand.
Proposed Transmission Line Threatens Texas’ Largest Reservoir www.texasobserver.org/locals-oppos...
Proposed Transmission Line Threatens Texas’ Largest Reservoir
If approved, opponents warn that a massive new utility project could disrupt toxic sediment, and more, in Lake Livingston—Houston’s “most critical” water source.
www.texasobserver.org
July 21, 2025 at 7:18 PM
Proposed Transmission Line Threatens Texas’ Largest Reservoir www.texasobserver.org/locals-oppos...
Reposted by alexander
I went on the Talk+Water podcast hosted by Texas+Water to discuss produced water, the Rio Grande and more. Thanks to Todd Votteler for having me on. You can listen to the episode here: texaspluswater.wp.txstate.edu/2025/07/18/t...
talk+water: Martha Pskowski
In this conversation, Dr. Todd Votteler, Principal of Collaborative Water Resolution and Editor-in-Chief of Texas+Water and the Texas Water Journal, discusses water challenges in the Rio Grande with M...
texaspluswater.wp.txstate.edu
July 21, 2025 at 1:01 PM
I went on the Talk+Water podcast hosted by Texas+Water to discuss produced water, the Rio Grande and more. Thanks to Todd Votteler for having me on. You can listen to the episode here: texaspluswater.wp.txstate.edu/2025/07/18/t...
Reposted by alexander
"Globally, in the last 20, 25 years, we lost more than 500,000 sq. km. of natural floodplains. And that’s almost the size of France. So protecting the natural floodplain is fundamental to protecting people from flood hazards, but we are not doing that." txst.us/lvjrtx
Expert cautions on rebuilding within Guadalupe River floodplain
New human settlements constructed in recent years have made the waterway more hazardous, UT-Arlington civil engineering professor says.
txst.us
July 9, 2025 at 6:22 PM
"Globally, in the last 20, 25 years, we lost more than 500,000 sq. km. of natural floodplains. And that’s almost the size of France. So protecting the natural floodplain is fundamental to protecting people from flood hazards, but we are not doing that." txst.us/lvjrtx
'Looks like it did 200 years ago' | Centuries-old trees and trails wiped out by mistake in Garland www.wfaa.com/article/tech...
'Looks like it did 200 years ago' | Centuries-old trees and trails wiped out by mistake in Garland
The City of Garland accidentally cleared parts of Spring Creek Forest Preserve, damaging historic trees and wildlife.
www.wfaa.com
July 15, 2025 at 2:57 PM
'Looks like it did 200 years ago' | Centuries-old trees and trails wiped out by mistake in Garland www.wfaa.com/article/tech...
Reposted by alexander
Four maps of the flooding in Kerr County, TX. Each newsroom drew on varied data sources & focused on a different aspect of the disaster.
Refined combination of color-coded rainfall data & shaded relief by Laris Karklis, @washingtonpost.com
wapo.st/3IpvrTu
#dataviz #cartography #ddj
1/4
Refined combination of color-coded rainfall data & shaded relief by Laris Karklis, @washingtonpost.com
wapo.st/3IpvrTu
#dataviz #cartography #ddj
1/4
July 11, 2025 at 6:49 PM
Four maps of the flooding in Kerr County, TX. Each newsroom drew on varied data sources & focused on a different aspect of the disaster.
Refined combination of color-coded rainfall data & shaded relief by Laris Karklis, @washingtonpost.com
wapo.st/3IpvrTu
#dataviz #cartography #ddj
1/4
Refined combination of color-coded rainfall data & shaded relief by Laris Karklis, @washingtonpost.com
wapo.st/3IpvrTu
#dataviz #cartography #ddj
1/4
What alternatives were recommended, if any? No public input, no initial contact with TPWD Kills and Spills Team, now a world class birding facility, educational and recreational amenity is closed off to the public with unknown effects to migratory wildlife. Particularly disturbing event timeline.
The Fort Worth water department is using the Village Creek Drying Beds as part of an emergency response to a spill of 2,600 barrels of crude oil near Lake Arlington in early May.
Texas Parks and Wildlife looking into Fort Worth oil spill sewage cleanup
The Fort Worth water department is using the Village Creek Drying Beds as part of an emergency response to a spill of 2,600 barrels of crude oil near Lake Arlington in early May.
bit.ly
July 14, 2025 at 1:52 PM
What alternatives were recommended, if any? No public input, no initial contact with TPWD Kills and Spills Team, now a world class birding facility, educational and recreational amenity is closed off to the public with unknown effects to migratory wildlife. Particularly disturbing event timeline.
This is particularly tragic and heartbreaking, as Spring Creek Forest Preserve contains some of the last old growth forest in the southeastern US.
The Water Utilities Department cut an ugly swath through the beloved Spring Creek Forest Preserve.
City of Garland Accidentally Plows Through Protected Forest
The Water Utilities Department cut an ugly swath through the beloved Spring Creek Forest Preserve.
www.dmagazine.com
July 11, 2025 at 5:16 PM
This is particularly tragic and heartbreaking, as Spring Creek Forest Preserve contains some of the last old growth forest in the southeastern US.
Self-described environmentalist, Dallas-based hedge-fund manager Kyle Bass, is looking to take over 46,000 acre-feet (15 billion gallons) of water per year out of the Carrizo-Wilcox in East Texas www.ketk.com/news/local-n...
June 6, 2025 at 10:51 PM
Self-described environmentalist, Dallas-based hedge-fund manager Kyle Bass, is looking to take over 46,000 acre-feet (15 billion gallons) of water per year out of the Carrizo-Wilcox in East Texas www.ketk.com/news/local-n...
Checked out a neat beaver lodge on the shore of Richland-Chambers Reservoir on Saturday. It is a hybrid of both common types of lodges: the classic conical lodge & the bank lodge. Setting up a game camera to monitor their dam maintenance activities for the next couple weeks.
April 30, 2025 at 4:46 PM
Checked out a neat beaver lodge on the shore of Richland-Chambers Reservoir on Saturday. It is a hybrid of both common types of lodges: the classic conical lodge & the bank lodge. Setting up a game camera to monitor their dam maintenance activities for the next couple weeks.
Last weekend's overnight paddle down the Angelina River was one for the books. Deep, cool oxbow lakes, full of fish, surround the Angelina before it meets the Neches. 46 species of birds heard & seen, highlights: dozens of prothonotary warblers, parulas + 2 swallow-tailed kites.
April 30, 2025 at 4:45 PM
Last weekend's overnight paddle down the Angelina River was one for the books. Deep, cool oxbow lakes, full of fish, surround the Angelina before it meets the Neches. 46 species of birds heard & seen, highlights: dozens of prothonotary warblers, parulas + 2 swallow-tailed kites.