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Stories by Mose Buchele, KUT

Austin is losing even more water to leaky city pipes than previously thought

Austin’s leaky pipe problem keeps getting worse. In recent years, the city’s water utility has recorded losses of about 7 billion gallons annually due to leaks in its treatment and distribution system. That’s about enough water to fill Lady Bird…

Austin gas rates are up and they're set to go higher. Here's why.

Between recording sessions in KUTX’s music studio a while back, sound engineer Jake Perlman brought up something decidedly un-rock-and-roll: his gas bill. The first few months of the year, Perlman said, he paid about double what he had paid during…

Rite of spring: Dog-killing algae makes an early appearance in Austin waterways

Scientists with Austin’s Watershed Protection Department have spotted clumps of blue-green algae near Red Bud Isle on Lady Bird Lake. This year marks one of the earliest seasonal reports of the algae, also known as cyanobacteria, which can be toxic…

Lady Bird Lake’s water levels dropped (again), raising questions about dam’s integrity

If you went out for a walk along Lady Bird Lake on Tuesday afternoon you might have noticed the water level was lower than usual. Muddy stretches of bank extended farther toward the center of the lake. The smell wasn’t…

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City Council passes new energy plan through 2035. Here’s what it does.

After nearly two years of study, revision, public outreach and intense debate, the city of Austin finally has a new plan for how it will meet its energy needs over the next 10 years. Austin Energy’s Resource, Generation and Climate…

A malfunction at Longhorn Dam that caused Lady Bird Lake to lose water has been fixed

If you happened to be near Austin’s Lady Bird Lake on Monday, you might have noticed it looked different. The lake level, which usually stays constant year-round, had dropped by about 2 feet, exposing stretches of muddy, sometimes smelly, shoreline.…

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Austin said a report on water utility leaks would be final months ago. It's still not public.

Austin has a leaky pipe problem. The city’s water utility estimates it loses about 21 gallons of water per resident per day from leaks and breaks in the system. Last year that added up to over 7 billion gallons of treated…

Smog got you down? Here's why air quality in Austin has been so bad this spring.

This spring has been a challenging one in Central Texas weather-wise. There was punishing heat, destructive hail and a thick yellow-gray haze that blanketed the region. But, of these three apocalyptic-feeling weather phenomena, the smog stands out as particularly unique. It’s been worse…

Leaking city pipes appear to be drought-proofing some Austin trees

Austin loses an estimated 21 gallons of water per person every day, mostly through leaks in the city’s water distribution system. Last year that totaled 8.6 billion gallons lost. Those leaks waste more than water; they drain energy and cost…

Austin Water sends conservation plan to City Council without support of key task force

Proposals to overhaul Austin’s drought response rules and update long-term conservation goals will go to City Council for a vote this week without the support of a city advisory panel charged with vetting water policy. When Austin Water released its…

Austin area has dangerously high levels of air pollution, according to new EPA standards

The Environmental Protection Agency has announced long-awaited updates to air quality standards for fine particulate matter, also known as “soot,” pollution. The new, tighter limits mean some places that previously had acceptable levels of pollution are no longer meeting health…

U.S. Rep. Greg Casar files bill to connect Texas grid to rest of the country

Of the numerous vulnerabilities exposed by the deadly 2021 Texas blackouts, one caught people’s attention more than the rest: Texas exists as an energy island. Unlike any other power grid in the continental U.S., the energy system that serves 90 percent of…

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