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Stories by Mose Buchele, KUT

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.…

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…

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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…

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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…

ERCOT asks Texans to conserve electricity again Tuesday morning amid freezing temperatures

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas is asking people to conserve electricity Tuesday morning, the second such request issued by the grid operator this week as freezing weather continues to grip the state. In a media release Monday, ERCOT asked…

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Worried about the Texas power grid? Here's what to expect from the incoming arctic blast.

It’s almost mid-January, and there are tomatoes growing in my backyard in Austin. That might seem like a strange way to start an article on the Texas power grid. But as the state faces its first big freeze this winter,…

Energy officials warn of winter blackout risk in Texas and beyond

Outside of the Sand Hill natural gas power plant, near Austin, workers have installed a windbreak in case a big winter storm hits again. The sturdy plastic shrink wrap is stretched tight across scaffolding at the bottom of the plant,…

Bald eagle sightings appear to be on the rise in Austin

A slew of bald eagle sightings in Austin has excited birders and nonbirders alike. The iconic raptors are not particularly common in the area, but, according to reports by citizen scientists, their numbers appear to be on the rise. The…

Austin declared new drought restrictions in August. Water use stayed the same.

Lee esta historia en español On Aug. 15, Austin was 39 days into its longest triple-digit heat wave ever recorded. The extreme heat had created a “climate feedback loop,” locking in the worst drought the city has seen in 113…

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