Texas
Texas Senate takes first step toward establishing billions for state’s water supply, infrastructure
:focal(0x0:4000x1880)/static.texastribune.org/media/files/34f5d78b3ca64aa4acb0156359347fd4/0201%20Zavalla%20Government%20JB%2020.jpg "Texas Senate takes first step toward establishing billions for state’s water supply, infrastructure")
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Laws that would rework Texas’ crumbling water infrastructure and create new sources of water for the state’s rising inhabitants took a vital first step ahead Monday.
A nine-member state Senate committee led by Lubbock Republican Charles Perry unanimously voted to advance up to date variations of Senate Invoice 28 and Senate Joint Decision 75.
Coupled collectively, the laws creates a brand new Water Provide for Texas Fund to be administered by the Texas Water Improvement Board to pay for brand new water tasks and upgraded infrastructure — with a concentrate on rural communities. It’s unclear how a lot cash the Legislature would begin the fund with. Nonetheless, the payments’ sponsor and advocates recommended billions could be dedicated to the state’s water wants.
The brand new variations of the laws tackle a wide range of points Texas water advocates have raised since Perry filed the invoice earlier this yr. At Monday’s public listening to, practically a dozen attendees testified in favor of the invoice, which might enable Texas to amass water from different states, amongst different choices. Two environmental advocates applauded the invoice whereas elevating issues.
These advocates — from Texas’ chapter of the Sierra Membership and the Nationwide Wildlife Federation — have been primarily frightened about “produced-water” tasks, a time period that sometimes refers to naturally occurring water that comes out of the bottom throughout oil and fuel manufacturing. There may be not but sufficient dependable information on the security of produced water — the Texas Produced Water Consortium is continuous to review the right way to make use of produced water.
Water advocacy teams have projected that the fund must be not less than $3 billion. And with a big finances surplus, they’re hopeful that cash will likely be appropriated.
“[Senate Bill 28] is our greatest probability at getting one thing important handed for water this session,” Sarah Schlessinger, CEO of Texas Water Basis, mentioned in an announcement to the Tribune. “It’s a method to not miss the as soon as in a era alternative to fund water infrastructure wants.”
Perry didn’t specify how a lot cash he’s asking for from the finances committee however mentioned “it’ll in all probability begin with a B.”
“I don’t know what number of B’s there will likely be,” Perry advised The Texas Tribune after the listening to. “It’s a giant quantity. I believe all people is behind it.”
The brand new Texas Water Fund would goal the state’s water provide wants. Based mostly on present inhabitants estimates, the state may have a scarcity of seven million acre toes of water per yr by 2070, Perry mentioned. That’s sufficient water to cowl 7 million acres of land, one foot deep.
The invoice would additionally put money into present applications to restore the state’s growing older water infrastructure, particularly in rural communities. The state loses about 136 billion gallons of water a day, in keeping with Perry.
No less than 2,457 boil-water notices have been issued throughout the state in 2022. Water businesses corresponding to municipalities problem boil-water notices when the standard of the ingesting water is doubtful. These notices might be issued for a wide range of causes, however they’re usually associated to defective infrastructure.
In the course of the first two months of 2023, the Texas Fee on Environmental High quality obtained details about 508 boil-water notices.
Rural communities face a mix of a small tax base and a dearth of expert staff, making it troublesome to handle growing older infrastructure. The amended laws contains new language that ensures that rural communities are prioritized. The Texas Water Improvement Board will be capable of use cash to contract out technical help to assist rural communities repair their water programs.
“Some folks have requested why the smaller programs are our focus — that’s 85% of our geography. That’s the place the majority of the pipes are,” Perry mentioned.
A companion invoice to Perry’s has been filed within the Home. Filed by state Rep. Tracy King, Home Invoice 10 would allocate an unspecified quantity to create the Texas Water Fund. That invoice has not but been heard in a public listening to.
Each of the legislative packages require voter approval. If the payments go each chambers and are signed into legislation, Texas voters will in the end resolve throughout the fall election whether or not these funds are created. A latest Texas 2036 ballot of 1,000 Texas voters confirmed that 89% of them thought-about fixing the state’s water infrastructure value a multibillion-dollar funding.
Disclosure: Texas 2036 and Texas Water Basis have been monetary supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan information group that’s funded partially by donations from members, foundations and company sponsors. Monetary supporters play no position within the Tribune’s journalism. Discover a full listing of them right here.
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Texas
ASU lineman hopes to see Texas in CFP to exact revenge on school that said he’d ‘never be good enough’
Arizona State defensive lineman Zac Swanson made it clear he has a rooting interest in the first-round matchup in this year’s College Football Playoff between Texas and Clemson.
Swanson will be rooting for Texas on Saturday for no other reason than to have the chance to exact revenge on New Year’s Day against the team that “kicked me out” and told him he’d “never be good enough to play there.”
The defensive lineman transferred from Texas to ASU in May after he said the Longhorns coaching staff gave him a harsh assessment.
The Sun Devils went 11-2 this year and won the Big 12 Championship game.
Swanson recorded 16 tackles, two tackles for loss, half a sack and a quarterback hurry this season for the Sun Devils.
Now he wants to stick it to the team that didn’t have faith in him.
“That’s a team that kicked me out and said I’d never be good enough to play there, so that’s something that been on my agenda for a while,” Swanson told reporters, according to 12News’ Jake Garcia. “It’s like a dream scenario, so I’m very excited about that.”
Swanson went on to describe the comments that he was told by Texas coaches that resulted in him heading for the transfer portal.
“Exactly what was said was, ‘If you want to stay at Texas you might as well quit football and just go to school here.’ So, a lot of motivation there for me,” he said.
He called it the “worst thing” that had ever been said to him and that “it was just said so carelessly.”
Ultimately, Swanson said things worked out the way that he hoped they would have since he decided to transfer to ASU.
Swanson is an Arizona native and his Sun Devils earned a bye in the College Football Playoff to automatically put them in the quarterfinals.
For Swanson to get his wish, Texas will have to defeat the Tigers at home in Austin.
North Texas remains the most populated region in the state with more than 8.3 million residents, due in part to staggering growth in Collin County, which added more than 145,000 residents in the last four years, as well as continued growth in Fort Worth, which appears to have surpassed Austin as the fourth most populous city in the state.
From 2020 to January 2024, North Texas has gained over 560,000 residents, according to new population estimates by the Texas Demographic Center (TDC). The population explosion is most notable in Collin, Tarrant, Denton, Rockwall, and Kaufman counties. According to the data, these counties lead the state in either numeric gains or percentage increases over the last four years.
Collin County added almost 145,000 residents in the last four years, the most significant increment in the state. The county now has 1.2 million residents, most of them in the cities of McKinney (about 220,000 people), Frisco (220,000 people) and Allen (110,000 people), as of January 2024. Denton County also saw considerable growth and gained more than 100,000 residents over the last four years, surpassing a million inhabitants.
Celina, a city in the counties of Denton and Collin, had over 43,000 residents, according to the January 2024 estimates. This city more than doubled its population from nearly 17,000 people in the 2020 Census.
“Well, I think a lot of that has to do with where we’re located,” elaborated Joe Monaco, Director of Marketing & Communications of Celina City.
“We have Preston on one side; we’ve got the Tollway expanding on the other side. We are 40 miles away from Dallas, and we’re really benefiting a lot from all the businesses that are coming into Dallas and especially the North Texas area.”
Originally from Ohio, Monaco said he lived in Mansfield and Frisco before settling in Prosper with his family during the pandemic.
“What attracted us is that we wanted to be in an area where our kids had great schools like all parents do,’ he said, “and we wanted to be in the area we felt very safe.”
Collin’s growth in the last years has been so rapid that it has already met one of the two scenarios of what this county’s population would be in 2030. The demographic center, in 2012, projected Collin to have 1.2 million people at the end of the decade in a scenario with half of the 2010-2020 migration rates. The second projection (assuming the 2010-2020 migration rates) estimates Collin to reach 1.3 million by the end of 2030, 1.6 million people by 2040, and 2.4 million by 2060.
Other examples of North Texas’ expansion are Kaufman and Rockwall, two neighboring Dallas counties, which experienced the highest percentage growth in population in the state. Kaufman’s population grew by 26.7%, or about 39,000 residents, from 2020 to 2024. Rockwall increased its population by 25% in the same period, growing the county by about 28,000 residents.
Tarrant, in turn, has gained more than 93,000 residents from 2020 to 2024, a 4.4% increase. Its total estimated population is 2.2 million, from 2.1 million last year. Fort Worth alone took in more than 70,000 new residents from 2020 to 2024, and its current population stands at almost 990,000 inhabitants. The newest figures by TDC suggest Fort Worth might have just surpassed Austin in population. The capital of Texas has about 987,000 inhabitants, according to the January 2024 estimates.
“Growth has been explosive,” said Jaime Resendiz, real estate agent and host of The DFW Homeowner, a YouTube channel exploring the housing market in the area. “There’s growth on the south side of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, but the North just blows it out of the water.”
“Anything that is North is just going to have high demand, and typically there, with the real estate prices, you’re seeing the appreciation in these areas just go through the roof,” Resendiz explained.
The Texas Demographic Center releases yearly population estimates that differ from those of the U.S. Census Bureau and use a different methodology. It projects population with a mix of national and local data, as well as state surveys on building permits and school enrollment.
“County-level birth and death data were obtained from the Texas Department of State Health Services,” the methodology report reads.
In the last four years, 90 Texas counties have decreased their population, but none of them are in the North Texas area. Dallas County is among the counties with some of the lowest increments from 2020 to 2024, since it gained only 0.6% in this period. This translates to over 16,000 new residents, and the population remains at 2.6 million, with minimal change over the last four years. The metro area of Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington now has over 8.1 million residents after crossing the 8 million mark last year.
CLEMSON — Clemson football released its depth chart Monday ahead of its first-round CFP game vs. Texas.
The most notable changes involve the removal of key players who are injured or entered the transfer portal. Backup running back Jay Haynes was removed after suffering a leg injury in the ACC championship against SMU on Dec. 7. Running backs Keith Adams Jr., Jarvis Green and David Eziomume are listed as the No. 2 running back behind Phil Mafah.
Wide receiver Adam Randall also replaced Haynes as the starting kick returner. Clemson’s depth chart removed nickelback Sherrod Covil Jr. and wide receiver Noble Johnson too. Both were backups who entered the transfer portal.
The No. 12 seed Tigers (10-3) will face the No. 5 seed Longhorns (11-2) on Dec. 21 (4 p.m. ET, TNT) in Austin, Texas, at Darrell K Royal Texas Memorial Stadium. The winner advances to play No. 4 seed Arizona State, the Big 12 champion, in the Peach Bowl at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on Jan. 1 (1 p.m. ET, ESPN).
Here’s Clemson’s full depth chart before it faces Texas on Saturday:
Clemson football’s offense
QB: Cade Klubnik | Christopher Vizzina
RB: Phil Mafah | Keith Adams Jr. or Jarvis Green or David Eziomume
WR: Antonio Williams | Tyler Brown | Misun Kelley
WR: T.J. Moore | Cole Turner
WR: Bryant Wesco Jr. or Adam Randall | Cole Turner | Hampton Earle
TE: Jake Briningstool | Olsen Patt-Henry | Josh Sapp | Markus Dixon
LT: Tristan Leigh | Mason Wade
LG: Marcus Tate | Harris Sewell
C: Ryan Linthicum | Harris Sewell
RG: Walker Parks | Harris Sewell
RT: Blake Miller | Mason Wade
Clemson football’s defense
DE: Jahiem Lawson | A.J. Hoffler
DT: Payton Page | DeMonte Capehart | Vic Burley
DT: Peter Woods | Tré Williams | Stephiylan Green
DE: T.J. Parker | Cade Denhoff
SLB: Wade Woodaz | Jamal Anderson
MLB: Wade Woodaz | Sammy Brown or Dee Crayton
WLB: Barrett Carter | Sammy Brown or Dee Crayton
CB: Avieon Terrell | Ashton Hampton | Corian Gipson
SS: Kylon Griffin or Tyler Venables | Ricardo Jones
FS: R.J. Mickens | Tyler Venables | Rob Billings
NB: Khalil Barnes | Shelton Lewis
CB: Jeadyn Lukus or Ashton Hampton | Branden Strozier
Clemson football’s special teams
PK: Nolan Hauser | Robert Gunn III
P: Aidan Swanson | Jack Smith
KO: Robert Gunn III
LS (PK): Holden Caspersen
LS (P): Philip Florenzo
H: Clay Swinney
KR: Adam Randall
PR: Antonio Williams
Derrian Carter covers Clemson athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email him at dcarter@gannett.com and follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @DerrianCarter00
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