Executive Summary

Population growth, drought, and climate change are straining the water supplies of Texas communities. Our state’s population is projected to double by 2060. Much of the state is in the throes of a prolonged drought. Climate experts are predicting that the U.S. Southwest will grow signifi cantly drier and hotter in the coming years. The combined challenges of climate change, drought and population growth make it clear that many Texas communities will be increasingly burdened with the responsibility of parceling out a diminishing supply of water to an increasing number of customers.

Nowhere in Texas are these issues more acute than in Central Texas - which is projected to grow at a faster rate than most of the state and is currently in the midst of extreme drought. This study analyzes the challenges posed by population growth, drought and climate change for water availability, as well as the responses to date of Central Texas communities in the Austin-Round Rock Metropolitan Statistical Area (Williamson, Travis and Hays Counties). Our analysis concludes that, while almost all communities within this area are taking additional steps to conserve water, few are embracing the full range of options readily available.

Coal-burning power plants are the leading source of mercury contamination in Texas – home to five of the nation’s top 10 plants for mercury emissions.  

When mercury is released into the air, it settles in rivers, lakes, and streams.  The Texas Department of Health has issued fish consumption advisories for over 329,000 acres of lakes and rivers, including the entire Gulf of Mexico.  Bacteria in the water convert it to methyl mercury, a very toxic form of mercury. The toxic mercury builds up (bioaccumulates) in the bodies of animals.  Eating contaminated fish is the main way people are exposed to unsafe levels of mercury.  Unlike with some pathogens, there is no way to clean or cook mercury out of fish.  

Coal-burning power plants are the largest industrial source of mercury emissions in the United States, and ten percent of these emissions come from plants in Texas - more than any other state. Five of the nation's top ten emitters of mercury are in the Lone Star State.

When mercury is released into the air, it settles in rivers, lakes, and streams. Bacteria in the water convert it to methyl mercury, a very toxic form of mercury. The toxic mercury bioaccumulates in the bodies of animals. Eating contaminated fish is the main way people are exposed to unsafe levels of mercury. Unlike with some other toxins, there is no way to clean or cook mercury out of fish.