Sally Beauvais 11/15/17 Sally Beauvais 11/15/17

New Demand, Same Old Story: West Texans And Their Water

In arid West Texas, where rain is infrequent and rivers and lakes are few, groundwater – water from sources beneath the surface of the earth – is key to survival. And as the oil and gas industry in the Permian Basin demands more of this resource from the surrounding area, researchers are scrambling to study the systems of webbed aquifers that feed households, farms, ranches and industry in the region.

But for residents there’s a familiar tension over who gets to decide the fate of their water.

Sally Beauvais 11/15/17 Sally Beauvais 11/15/17

Untapped: The New West Texas

The Permian Basin in West Texas leads the nation in oil and gas production. Midland and Odessa have long been the heart of this industrialized desert. But oil and gas development is expanding outward. In the past year, drilling operations have moved south and west into a region long written off as undevelopable.

Bill Wren 9/5/17 Bill Wren 9/5/17

When Staying in the Dark is the Brightest Idea

PBPA gets behind an idea that is out of this world: the Dark Skies Initiative. Acting before drilling operations pose a serious problem in Reeves County and Jeff Davis County (and the Fort Davis area), oil companies get on board a plan to keep the skies dark above the McDonald Observatory.

Respect Big Bend Staff 4/25/17 Respect Big Bend Staff 4/25/17

Oil Field Flares and Lights Creeping Closer to the Famed McDonald Observatory

The University of Texas’ McDonald Observatory in the Davis Mountains in West Texas is one of the darkest spots in the continental United States. Lights from the Permian Basin oilfield to the north, the center of U.S. oil and gas activity, are creeping closer to the 85-year-old observatory, home to one of the world’s largest optical instruments. The sate’s oil and gas regulator issued nearly 11,000 drilling permits in the Permian Basin in 2014.