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AUSTIN (Nexstar) - The Trump administration temporarily stopped construction on a controversial border security infrastructure project in Big Bend National Park. The move comes after bipartisan pushback to the plan.
Earlier this month, images of bulldozers tearing up land and clearing vegetation in the park sparked outrage across the state. Officials with U.S. Customs and Border Protection defended the project, emphasizing that the plan focused on vehicle barriers and road improvements.
The park covers more than 1,252 square miles of land. State Sen. Cesar Blanco (D - El Paso) represents a district that includes large areas of the park. In an interview, he spoke about why the area holds special significance for many Texans.
"Well, it's one of the most remote places on Earth. It's beautiful. Lots of wildlife, lots of beautiful plants, landscapes, sunsets," Blanco explained. "It's just a place where your cell phone doesn't work and you can be one with nature."
"So it's very important for not just our region, but really for the world," he added.
After the pause in construction, Blanco traveled to the park to see the aftermath. He posted video on social media showing where construction equipment had cut a path through part of the park.
"This is God's country. And what's happening at Big Bend is devastating," Sen. Blanco wrote in his post. "Once this landscape is destroyed, we can't simply get it back."
On Tuesday, Sen. Blanco joined a group that met with Rodney Scott, Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection. He said the commissioner was receptive to the concerns Blanco has been hearing from Texans.
"He acknowledged that that CBP moved very quickly and did not do the consultation that should have happened before construction. He apologized. And I think that acknowledgment is important," Blanco said.
"My message to the commissioner was pretty simple. We can secure the border while protecting the people, the communities, and the natural resources that make Big Bend a special place," Blanco said of the meeting. The Senator said he highlighted options to use technology as well as placing more agents on foot, on horseback, on ATVs to provide security without damaging natural habitat.
While construction is on hold, it's not clear how long the pause will last. Blanco says the crucial question is what happens next with the project. He said Scott told him a decision would come in a couple of weeks as to when work would resume. Blanco said it's not clear what the project will entail moving forward.
"The commissioner was very clear that CBP's intent is not to build a border wall inside Big Bend National Park, and I appreciate that commitment. But a wall is not the only concern," Blanco said.
"We still need answers about roads. We need answers about barriers and other construction, including exactly what CBP plans to build and where they're going to build it," Blanco added. He noted that construction in the park carries the risk of damage that cannot be undone.
"Once you clear land, carve roads, and permanently alter landscape, you can't simply put it back the way it was," Blanco said. "We want to make sure we protect the border, but we also want to make sure that we protect Big Bend. And I believe we can do and that we should do both."
Earlier this year, officials in Corpus Christi warned the city was months away from a water emergency. Supply levels had dropped to the point that officials were making hurried plans to implement surcharges and water use reductions that would have impacted roughly 500,000 people and the energy industry in the region.
Flooding rain earlier this summer brought relief, for now. But the way the situation played out is raising questions about how the state's water planning process. A new report from nonprofit Texas 2036 is now calling for changes in the process.
Jeremy Mazur, Director of Infrastructure and Natural Resources Policy at Texas 2036 will discuss the report Monday at a field hearing of the Texas House Natural Resources Committee. He noted that the state's water planning process was created nearly 30 years ago. Mazur describes it as a "bottom-up process."
"Regions across the state identify long-term water supply needs, available supplies, and potential water shortages, but also recommend the water supply strategies and projects such as reservoirs and desalination facilities needed to meet those anticipated shortages," Mazur explained. The regional plans are rolled into the state water plan prepared by the Texas Water Development Board.
The report says the long-term planning process did not project the shortage that pushed Corpus Christi to the verge of a water emergency. Mazur said the data used in the process needs to be reevaluated to reflect current conditions.
"I think one of the big factors is that these plans focus on what's called the drought of record, which is a historic long-term drought," Mazur said. He noted that the Coastal Bend region that includes Corpus Christi endured several droughts of record in the decades since the water planning process was created.
"This radically affected the water supply projections within the plans. And so the water supply projections in the earlier plans were projected a lot more water availability than what actually happened to be the case when the drought from this year, which they suspect to be historic and very severe, really decimated the available water supplies in the region," Mazur said.
The report recommends ways for the Legislature and the Texas Water Development Board to strengthen the planning process, including stress testing for worse droughts and better data verification.
"The lessons learned from our report is not that the plans or the planning process is bad, but it can certainly be perfected with better data and better planning objectives to better identify what we need to do to build the water infrastructure for a drought-prone and growing state," Mazur said.
Communities and politicians are starting to push back against an industry fueling both the AI boom and a national debate. While supporters argue the economic benefits more than offset any tax breaks, lawmakers are facing pressure to scale back lucrative incentives ballooning into the billions of dollars.
Texas lawmakers scrutinize $3.3 billion cost of data center tax incentives
The Texas Tribune, a reporting partner of KXAN, found 355 operating and 2447 planned data centers across Texas and mapped them in a searchable online database.
"This is the hottest issue in the state right now," said Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller at a packed town hall in Bastrop on July 22. "Republicans better wake up because the Democrats are right on this issue, and they're owning it."
Miller, a Republican, has called for a one-year moratorium on data centers arguing lawmakers need to establish better guardrails and oversight.
INVESTIGATION: Proposed Bastrop data center alarms neighbors
Gov. Greg Abbott has directed Texas energy regulators to conduct a comprehensive audit of data center projects seeking to connect to the state's power grid, saying no project should move forward until officials determine whether the developments comply with state requirements.
"Our top priority is to protect Texans' safety and quality of life," Abbott said in a statement. "Any project that fails to comply with the requirements set forth by the PUCT and ERCOT, and by state law, must be denied connection to the Texas grid. Simply put, Texans must come first."
According to the governor's office, ERCOT is currently considering more than 474 gigawatts of requests to connect to the Texas electric grid. State officials said about 90% of those requests come from data center projects.
Dozens of landowners from across Texas gathered at the Capitol Wednesday, urging Gov. Greg Abbott to call a special legislative session aimed at stopping proposed 765-kilovolt transmission lines that would cross private property throughout the state.
The rally coincided with a Texas House Committee on State Affairs hearing examining data centers and 765-kV transmission lines, where opponents of the projects planned to provide public testimony.
The transmission line projects have faced months of opposition from landowners and advocacy groups.
Texas senators and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick recently called on the Public Utility Commission of Texas to delay action on certain transmission line applications while lawmakers review the issue further.
Wearing yellow bandanas, landowners gathered outside the Capitol Wednesday morning.
"To the legislators inside all of these buildings, do not mistake ordinary people for powerless people," said Mia Sarot with the Hill Country Land and Legacy Alliance at the rally.
Another speaker called for immediate action.
"We are here today not to beg, but to demand a special session," said Sheila Hemphill, president of Texas Right to Know.
Supporters said they hope a special session would stop construction of proposed 765-kV transmission lines and give lawmakers another opportunity to review the projects.
Under state law, the Public Utility Commission has 180 days from the initial filing to complete the transmission line approval process.
KXAN reached out to Abbott's office for comment on calls for a special session. His press secretary responded with a statement.
"What Governor Abbott is doing is working. The Governor established clear guidelines: Data centers must invest their own money, provide their own power, reuse their own water, ensure that the power grid is gaining power—not losing power because of their operations—and must not disturb neighborhoods. Data centers across the state have announced their full compliance with those standards, which provide guardrails that protect our communities. The Governor has been clear that high-voltage transmission lines need guardrails as well and a strong process for new transmission development is essential. He encourages the public to submit feedback on proposed lines to the PUC and the legislature."
If the Governor were to call a special session, state lawmakers would return to the Capitol, including Democratic gubernatorial candidate and State Rep. Gina Hinojosa, who is challenging Abbott in November.
KXAN also reached out to Hinojosa's campaign but did not receive a response.
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