Plans are advancing on the Gulf Coast of Texas for an enormous seawater desalination plant which, if built, would be part of one of the largest water infrastructure developments in the country.

Unlike other projects, this one wouldn’t belong to the public, but to a private, foreign water supplier.

IDE Technologies, an Israeli water treatment giant that operates some of the largest seawater desalination plants in the world, was awarded the contract for the landmark Harbor Island project on Corpus Christi Bay this summer by the Nueces River Authority, a small state water agency.

“For our company, globally, this is Project One,” IDE regional sales director Mark Ellison told the NRA board of directors at its September meeting. “Our top priority.”

A 60-year-old, formerly state-owned firm, IDE has built more than 400 desalination plants in 40 countries, according to the company.

In Texas, rapid growth and intensifying droughts have stretched present water supplies to their limits. Generations of state leaders have touted the promise of seawater desalination plants, which would produce freshwater from the salty Gulf of Mexico. But Texas still awaits its first such facility.

Today, IDE’s Harbor Island project is the largest of five seawater desalination plants planned in the state.

The development of seawater desalination in Texas would mark a breakthrough for the state, unlocking a new, abundant source of water from the ocean. But it would come at a high cost to consumers, and would mark a dramatic transfer of the public water supply to private ownership.

Texans so enjoy their access to beaches that they coded public access into state law in 1959 with the Open Beaches Act. In 2009, Texans voted with a 76.9% approval rate to add it to the state constitution.

Read More: https://www.jalopnik.com/2292129/texas-public-beaches-are-highways/

The nation’s eyes are on Texas, with major polls showing key down-ballot Democratic candidates in statewide races holding razor-thin leads against Republicans. For Democrats to win, they must have an extraordinary turnout by their base, coupled with a share of disaffected Republican and unaffiliated voters. That base, especially in Harris County and East Texas, has been Black voters.

Young Black voters, from high school to college to older millennials, have helped Harris County, home to the state’s largest Black population and one of the largest in the country, set records in the primaries and on the first day of early voting.

Texas has more Black voters than any other state. As of 2022, Pew Research found that Texas had the largest population of Black eligible voters of any state: 2.9 million, or about 14% of all eligible voters. Black voters are a core part of the Democratic base, making up about one-fifth of Texas’ likely Democratic primary voters and 11% to 13% of the general electorate, according to previous reporting.

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Some notable developments here in the quest to solve the mystery of who paid for the transgender mailers that were sent to Texans during early voting under the name Texas Transgender Student Union, which the Texas Observer reported is an anonymously registered LLC in Wyoming. Transgender Education Network of Texas, the organization impersonated in the mailers, filed a petition in Travis County district court seeking permission to take depositions in order to identify unnamed defendants for a possible lawsuit. Ahead of a hearing scheduled for today in Travis County, Chris Hilton—a lawyer who worked under Attorney General Paxton, left temporarily to defend him in his impeachment trial, and was ultimately forced out of his position amid sexual harassment allegations—was retained as counsel for the Texas Transgender Student Union.

Texas AG Ken Paxton's wife is divorcing him, citing infidelity.

But during one of the most watched races of the midterms elections, little has been reported publicly about the new woman at the center of his life. So, I sought to learn more about her. I read her book, followed her social media and reached out to her friends. I went to New Orleans, where her nonprofit hosted a gala. And I went to a home in North Texas linked to her and Mr. Paxton.

Here's what I learned about Tracy Duhon, an aspiring Christian influencer in the inner circle of one of the most powerful politicians in Texas as he endures the toughest races of his career.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/27/us/ken-paxton-divorce-tracy-duhon.html

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