We synthesize the interconnected impacts of Texas’ water and energy resources and infrastructure including the cascading effects due to Winter Storm Uri. The government’s preparedness, communication, policies, and response as well as storm impacts on vulnerable communities are evaluated using available information and data. Where knowledge gaps exist, we propose potential research to elucidate health, environmental, policy, and economic impacts of the extreme weather event. We expect that recommendations made here — while specific to the situation and outcomes of Winter Storm Uri — will increase Texas’ resilience to other extreme weather events not discussed in this paper. We found that out of 14 million residents who were on boil water notices, those who were served by very small water systems went, on average, a minimum of three days longer without potable water. Available county-level data do not indicate vulnerable communities went longer periods of time without power or water during the event. More resolved data are required to understand who was most heavily impacted at the community or neighborhood level. Gaps in government communication, response, and policy are discussed, including issues with identifying — and securing power to — critical infrastructure and the fact that the state’s Emergency Alert System was not used consistently to update Texans during the crisis. Finally, research recommendations are made to bolster weaknesses discovered during and after the storm including (1) reliable communication strategies, (2) reducing disproportionate impacts to vulnerable communities, (3) human health impacts, (4) increasing water infrastructure resilience, and (5) how climate change could impact infrastructure resilience into the future.

A report scoring texas utilities on their water conservation efforts sets a precedent for gauging conservation progress in other states.

BackgroundPatients with major depressive disorder (MDD) often do not respond to antidepressant (ADT) monotherapy alone and may require adjunctive treatment to provide adequate symptom relief. Cariprazine (CAR) is a dopamine D3-preferring D3/D2 and serotonin 5-HT1A receptor partial agonist approved to treat adults with schizophrenia and manic, mixed, or depressive episodes of bipolar I disorder. Post hoc analysis of data from a randomized controlled trial evaluated clinically relevant improvements in depressive symptom severity with adjunctive cariprazine in patients with MDD and inadequate response to ADT monotherapy.MethodsPost hoc analysis evaluated data from a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled MDD trial (NCT03738215) in patients treated with CAR (1.5 mg/d or 3 mg/d) + ADT or placebo + ADT; the primary outcome was change from baseline to week 6 in Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) total score. Post hoc analysis evaluated category shifts from baseline to week 6 in MADRS severity (normal <6, mild 7–19, moderate 20–34, severe ≥35). MADRS severity shifts were reported as the percentage of patients with no change or worsened severity, 1 category improvement, ≥1 category improvement, and ≥2 category improvement. Examples of categorical shifts in depressive symptoms at week 6 include change from severe at baseline to moderate (1 category improvement) and change from severe at baseline to mild (2 category improvement).ResultsOf the 751 patients in the intent-to-treat (ITT) population (CAR: 1.5 mg/d=250, 3.0 mg/d=252; placebo=249), baseline MADRS severity was mild in 1.5%, moderate in 64%, and severe in 35%. Fewer CAR + ADT patients compared to placebo + ADT had no change or worsened MADRS severity at week 6 (CAR: 1.5 mg/d=32%, 3.0 mg/d=33%; placebo=42%). Approximately 68% of patients treated with CAR + ADT demonstrated a MADRS severity improvement of 1 category or greater by week 6 (CAR: 1.5 mg/d=68%, 3.0 mg/d=67%; placebo=58%). A greater percentage of patients in the CAR 1.5 mg/d group also had a 2 or greater category improvement versus CAR 3.0 mg/d or placebo 6 (CAR: 1.5 mg/d=28%, 3.0 mg/d=17%; placebo=19%).ConclusionsIn this post hoc analysis, CAR + ADT was associated with a greater proportion of patients with improvements in depressive symptom severity categories compared with placebo + ADT. These results may suggest that CAR + ADT is associated with clinically meaningful depressive symptom improvement in MDD patients.FundingAbbVie

Editor’s Note: September 1 of every odd-numbered year is the date that new legislation from the Texas Legislature session that ended the previous spring typically goes into effect. With this in mind, the Texas Water Journal invited 4 organizations that work closely with the Texas Legislature to provide their take on the changes to Texas water policy and law that were made during the 2013 session. The opinions expressed in these summaries are the opinions of the individual organizations and not the opinion of the Texas Water Journal or the Texas Water Resources Institute. Organizations: Texas Water Conservation Association Water Environment Association of Texas Sierra Club, Lone Star Chapter Texas Alliance of Groundwater Districts Citation: Robbins D, Batterton C, Castleberry B, Kramer K, Steinbach SA. 2013. Commentary: 83rd Texas State Legislature: Summaries of Water-related Legislative Action. Texas Water Journal. 4(2):28-46. Available from: https://doi.org/10.21423/twj.v4i2.6999.

Editor-in-Chief’s Note: September 1 of every odd-numbered year is the date when new legislation from the most recent session of the Texas Legislature typically goes into effect. With this in mind, the Texas Water Journal invited four organizations that work closely with the Texas Legislature to provide their take on the changes to Texas water policy and law that were made during the 2017 session. The opinions expressed in these summaries are the opinions of the individual organizations and not the opinions of the Texas Water Journal or the Texas Water Resources Institute.Organizations: Texas Water Conservation Association Sierra Club, Lone Star Chapter Texas Water Infrastructure Network Texas Alliance of Groundwater Districts Citation: Commentary: Steinbach SA, Kramer K, Mullins C, Fowler PL, Schlessinger SR. 2017. Commentary: 85th Texas State Legislature: summaries of water-related legislative action. Texas Water Journal. 8(1):67-86. Available from: https://doi.org/10.21423/twj.v8i1.7064.