A Texas judge sides with ranchers and a rare prairie over a reservoir that would drown both

After a decade of opposition, Clay County landowners and conservationists have won a court ruling overturning the permit for Lake Ringgold, a proposed reservoir that would have flooded 16,000 acres of ranchland and some of the country's rarest native tallgrass prairie. Travis County District Judge Maya Guerra Gamble ruled from the bench on 9 October; the Texas Conservation Alliance called it a win for property rights, wildlife and common-sense water planning. An appeal window remains open.