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Monthly Archives: September 2015

Team Begins Work On Giant River Cane

Team begins work on giant river cane

Work has begun to fight back against the giant river cane clogging local creeks. Members of the Hill Country Alliance and Texas Parks and Wildlife Department met early Wednesday morning at the recently renovated Frantzen Park to start test plots on treating Arundo donax, the invasive, aggressive species that can reach heights of 30 feet. “We worked on a total of four properties over two days, and I think it was successful,” said Katherine Romans, landowner outreach program manager for…

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“We All Know That The Hill Country Is One Of The Most Beautiful Features Of Texas”

“We all know that the Hill Country is one of the most beautiful features of Texas”

“And, we know that its springs and pristine rivers are its jewelry,” Con Mims at the HCA Leadership Summit. More than 150 regional leaders assembled in Fredericksburg last week. “Protecting those springs and rivers is an ever increasing challenge as the population of this state expands and large numbers of people are attracted to the rolling hills, expansive vistas, and rugged canyons that are hallmarks of the Hill Country.  The very beauty of the Hill Country may be its fatal…

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Controversial Water Report To Get Peer Review

Controversial Water Report to Get Peer Review

Calvin Finch, the lead author of what has become a controversial report on long-term water management and conservation in San Antonio and Fair Oaks Ranch, stands by his work. His still-unreleased report has become the talk of the water community, even if only a handful of people have read it. Finch said he submitted his team’s final draft of the document on Monday to the City’sPlanning and Community Development Department and Texas A&M’s Institute of Renewable Natural Resources (IRNR). Meanwhile, some reports indicate his name…

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Vista Ridge Study Making San Antonio Headlines

Vista Ridge study making San Antonio headlines

“City has suppressed controversial water report…Report slams pricey water project City has kept it hidden despite coming vote on SAWS rates,”  “Lead writer of water study replaced,”  “Puente: Water policy study a ‘joke’...SAWS boss tears into water policy study" and "Another water report goes missing." These stories by Brian Chasnoff at the San Antonio Express News, along with the study itself are worth your time. Water Policy Study in draft form dated September 22nd   City has suppressed controversial water…

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Restoration Agriculture Design Workshop

Restoration Agriculture Design Workshop

Using nature as a model, Restoration Agriculture is the intentional restoration of healthy, functional ecosystems as the context for economically-viable farm and ranch operations. Perennial crops, livestock, fungus, and pollinators are integrated to produce abundant food, fiber, and fuel crops while simultaneously restoring critical ecosystem services such as water purification and infiltration, nutrient cycling, and biodiversity. In this extended Restoration Agriculture workshop, farmer/entrepreneur/author Mark Shepard integrate Permaculture Design, Holistic Management, Keyline Design, whole living ecosystems, ecological restoration and production agriculture…

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Editorial: Dripping Should Rethink Onion Creek Disposal Site

Editorial: Dripping should rethink Onion Creek disposal site

Onion Creek is both a defining landmark and a potent talisman for our community, symbolizing as it does both the bounteous wonder and the fragility of our little part of the world. In peril from recurrent drought and changing climate, and even development on its banks, now Onion Creek could become a sewage disposal site. The city of Dripping Springs is preparing to submit for a permit to discharge waste water into the creek. The city’s formal application to the…

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Chronic Wasting Disease In Texas

Chronic Wasting Disease In Texas

A total of four animals from a Medina County herd have tested positive for Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD). On September 16th, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) and the Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC) announced that a captive deer in Lavaca County that is linked to the Medina County facility also tested positive. TPWD has regulatory authority over all white-tailed deer in Texas. Both TPWD and TAHC share regulatory responsibility for captive deer held under the authority of Deer…

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A Hill Country Senate Race To Pay Attention To

A Hill Country Senate race to pay attention to

State Rep. Susan King (Abilene) has announced that she is running to replace Sen. Troy Fraser in Texas Senate District 24 (Bandera, Bell, Blanco, Brown, Burnet, Callahan, Comanche, Coryell, Gillespie, Hamilton, Kerr, Lampasas, Llano, Mills, San Saba and parts of Taylor and Travis counties). At least six other candidates are in this critical Hill Country race. Read more from the Texas Tribune    

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Environmental Group Opposes State Water Grid

Environmental group opposes state water grid

The state's largest environmental group is voicing strong opposition to a proposed study of a state water grid — a network that would distribute water across the vast and often dry expanses of the Lone Star State. Proponents of the idea say a study is needed to cope with a drought-ridden future in which the state will struggle to supply a growing population. They say it would be a part of a larger strategy to correct inefficiencies in water planning…

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Comanche Moon To Eclipse This Sunday Night

Comanche Moon to Eclipse this Sunday Night

By Wayne Gosnell: My friend Sandy and I get great pleasure out of being the first to text the other whenever we first glimpse a Comanche Moon.  That’s when the full moon rises out of the eastern horizon just after sunset, catching the rays of the setting sun, which paint it a deep orange. It is said the Comanche warriors of old liked to make their raids into Texas and Mexico by the light of this full moon—the Comanche Moon. The…

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