News & Updates
Special Use Valuation in Texas – The Basics
Most Texas landowners are aware of the special use valuation methods available to agricultural landowners that allow property taxes to be calculated based on productive agricultural value, as opposed to market value of the land. Importantly, this is not a “tax...
Oil and gas drilling brightening the dark skies near McDonald Observatory
After a career as a stevedore in Florida, amateur astronomer James Lowrey retired 11 years ago to the Big Bend, drawn by the otherworldly viewing possibilities of its inky night skies. But Lowrey and other astronomers in the region fear that lights from flares and oil...
SAWS closes on financial deal for Vista Ridge pipeline project
The San Antonio Water System announced Thursday that the city-owned water system has closed the financial portion of the Vista Ridge Pipeline Project. With the financial closure construction is set to begin in February. Garney Construction is the lead builder of the...
Regional planning will boost I-35 corridor
A recent survey by the U.S. Census Bureau found that New Braunfels was the second-fastest growing city in the United States. Pflugerville is No. 11. Previously, San Marcos had been the fastest-growing city in the country. Georgetown claimed that spot in the latest...
Rainwater Revival Agenda Now Set: Speakers to Bring Messages of Free, Easy, Dependable Water
The annual Rainwater Revival is the largest gathering of rainwater harvesting businesses and contractors in the state. Now in its 7th year, the Revival continues to evangelize the message of delicious water that comes free from the sky and is so easy to capture, store...
Hays County voters have big choice on $237.8 million bond package
Hays County voters will have to make a choice at the polls this year on the county’s largest request since 2008: a $237.8 million bond package. The bond package has two propositions: $106.4 million for public safety facilities, including an expansion and renovation of...
In the Growing Battle Against Invasive Plants, Texas Lags Behind Other States
"One of the great ironies of battling invasive plants is that many of them are legal to buy and plant in Texas. The City of Austin is one the few cities in the country that keeps a list of locally invasive plants that it works to control. It includes the plants glossy...
The Source: Garney Failure Could Mean SAWS Takeover Of Vista Ridge Project
In a turn-about San Antonio Water System CEO Robert Puente said the water utility would take over the construction of the Vista Ridge Water Pipeline if Garney was unable to meet certain deadlines. In May, after the Spanish conglomerate Abengoa went bankrupt, the...
Video: Monarchs: The Milkweed Mission (9:01)
From their winter home in Mexico and north along their amazing annual migration, Monarch butterflies are threatened by deforestation, climate change and drought and agriculture policies. The Nobelity Project's Turk Pipkin looks at the wonder of the monarchs and what...