News & Updates
Vista Ridge Changes Before Council
The San Antonio City Council awaits details from SAWS on the changes with the Vista Ridge Project. SAWS officials are expected to detail the shift in project control from troubled Abengoa to Garney Construction. “I need to be assured that the contract that was entered...
Lawmakers mull tweaks to eminent domain law to favor landowners
State lawmakers next session may renew an age-old clash between two intrinsically Texan values: property rights and energy interests. The Senate Committee on State Affairs heard testimony Tuesday on whether to tighten eminent domain laws to benefit landowners battling...
Hamilton Pool is making some big changes this summer — read this before you go
The extreme growth that Austin has undergone over the past decade can now count one of the Hill Country’s most famous green spaces as a victim. Today, the Travis County Commissioners Court enacted a new plan to help curb the staggering amount of visitors to Hamilton...
Austin Mayor proclaims March 31st as Craig Smith Day in honor of HCA friend and long-time water quality advocate
In honor of Craig Smith’s tireless efforts to help initiate the Barton Springs Zone Regional Water Quality Protection Plan and lead the working group, the City of Austin has recognized the achievement that provided a framework for local governments to adopt standards...
Workshop provides landowners with information on conservation easements
The Hill Country Alliance (HCA) and the Guadalupe-Blanco River Trust (GBRT) are hosting a landowner workshop on Friday, May 13. This workshop will focus on conservation easements—a tool available to help landowners steward and protect their land investment in the long...
Council will leave pipeline deal changes to SAWS
The San Antonio Water System, not the City Council, will retain sole control over who will develop a massive water pipeline to eventually supply up to 20 percent of the city’s water. The issue came up in a Wednesday meeting of the San Antonio City Council’s governance...
Texas A&M University Press’ The Texas Landscape Project: Nature and People to feature maps of longtime HCA collaborator Jonathon Ogren
The Texas Landscape Project explores conservation and ecology in Texas by presenting a highly visual and deeply researched view of the widespread changes that have affected the state as its population and economy have boomed and as Texans have worked ever harder to...
Mayor faces ethics complaint over pipeline, political contributions
A member of the Sierra Club’s Alamo Group has filed an ethics complaint against Mayor Ivy Taylor, alleging she inappropriately accepted campaign contributions from the owners of Pape-Dawson Engineers, who were involved in contract negotiations for the controversial...
Spain’s Abengoa SA Obtains Backing From Creditors To Evade Bankruptcy
Spanish energy company Abengoa SA (NASDAQ:ABGB) has obtained the support of about 75% of its lenders to reorganize its large debt and ask for additional time from the judiciary for negotiations targeted at preventing bankruptcy as per a document. The organization...