News & Updates
Water nonprofit to begin work in Texas
The Water Finance Exchange (WFX) has announced the launch of a new fund to expand its work throughout Texas and address funding shortages of water infrastructure projects. Beginning in early 2022, WFX’s revolving Texas Pre-Development Fund will issue below-market, low...
2021 began with a Texas-sized water crisis. In 2022, Texas needs solutions
Last February, Texans got a terribly clear view of the fragility of their state’s water infrastructure, as a statewide freeze left millions of Texans without heat or electricity and almost half of the state’s population lost water. This event provided a stark reminder...
How a Texas songbird and its endangered status became the center of a fight over the Hill Country
When a group of researchers at Texas A&M’s Natural Resources Institute published the first peer-reviewed study that surveyed the presence of a brightly colored Texas songbird across a huge swath of Texas, the results were astounding: The population of the...
New law requires Texas landlords to tell tenants if their property lies in a 100-year flood plain
A new law requires landlords in Texas to inform prospective renters whether their properties are in flood plains. Jasper Scherer has been writing about this for the Houston Chronicle, where he covers state politics. Read more or listen to the interview from Jill Ament...
County vote helps pave way for Lily Ranch subdivision near Balcones Creek
An unpopular new housing project slightly north of the Bexar-Kendall county line cleared a significant hurdle last month after Kendall County commissioners reluctantly approved a slew of variances. Titled Lily Ranch, the development at full build-out would comprise...
Feral hog management to include bounty program in Hays County for 2022
Hays County will be continuing countywide feral hog management efforts in 2022 after receiving a $7,500 grant from Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service Wildlife Services. The Hays County program will include a five-dollar bounty on feral hogs, one workshop, one...
One Water in action: Austin’s new permit center proves the city is serious about water reuse
You don’t normally expect to learn about the true potential of blackwater on your way to getting a tree permit. That’s now likely to happen to attentive visitors to Austin’s new Permitting and Development Center (PDC). And it’s exactly what the city wants—developers...
Helotes Canyon watershed’s future at stake with Guajolote Tract decision
Helotes Canyon northwest of San Antonio has seen its share of small-scale development, but the water in Helotes Creek still flows clear and plentiful as it makes its way downstream toward the Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone. But with developer Lennar Homes planning the...
Dredging zones on two scenic lakes are selected
The Lower Colorado River Authority has limited large-scale dredging on the Highland Lakes to four zones where industrial operators may remove, process, stockpile and resell sediment from the lake bottoms. Three are on Lake LBJ. A fourth is on Lake Buchanan. Read more...