News & Updates

Hill Country Leaders Convene at the Capitol to Discuss Flood Mitigation Strategies and 2027 Goals

On October 22, 40 county officials and staff from across the Texas Hill Country gathered for the tenth County-to-County Coalition workshop focused on nature-based solutions, low-impact development, and regional legislative priorities. Hosted by five Hill Country...

Local Leaders Discuss Land Conservation and Legacy as 2026 Hill Country Leadership Institute Draws to a Close

On Thursday, October 15, the Hill Country Alliance (HCA) convened its final gathering of the 2026 Hill Country Leadership Institute. Kerr Wildlife Management Area, a 6,500-acre property and living laboratory stewarded by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department,...

Bandera Bulletin — HCA Offers Grants for Dark Sky Projects

HCA Offers Grants for Dark Sky Projects | Bandera Bulletin For its third year, the Night Sky Preservation Fund, offered by HCA, supports up to $5,000 in reimbursement for projects that protect the Texas Hill Country's night skies. Eligible projects include pursuing...
Texas moves ahead on discharging oil wastewater, even as EPA balks

Texas moves ahead on discharging oil wastewater, even as EPA balks

Environmental officials in Texas and other western states are moving ahead on plans to allow oil and gas companies to treat drilling wastewater and discharge it into rivers and streams, even as the Trump administration balks at endorsing the practice amid widespread...

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Q&A + Water: Robert Mace

Q&A + Water: Robert Mace

In this issue’s Q&A, Texas+Water Editor-in-Chief, Dr. Todd Votteler, interviews Dr. Robert Mace, Executive Director and Chief Water Policy Officer for The Meadows Center for Water and the Environment at Texas State University. In addition to his position at the...

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Shhh… This just might be the prettiest body of water in Texas

Shhh… This just might be the prettiest body of water in Texas

I’m a spring-fed freshwater swimming nut. Rivers and creeks are my thing, as long as they’re unspoiled, untamed, and unchlorinated—the clearer, the better. The sweetest water I’ve ever seen was on a ranch near the headwaters of the West Fork of the Nueces, out in the...

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Revealed: millions of Americans can’t afford water as bills rise 80% in a decade

Revealed: millions of Americans can’t afford water as bills rise 80% in a decade

In the first nationwide research of its kind, our findings reveal the painful impact of America’s expanding water poverty crisis as aging infrastructure, environmental clean-ups, changing demographics and the climate emergency fuel exponential price hikes in almost...

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TESPA files new lawsuit against Permian Highway Pipeline, Kinder Morgan

TESPA files new lawsuit against Permian Highway Pipeline, Kinder Morgan

The Trinity Edwards Springs Protection Association (TESPA), acting on behalf of Blanco County landowners whose water was impacted in a spill of drilling fluid, has filed a lawsuit in federal court against the Permian Highway Pipeline and Kinder Morgan. The case...

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What’s at stake when we pave over, fragment and otherwise fail to protect Texas farmland from the disruptions of development?

Millions of acres of America’s agricultural land were developed or converted to uses that threaten farming between 2001 and 2016, according to “Farms Under Threat: The State of the States,” a new report by American Farmland Trust. The report’s Agricultural Land...

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