News
What’s being done to protect one of the longest caves in Texas? KSAT Explains
In this episode of KSAT Explains, Meteorologists Sarah Spivey and Justin Horne take us inside Honey Creek Cave for a swim and to highlight how it now coexists with the fast-growing Comal County. Watch the video from KSAT here.
Is Texas preparing for the right drought?
Texas’ strategy of planning for a repeat of the 1950s drought is no longer enough. While historic evidence identifies droughts that were longer and more severe than the Drought of Record, contemporary data points to a likely future of increasing drought severity....
A vanishing way of life?
Laurel Porter knows her corner of Northwest Bexar County so well she could draw a map of it with her eyes closed. Just south of Boerne, sloping valleys and chalky canyons line twisting roads that pass by the cities of Grey Forest, Helotes and Fair Oaks Ranch. Since...
Texas river flows approach record lows, but Hill Country outfitters still afloat
A Texas river expert says river flows across the state this summer are headed into the record books for being among the lowest ever, especially if rain does not fall soon. Still, businesses that rely on the Guadalupe and Comal Rivers have managed to float past serious...
Flood resilience means thinking upstream, Texas A&M professor tells US Senate committee
Texas A&M University at Galveston Professor Sam Brody testified in a recent U.S. Senate hearing on reauthorization of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), urging the committee to not only reauthorize the program, but expand it using existing sources,...
Water and power need to look forward, not backward
As I sipped coffee and poked through the news early Monday morning, I saw the warning from the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT): prepare for rolling blackouts. It wasn’t unexpected. Temperatures have been breaking records left and right across Texas, with...
Travis County commissioners taking a closer look at water supply
Leaders around Central Texas say we need to take water conservation more seriously before it's too late. Now Travis County commissioners are taking a closer look at the area's water supplies. The Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) is responsible for providing a...
Families worry about health, water if proposed rock-crushing operation becomes neighbor
The air was thick as the sun was setting. The temperature had dropped just a little by Monday evening, but it didn’t do much to help with the sweltering heat. It didn’t faze the more than 70 homeowners, who live along or near County Road 284 in Williamson County, and...
Texas is drying up. We better protect our groundwater.
It is obvious to any Texan that we are in a horrific drought. According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, more than 80% of Texas has been facing drought conditions most of the year. Extreme or worse drought now covers 51% of the state. The drought is hurting water...
Don’t go with the flow
Do areas on your property look like this—sparse vegetation and very little topsoil? Hill County soils are notoriously thin. At one time, this spot likely had lots more soil and vegetation. What happened? Hard to tell exactly, but it’s likely due to a combination of...
The Odessa water outage underscores a growing problem: Aging pipes in Texas cities are getting more fragile
Odessa city officials are still investigating what caused a massive water line break that left the city without water for 48 hours last month. But they’ve shared one important detail: The water line was about 60 years old. “Aging water systems are common throughout...
Five things to know about drought in the American West
Harsh and unrelenting. But also transformative? The dry conditions blanketing much of the American West are setting records nearly every week. Lakes Mead and Powell, the country’s largest reservoirs by capacity, dropped to new lows this year. The Great Salt Lake did,...
Hill Country peach crops behind schedule due to heat, drought
Peaches can be seen growing on trees throughout the Texas Hill Country, but they are ripening about 2 to 3 weeks behind schedule. The amount being harvested at places like Jenschke Orchards is far less than what was picked the last two seasons. "We are very grateful...
Meet OSCAR and CLARA, the future of water management in Austin
Austin Water is unveiling an innovative blackwater system designed to set a course for the future of water management for new development in Austin. Located at the City of Austin’s Permitting and Development Center and known as OSCAR and CLARA, the project has...
Water levels decreasing at Lake Travis as record-breaking heat continues
Texas continues to see triple-digit temperatures, and some experts say it’s contributing to dropping lake levels. According to the Lower Colorado River Authority, water levels at Lake Travis near Austin are at a four-year low. “The higher temperatures lead to higher...
SAWS to keep Stage 2 water restrictions in place despite EAA moving to Stage 3 pumping rules
San Antonio Water System said Monday it will keep Stage 2 watering conditions in place despite the Edwards Aquifer Authority declaring Stage 3 for pumping. The Edwards Aquifer is steadily dropping as drought conditions persist in South Texas and the San Antonio area....
Intense drought conditions could make this summer one of the hottest in Texas history
With the state experiencing its most severe early summer drought conditions in nearly a decade, Texans are facing a wave of especially hot and dry weather that may kick off one of the state’s hottest summers on record, says Texas A&M University climate expert John...
Opinion: Texas needs private investment to vastly enhance its water supplies
At a time when Texas continues it’s massive population growth, yet is experiencing declining water supplies and persistent drought, it is apparent that water remains the limiting factor to maintaining and growing our vibrant Texas economy. Over the decade from 2010 to...
Welcome to the River Recharge Natural Area
SMGA is happy to announce the addition of a seventh natural area to the San Marcos Greenbelt. Known for years simply as the Buie Tract, these roughly 94 acres have been renamed River Recharge Natural Area (RReNA), due to the many karst features on the property....
TPWD Executive Director Carter Smith announces retirement
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) Executive Director Carter Smith announced today he will retire effective January 2023, ending a nearly 15-year tenure that strengthened private-lands stewardship, expanded state parks and wildlife management areas, bolstered...
Texas Water: Local group protests film studio development on aquifer
A new film studio coming to Central Texas is facing pushback amid locals concerned about the impact it could have on the water in the area. Earlier this month, the San Marcos City Council approved incentives “in the form of refunds of a percentage of real and personal...
Going with the flow: Guadalupe River down but not out as dry weather affects the ecosystem
The Guadalupe River is feeling the impact of scorching hot, dry weather in south central Texas, but river officials are not overly concerned about it yet. Stretching from Kerr County — northwest of San Antonio — to the Gulf of Mexico, the Guadalupe River is a popular...
‘Viva Texas Rivers!’ Celebrates Texas’ storied waterways
To know the geography of Texas, you must know its rivers. The book Viva Texas Rivers! Adventures, Misadventures, and Glimpses of Nirvana along Our Storied Waterways may be the most comprehensive effort to date to capture the charms, mythologies, and challenges of the...
Rethinking mountain cedar: habitat enhancing land management
“Standing inside one of those [cedar] brakes gave the feeling of being inside one of Nature’s cathedrals.” —Williedell Schawe, Wimberley’s Legacy, 1963 One question landowners ask when the HELM team pays them a visit is “What should I do about all this cedar?” We...
Potential for large wildfires in Fredericksburg and throughout Hill Country, Forest Service warns
Texas A&M Forest Service is warning Texans about the potential for wildfires Thursday and Friday. Texas A&M Forest Service fire resources have responded to four wildfires in portions of the Panhandle and West Texas so far this week. Those fires have burned...
Gunter Clean Air raising concerns after recent pollution report on nearby concrete batch plants
According to Texans for Responsible Aggregate Mining, also known as TRAM, Gunter has 11 permitted concrete batch plants. They said at least one more is seeking a permit nearby, causing some residents concern about their health. “It’s not that we’re ever trying to shut...
Private lands are the next battleground in state conservation policy.
Since last year, staff members at the Land Trust of Virginia have fielded phone call after phone call from landowners seeking to set aside their property for conservation. “We’re getting calls like crazy,” said Sally Price, executive director of the nonprofit, which...
Seven ways climate change is already affecting Texas
Climate change has been warned by scientists for years, and through heat waves with unreasonably high temperatures, the state of Texas is already suffering the consequences of this phenomenon in various ways. Read more from the Reform Austin Staff at Reform Austin...
Drought drains greenbelt swimming holes, but springs may still provide.
Swimming holes are a summer tradition for some, but one that might be hard to find in Austin. Two iconic swimming holes on the Barton Creek Greenbelt are Campbell’s Hole and Twin Falls. Both of these are currently dry, likely caused by a lack of rain in central Texas....
Water level at Lake Travis is at its lowest in nearly 4 years
As we continue to bake through a major drought in Central Texas, the water level at Lake Travis is at its lowest in nearly four years. That’s spurring concerns not just for swimmers and boaters, but about the water supply. "I mean we’ve been coming out here quite a...