News
Rapid development of Comal County brings concerns about the aquifer
Comal County is one of the fastest growing counties in the country and it’s no secret why. The scenery is beautiful. But for some, that is exactly why development is concerning. Much of Comal County sits over the contributing and recharge zone of the Edwards Aquifer....
How does the Edwards Aquifer work & why is it so heavily regulated? KSAT Explains
SAN ANTONIO – If you’re a regular KSAT 12 viewer, you’ve seen it before - our Weather Authority team reporting on the Edwards Aquifer’s water levels. The aquifer is the primary source of water for millions of us around South Central Texas and the Hill Country. Its...
Hill Country State Park sees additional protection from land development threat
New conservation protections are being added in Comal County thanks to the combined efforts of the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), The Nature Conservancy (TNC), and Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) to safeguard Honey Creek Spring Ranch from...
High-end, luxury home’ community coming to Dripping Springs
A new luxury master-planned community is coming to Dripping Springs, with Nashville-based developer Southern Land Company (SLC) promising “high-end” homes in the Texas Hill Country. On Monday, SLC announced it closed on its first land acquisition in Dripping Springs,...
Regenerative ranching is better for the environment, but can it be profitable?
Meredith Ellis harbors no illusions when it comes to the demands of running a cattle ranch. As she offers me a cozy blanket to keep warm during our “buggy” ride on her Kawasaki Mule around her family’s three-thousand-acre G Bar C Ranch on a crisp December morning, she...
Analysis: The Texas storms — actual and political — of 2021
2021 was the second year of the pandemic. The Texas Legislature met in regular session, as usual, but then followed that session with three special sessions on issues that had to be done (redistricting) and on issues lawmakers didn’t address during that 140-day...
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...
36 more deaths attributed to February 2021 snowstorm, raising total to 246
The death total for the historic February 2021 snowstorm continues to rise as 36 additional deaths were confirmed to be linked to the storm in the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS)'s final report on the disaster, bringing the statewide total to 246....
Covid is rampant among deer, research shows
Humans have infected wild deer with Covid-19 in a handful of states, and there’s evidence that the coronavirus has been spreading among deer, according to recent studies that outline findings that could complicate the path out of the pandemic. Read more from Evan Bush...
Disturbing the waters: Plan to dredge lakes threatens a scenic Hill Country treasure
Created by dams nearly a century ago, the Highland Lakes in the Hill Country long have been a haven for vacationers and second-home dwellers seeking a scenic escape from city life and the noisy disruptions of traffic and industry. Their serenity is about to be broken....
Austin restaurateur wants Texans to save the environment — by eating wild hogs
In Austin’s Cherrywood Neighborhood, the Dai Due restaurant has an unusual menu item — a wild boar confit. The rich flavor profile is created with all locally sourced ingredients, cook Henry Tiles explained. Read more from Dominic Anthony Walsh with Texas Public Radio...
‘Careful what we ask for’: Dripping Springs battles major Hill Country growing pains, development issues
Diane and Chuck McClaferty live and work on a Dripping Springs ranch. It’s been in Chuck McClaferty’s family for 85 years. They raise beef cattle. They keep honeybees. And a proposed four-lane highway would run right through the middle of their land. Read more from...
Saving ‘the edge of night’: Starry-sky admirers fight light pollution in the Hill Country amid growth, development
Chris Hill peered through the lens of the telescope in his backyard one cold night, looking into the sea of stars and galaxies that pepper the night sky like grains of sand. He walked to a pair of computers nearby and pressed a few buttons. A picture came into focus:...
Porcupines, or ‘cuddly cactuses,’ popping up more in Central Texas
According to Texas Parks and Wildlife, the species appears to be expanding its range eastward. Its range in Texas normally is limited to the western portion of the state, including the Panhandle and parts of the Hill Country. Read more from Chrissy Mazzone with...
How to be an anti-racist geoscience organization
I’ve had this paper in the hopper for a while, waiting for the courage to write about it, in large part due to the controversy over Critical Race Theory but also — and perhaps primarily — because I am an old(ish), white, straight male fearful of saying (or writing)...
How cattle ranchers can combat climate change
Texas relies on the multibillion-dollar cattle industry for economic success and the conservation of our iconic landscape — the two are not mutually exclusive. Ranchers have a devotion to the land that sustains their livelihood, as it did for generations before them....
Texas Innovation Corridor future development project launches
Greater San Marcos Partnership (GSMP) and Watershed Partners, a program of WVWA, jointly launched the Texas Innovation Corridor (TxIC) Future Development project Nov. 15, celebrating funding approval in October from GSMP’s board matched equally by WVWA. The $43,000,...
Wimberley Trail project receives state funds
The Wimberley Trail Project has received approval of more than $970,000 in funds from the Texas Transportation Commission for sidewalk infrastructure. The money will fund sidewalks connecting Wimberley High School, Danforth Junior High School, Wimberley Market Days...
Lipan Apache tribal members gather in Presidio to celebrate historic land transfer
Standing among the graves in Presidio’s Cementerio del Barrio de los Lipanes, members of the Lipan Apache Tribe of Texas met with Big Bend residents this weekend to mark a historic occasion. Some 200 years after Lipanes began buying their dead on what was then a peace...
Too much of a good thing — Dripping Springs extends moratorium on new development
The city of Dripping Springs has extended its moratorium on new development until late February amid concerns about rapid growth and insufficient infrastructure. The small Hays County town, known as the “Gateway to the Hill Country,” enacted the moratorium on Nov. 18....
Clemente Guzman’s celebration of river life selected for 2021 Texas Book Festival poster art
The Texas Book Festival selected a painting titled Viva Texas Rivers! by San Antonio-based artist Clemente Guzman as the featured poster art for the 26th annual Texas Book Festival, held in Austin Oct. 25-31, 2021. The artwork celebrates the state’s life and culture...
This water is my water
An old fight over water is coming to a boil in Central Texas, a fight with all the conflict and character of an old western movie. There are farmers up in arms and big-city charmers, empire builders and nervous politicians. The very life of the prettiest river in...