News
Blast Zone: Quarries are expanding in the Texas Hill Country, and rivers, streams and once-pristine landscapes are paying the price. Regulators can’t keep up.
Flat Creek had always been translucent, flowing clear and cold through Kathleen Wilson’s 15-acre spread in the Texas Hill Country. Then something changed. The dust was the first sign. “That was really the first noticeable thing, was the whole surface was covered with...
Indigenous Cultures Institute seeks community input
Residents and community members will have the opportunity to get involved and voice their ideas regarding the Indigenous Cultures Institute’s plans to build an Indigenous Cultures Center for Hays County. On Oct. 11, the Indigenous Cultures Institute will hold a press...
Results from Well Visits – Trinity Aquifers
This summer the Watershed Association teamed up with the Comal Trinity Groundwater Conservation District and the Hays Trinity Groundwater Conservation District and visited over 60 private wells in northern Comal County and western Hays County. Many thanks to all...
Fun outdoor activities to put on your Texas Hill Country itinerary
Social distancing’s easy — and fun — in the Texas Hill Country. The region’s sweeping panoramas merge countrified charm and sophisticated appeal, making it unlike anywhere else in our vast state. Since we’re avoiding indoor events due to the ongoing pandemic, outdoor...
Looking to get outside this fall? How about stargazing under Hill Country’s darkest skies.
How much of the Milky Way galaxy can you see from your front door? For those looking to escape to the great outdoors as the weather cools off in the fall, Central Texas has several designated International Dark Sky parks that offer views of the night sky with less...
San Antonians can travel for 40 straight miles with new trail extension
San Antonians can now travel almost 40 miles straight without ever exiting a trail. An eagerly awaited connection between the Leon Creek and Salado Creek Trails officially opened this past Friday, Oct. 1. A newly minted trailhead at Eisenhower Park links the two sides...
Little Cypress Creek/Krause Springs Study stakeholder meeting
The Meadows Center for Water and the Environment at Texas State University and the Central Texas Groundwater Conservation District will hold a public meeting on October 12, 2021 to receive community input and participation on a study that seeks to better understand...
Dripping Springs proclaims October as Hill Country Night Sky Month
At a recent City Council meeting, the Council proclaimed October as Hill Country Night Sky Month in Dripping Springs. Dripping Springs joins The Hill Country Alliance (HCA) and many other communities in our area that are dedicated to the preservation of the region’s...
Mansfield concrete plant plans were shot down. Is battle back on after Texas ruling?
Anyone unfamiliar with the heated debates over the impact of concrete batch plants on Texas’ environment could be forgiven for glancing over Item No. 38 on the Sept. 22 meeting agenda. The proposal to amend a Texas Commission on Environmental Quality air pollution...
Commentary: This session, make water a priority
More than half of all Texans lost water during last February’s deadly winter storm. It was a warning of trouble to come. Our state’s water infrastructure is the backbone of our economy, and it is aging and fragile. Just one week before the storm knocked out water and...
San Antonio’s newest trail connects Eisenhower Park to the Rim, and it’s opening soon
While at the entrance of Eisenhower Park, it's hard to miss the huge fence with a sign that reads, "Leon Creek Greenway: Coming 2021." Brandon Ross, manager for the Howard W. Peak Greenway Trails System, tells MySA the new 2-mile paved trail that will connect...
Chronic Wasting Disease and deer management on private land
Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a degenerative, fatal disease of deer, elk, and moose first discovered in Colorado in the 1960s. The disease can be transmitted among animals and over the past 6 decades, the disease has spread to more than 25 states and 3 provinces....
Water reuse is helping meet needs. But we can do better.
With the state’s population soaring, water resources limited and the climate getting warmer, water reuse is a growing but still underutilized solution to ensure that Texas has clean, abundant water supplies long into the future. The state’s latest water plan projects...
Opinion: Oak Hill Road Plan is taxpayer abuse
By the time you read these words, a federal judge will have ruled on whether the Texas Department of Transportation can make the historic community of Oak Hill into roadkill. Since it seems like forever ago, the "Y" intersection of U.S. 290 and Texas 71 in Southwest...
Explosive growth endangers unique wildlife, critical waters of San Marcos River
The San Marcos River touches hearts in the fastest-growing city of Texas’ fastest-growing county, and threats to it strike a nerve. Its champions warn that rapid development and the crush of new residents could herald a dark fate for the river’s endangered species and...
Water company’s moves anger buyers, landowners, local governments
In 2018, Ronnie Urbanczyk signed a contract to purchase water from Texas Water Supply Co., a Boerne company with access to at least 40 water wells that tap into the drought-sensitive Trinity Aquifer just south of the Bexar County line. Three years later, Urbanczyk...
Wastewater threatens Texas streams
Diane Causey is a 75-year-old antique shop manager in Utopia, a tiny town of 277 people located an hour-and-a-half northwest of San Antonio. Her favorite place in town is a swimming hole on the Sabinal River, accessed on land her family owns. This section of the...
Walkability and the culture wars
An unfortunate recent article by Aaron Gordon for Vice is titled, "Walking Places Is Part of the Culture Wars Now." It's centered around a discussion of recent survey results from Pew Research, which appear to show that a majority of Americans prefer a neighborhood...
Hill Country communities can pursue Dark Sky designation following new state law
Across the more remote pockets of Hill Country, several communities are looking to attract tourism dollars and increase the quality of life for residents by utilizing a precious, shrinking natural resource—darkness—or rather, the absence of artificial light. With the...
Austin City Council approves housing contracts, Colony Park developments
Here’s what we’re following ahead of the Austin City Council meeting Thursday. Housing and support services contracts: approved Council is expected to amend an agreement with Foundation for the Homeless to provide housing for families with children for an additional...
5 principles for resilient groundwater management in Texas
Although Texas has a solid foundation for managing groundwater, this foundation is cracking under the combined pressures of increasing demand and decreasing supply. These pressures are pitting rural areas against urban areas and landowners against each other, with...
Zoning and “Bigness”
Back in April, Daniel Herriges at Strong Towns wrote an excellent article called “Pretextual Planning is Absolutely Everywhere.” What does that mean? Essentially, the article is about zoning rules that are written into the code not because the requirement itself is...
EPA recognizes Austin Water for efforts to restore ecosystems
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has recognized Austin Water in this year’s Outstanding Green Infrastructure and Low Impact Development Competition. Austin Water’s Wildlands Conservation Division received First Place in the People’s Choice Category for a...
Boerne mayor bracing for impact of approaching San Antonio sprawl
That continued explosive development northwest of San Antonio comes at a cost. And Boerne, a quaint town grappling with its own growing pains, could pay a steep price. “Candidly, most of the growth that’s going on is outside of the city limits of Boerne. There are no...
Feral pigs release 1.1 million cars-worth of planet-warming carbon dioxide every year
As Twitter user Willie McNabb tried to warn in 2019, the threat of feral hogs is real—whether their numbers range from 30 to 50 in the backyard or millions across America. The pigs have damaged virtually every ecosystem they have invaded, often with the help of...
Solarization on the Water Quality Protection Lands and how you can do this at home
On the Water Quality Protection Lands, we’ve been experimenting with soil solarization to control invasive grasses in summer (June-August). This process uses solar radiation to heat the roots and seed of herbaceous plants to such high temperatures that they are no...
Colorado River forecasts not a ‘crystal ball’
Every month the Bureau of Reclamation attempts to peer two years into the future of the Colorado River and its reservoirs. Reclamation’s 24-month study is a staple forecasting product for the federal agency that manages a chain of dams in the watershed, including...
Members in the Wild: Loving the Llano
As a professional fly fishing guide, I’ve spent the last decade getting to know the rivers of Texas on an intimate level. It has become my life passion to explore these waterways but also share their wonders with others through angling and paddling. Seeing the look on...
Water supply contract could derail dreams of a park at Honey Creek
When Texas Parks and Wildlife commissioners gave their approval to turn a ranch upstream of Honey Creek into a public park rather than a controversial subdivision, opponents of the development rejoiced. But this week, many were learning more about a looming issue that...
Scientists seek ways to help nature safeguard aquifer amid development
On a four-wheeler at the edge of the Hill Country, geologist Mark Hamilton rolls and bumps across a 151-acre property at the Edwards Aquifer Conservancy Field Research Park. He pulls up to the end of a steep hill and points out a sunken, marshy spot along the bottom....