News
“We can’t have land back without water back”
Growing up in Sandia Pueblo, on the banks of the Río Grande in New Mexico, Julia Bernal heard tales about the world of her ancestors. Elders told her that the area was home to diverse flora and fauna, the likes of which she had never seen. The river used to overflow...
The key to slowing traffic is street design, not speed limits
On September 8, Wiley & Sons will release the second book in the Strong Towns series: Confessions of a Recovering Engineer: A Strong Towns Approach to Transportation. Chapter five is about building great streets and how it is essential, if we want places that are...
USDA invests $167 million in high-speed broadband in 12 states
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced that the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is investing $167 million in 12 states to deploy broadband infrastructure (PDF, 360 KB) in rural areas without sufficient access to high-speed internet....
‘Nonfunctional’ grass to be banned in Las Vegas Valley
The days for much of the water-thirsty grass in the drought-stricken Las Vegas Valley are numbered. Nearly one-third of all of the grass in Southern Nevada will need to be removed by the end of 2026 under a new bill signed into law by Gov. Steve Sisolak Friday, a...
Climate change is intensifying the water cycle, new IPCC report finds
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a group of the world’s leading climate scientists, released its sixth climate assessment on Monday. The 1,300-page paper is the most comprehensive, up-to-date report yet on the physical science of climate change,...
Where dark skies draw star-gazers, wildfire smoke spoils the view
GREAT SAND DUNES NATIONAL PARK — The high, lonesome dunes that run up against the Rocky Mountains at 7,500 feet above sea level in southern Colorado are a long, long drive from the closest streetlight, and after dusk, the almost untainted darkness and thin, dry air...
Be a sponsor, be a star at this October’s Hill Country Night Sky Month!
Deep within each of us is a memory of breathtaking awe and wonder. Within each of us is a recollection of that first time we found ourselves speechless, under a canopy of deep night and starlight. It might have been at a star party, under a planetarium dome, or while...
Young Life camp withdraws wastewater permit, will employ zero-discharge approach
LoneHollow Ranch, a camp in the Vanderpool area owned by Young Life, a Colorado-based Christian organization, recently announced they will be withdrawing their wastewater discharge permit from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) and moving forward...
Sponsor the 2021 Leadership Summit: A Hill Country Conservation Reunion
The Hill Country Alliance and The Hall at Jester King Brewery are proud to present: A Hill Country Conservation Reunion at the 2021 Hill Country Leadership Summit. The Summit is happening live and in-person on September 30 from 8 AM – 6 PM at The Hall at Jester King...
Big news on Young Life permit
HCA is happy to share some GREAT news from the Bandera Canyonlands Alliance, LoneHollow Ranch, and The Cibolo Conservancy! After months of opposition, including a petition garnering nearly 25,000 signatures and three county resolutions opposing the wastewater permit...
What animals see in the stars, and what they stand to lose
One moonless night a little more than a decade ago, Marie Dacke and Eric Warrant, animal vision experts from Lund University in Sweden, made a surprise discovery in South Africa. The researchers had been watching nocturnal dung beetles, miniature Sisyphuses of the...
Deadly disease outbreak in breeder deer threaten Texas’ 3.9 million whitetails
Staff at the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) haven’t gotten much sleep since March. The worst nightmare a wildlife agency in a deer-rich region like Texas with its 3.9 million wild whitetail deer and 85,000 captive breeder deer could possibly imagine now...
2021 Texas legislative recap – key bills for agriculture
As we do after every Texas Legislative Session, we’re here with a recap of the 87th Texas Legislature and the bills impacting agriculture. As you will see, it was a busy session with a number of ag-related bills being passed. We have linked each bill below to allow...
Perseid meteor shower 2021: All you need to know
In the Northern Hemisphere, we rank the August Perseids as our all-time favorite meteor shower. The Perseids take place during the lazy, hazy days of northern summer, when many families are on vacation. And what could be more luxurious than taking a siesta from the...
San Antonio built a pipeline to rural Central Texas to increase its water supply. Now local landowners say their wells are running dry.
When the water finally arrived, San Antonio’s leadership could relax. The roughly 150-mile long water pipeline to the northeast guaranteed the city’s economic future and freed residents from the stress of droughts. “We have water security for decades to come,” said...
Fahrenheit 140: Setting the (water) table
Fahrenheit 140, the temperature that water scalds skin after six seconds, is a climate rant with a Texas slant. Join water pros Robert Mace and Carrie Thompson as they dive into stories and perspectives at the intersection of climate change and water. This podcast is...
Conservationists are plucking the plants that threaten Texas wild rice, fountain darters
Twelve feet below the water in the San Marcos River, conservationists pluck invasive plants from the riverbed. Hydrilla and hygrophila are the victims of this widespread removal. They’re targeted because they threaten two native species that are endangered: Texas wild...
New study on climate change impacts on plants could lead to better conservation strategies
The loss of plant species that are especially vulnerable to climate change might lead to bigger problems than previous studies have suggested, according to a new study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. If confirmed, the findings...
Recovering America’s Wildlife Act introduced in the U.S. Senate
We're excited to announce that the Recovering America's Wildlife Act has been introduced in the U.S. Senate! S.2372 was introduced by Senator Roy Blunt (R-MO) and Senator Martin Heinrich (D-NM) — one important step closer to passing the most significant wildlife...
A Watershed Moment: Restoration of the Sessom Creek Watershed about to get underway
Everyone loves those home makeover shows where a visionary decorator and demolition-loving partner take a quaint old home and turn it into a Better Homes and Gardens cover story. Well, if there was such a show for watersheds, the Sessom Creek watershed in San Marcos...
From Time to Time: Preserving cultural resources key component of EAHCP
Where did the time go? Time flies. There’s no time like the present. Don’t waste your time. People are familiar with the notion that time marches on at its own pace and we express how we deal with that in many ways. And while today’s culture seems to be preoccupied...
We helped design ERCOT, here’s how to prevent another major Texas electricity failure
The Arctic weather system that hit the South Central United States in February 2021 led to the deaths of almost 200 Texans (many more by some estimates), extended power outages for two-thirds of Texas residents, residents, and caused more than $100 billion in damages...
Drought, the everything disaster
It develops in stages, a story that builds upon itself. A few cloudless days. Then a rain-free week. Soon a hot, dry month. Now the hills are brown and the crops need watering — the first signs of drought. The intensely dry conditions that have settled over the...
Bipartisan wildlife proposal would enhance fish and wildlife, add jobs, and grow businesses in Texas
During the pandemic, Texans headed back to nature in record numbers, with more people visiting state parks, hunting, fishing, and boating than ever before. A new congressional proposal aims to tap that exploding interest by investing more than $50 million per year in...
Economic Benefits Report from Great Springs Project
With the expert guidance of Alta Planning + Design and National Park Service, Great Springs Project is proud to present the Economic Benefits Report for the trail from the Alamo to the Capitol to quantify the financial return from the 100+-mile trail network and...
Wildlife disease threatens deer, elk – and maybe humans, new research says
The continuing spread of a fatal wildlife disease in Alberta and Saskatchewan has a federal agency recommending a deer cull across a wide swath of the Prairies. And soon-to-be-published research on chronic wasting disease has raised new fears about whether the illness...
A drought so dire that a Utah town pulled the plug on growth
The mountain spring that pioneers used to water their hayfields and that filled people’s taps flowed reliably into the old cowboy town of Oakley for decades. So when it dwindled to a trickle in this year’s scorching drought, officials took drastic action to preserve...
Comal County group, Hays County neighbors aim to spare some nature from sprawl
People are flocking to the Texas Hill Country for its lush and rolling hills, so some in Comal and Hays counties are working together to preserve it. The Comal County Conservation Alliance recently held a virtual meeting with Hays County Precinct 3 Commissioner Lon...
What future do we desire for the Trinity Aquifers?
Across the Hill Country, residents and visitors depend on the groundwater stored in the Trinity Aquifers as water supply and to provide baseflow through springs that keep iconic creeks and rivers flowing. Residents have a voice through the regional planning process...
Healthy Creeks Initiative Underway
This month, contractors will begin the annual control efforts to manage Arundo along the Pedernales River and several tributary creeks. Arundo, also referred to as Giant Reed or Carrizo Cane, is a non-native, invasive plant that can take over creeks and rivers. Since...