News
Soaking up rising floodwaters in growing cities
Texas cities are expanding fast. Between 2010 and 2019, six of the 15 fastest-growing cities in the United States were in Texas. Bigger cities mean less land to soak up rainwater, leading to increased flood risk. Add climate change to the equation, and you have a...
Stream Team program celebrates 30 years of citizen science, stewardship of Texas waterways
The Texas Stream Team, a program of The Meadows Center for Water and the Environment at Texas State University, is celebrating 30 years of citizen science and environmental stewardship. More than 11,000 trained citizen scientists have participated in The Meadows...
Rain, wind and fire: What La Niña means for Texas’ winter fire season
Texas’ winter/spring wildfire season is about to begin. Fire experts predict it could be a particularly active season due in large part to the presence of La Niña this year. The weather pattern often brings drier, warmer weather, and strong winds: the perfect recipe...
Land Revival
When prospective landowners look for their slice of Hill Country, they may look for running water, mature trees, bluebonnets, a scenic vista, or a pristine canvas. Not Paula Stone. When Stone first set eyes on her property at the edge of Fredericksburg, her realtor...
Financial, ecological benefits of conservation easements on working lands
A recent report by the Texas A&M Natural Resources Institute, Texas Water Resources Institute and Texas Land Trust Council shows state-funded conservation easements in Texas provide numerous financial and ecological benefits. The purpose of the 2020 Evaluation...
How you can help rebuild the Mason County courthouse destroyed in a fire
For over a century the Mason County courthouse stood as a landmark in the center of town. The tower, with its 150-year-old clock, ticked the hours away. Late Thursday night, the clock stopped. A blaze ripped through the historical building as distraught residents...
Electo Purification ends contested case hearing in Hays County
On February 4, 2021, the State Office of Administrative Hearings (SOAH) approved Electro Purification’s (EP) request to cancel the trial-like hearing where Hays County, the Trinity Edwards Springs Protection Association (TESPA), and 13 local landowners were set to...
It’s time to pay attention to the water we cannot see
Texas’ rivers are iconic. The groundwater that sustains them is invisible. We see the dichotomy in state law. Naturally flowing water in rivers and streams is owned by the state and held in trust for the public good. That’s because we can see that water and what it...
Clean water projects in Texas awarded $72M from EPA
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently awarded the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) $72,632,000 to provide low-interest loans to fund clean water projects in Texas. EPA provided the grant under the Clean Water Act’s Clean Water State Revolving...
Black conservationists and scientists who led the way
Some of the Black leaders on this list are well known. Some lesser so. But all of them have made an indelible mark on the understanding and preservation of our natural world. They have served as trailblazers in fields that have not always had the benefit of a...
Survey window opens for draft Hays County Transportation Plan
Your time is now to comment on Hays County’s Transportation Plan update, which has been in development since the summer. Virtual Open House Round 2 and public input survey (due by Feb. 7) are available online: https://www.haystransportationplan.com/open-house-2 A...
Inside the McDonald Observatory’s mission to preserve the darkest skies in West Texas
Bill Wren remembers the night sky rising like wallpaper above him when he was a child in rural Missouri. But after a move to Houston in 1970 when he was 15, lights from the city’s sprawl obscured all but a few stars. It wasn’t until he was 21 years old, on a camping...
‘Everything was there and then it wasn’t’: Developers allowed to skirt tree ordinance
In 2019, a city environmental plans examiner emailed then-state Rep. Roland Gutierrez to inform him he had violated San Antonio’s tree preservation ordinance by chopping down a large heritage oak without a permit on a lot he was developing. “There will be a work...
Will nature go mainstream in 2021?
One of the many things we’ve learned from the global shock of COVID-19 is just how intertwined humanity is with nature. A wildlife-borne pathogen has infected more than 70 million people, disrupted global supply chains, spotlighted inequities and exposed new...
Texans for Responsible Aggregate Mining (TRAM) invited to contribute to House Interim Committee’s Study on Aggregate Production Operations
Hill Country Alliance - Community Program Note: The Hill Country Alliance is an active member of the Texans for Responsible Aggregate Mining (TRAM) coalition. Quarries, gravel mines, sand mines, and concrete batch plants are increasingly posing significant challenges...
Editorial: Rivers are lifeblood of region
The owners of a youth camp near Vanderpool have filed a request for a permit to discharge 60,000 gallons of treated wastewater per day into a tributary of the Sabinal River. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, which has jurisdiction in the matter, should...
San Antonio River Foundation: Working to make the river vibrant, healthy, and accessible to ALL
Did you know that the San Antonio River Authority (River Authority) has a non-profit partner organization called the San Antonio River Foundation? Established in 2003, the San Antonio River Foundation’s efforts focus on four main pillars that guide our work:...
Partners Launch Axis Deer Control Project in Texas Hill Country
LEARN MORE: You can learn more about ongoing efforts related to the Axis Deer Control Project here. [vcex_divider style="solid" icon_color="#000000" icon_size="14px" margin_top="20px" margin_bottom="20px"] The Hill Country Alliance, Texas Tech University’s Department...
Kerrville approves resolution asking for review of rock crushing plant near manufacturing plants
The Kerrville City Council unanimously approved a resolution that notes its opposition to a rock and concrete operation that would be sited near three of the city's most important manufacturing operations. The proposed rock crushing would be located just south of...
Balancing Texas’ budget is always complicated. The pandemic and recession will make it even harder in 2021.
One of the largest tasks Texas lawmakers will tackle during the 2021 legislative session that begins in January is writing the state budget, which outlines state spending for the next two years. While the tome-like General Appropriations Act can seem overwhelming and...
Great Springs Project proposes a network of trails from Austin to San Antonio
Can one of the fastest-developing regions in the country prioritize conservation? That's the hope of the ambitious Great Springs Project, which has inched a little closer to realizing its goal of a national parklike trail connecting two of Texas' most populous cities....
Donor gives Dripping Springs 300 acres to create park
It's not every day that a city gets a $5.7 million parkland donation. The city of Dripping Springs just did — specifically, 300 acres to create a park that will be almost 30 acres bigger than Austin's beloved Zilker Park. Earlier this month, Dripping Springs City...
More than twice the size of Texas
To slow extinctions and climate change, President-elect Joe Biden has embraced a plan to conserve 30 percent of U.S. land and 30 percent of its ocean waters by 2030. It is perhaps the most ambitious commitment to conservation by a U.S. president. How he proceeds will...
Nation’s largest land bridge for people and wildlife opens in San Antonio
A very special public (and animal!) works project is now open in the Alamo City. Robert L.B. Tobin Land Bridge, the United States' largest wildlife crossing, opened in Northwest San Antonio on December 11. At 1 pm on Friday, officials lifted construction barriers on...
US Supreme Court dismisses Texas petition for review in Pecos River dispute
The Pecos river runs from the Sangre de Cristo Mountains near Santa Fe, New Mexico through New Mexico and Texas and eventually into the Rio Grande River at the Texas-Mexico border near Del Rio, Texas. In 1949, Texas and New Mexico signed the Pecos River Compact, and...
Environmental groups allege Texas rubber-stamped industrial plants’ pollution — and that the EPA looked the other way
A group of Texas environmental groups say the federal Environmental Protection Agency looked the other way when Texas didn’t require tough enough rules on air pollution for several refineries, gas plants and chemical plants. The Environmental Integrity Project, along...
Bandera Canyonlands Alliance launches public awareness campaign
The Bandera Canyonlands Alliance (BCA) is urging local residents in Bandera and Uvalde counties to be aware of a precedent-setting permit application that would put pristine area waterways at risk. The Colorado-based Young Life organization is asking the Texas...
Opinion: Charity, Not Profiteering
The Texas landscape is changing, and not always for the better. Increasing population and expanding development are destroying native habitat, reducing access to clean and plentiful water, and threatening agricultural production. Between 1997 and 2017, over 2.2...
Cedar Park to continue looking at Lime Creek Quarry redevelopment with end of mining plan
In the next step of the redevelopment of Lime Creek Quarry, Cedar Park has authorized a resolution for an end of mining plan. The quarry is operated by Ranger Excavating, whose operation lease ends June 30, 2023. Blasting at the site will end in 2021, Assistant City...
Two groups encourage ‘lights out’ for human and bird benefits
Two organizations are encouraging Highland Lakes residents to go as dark as possible every night through October. The Texas Conservation Alliance is recognizing Lights Out, Texas! from Sept. 5 through Oct. 29, while the Hill Country Alliance designates October as Hill...