News
Quarantined for the very first time
Nearing the line of demarcation for achieving "octogenarian," it has been a shock to the system to face the necessity of "quarantined." Even as a youngster in a household of several children and on a city block populated by many more suffering from measles I remember...
Agriculture science looking downward for the future of feeding the world
Healthy fertile soil. It makes the grass and plants grow, which feeds people as well as livestock, which in turn are eaten by people. Dr. Nicole Wagner, assistant professor in the Department of Agriculture at Texas State University, doesn’t mince words when it comes...
New Braunfels Utilities anticipates stage one drought conditions
Rising temperatures, lack of significant rainfall and increased demand for water have caused the Edwards Aquifer to drop nearly a foot per day over the past 10 days. As of May 7, the 10-day average of the J-17 well was 665 feet, which is five feet above the trigger...
Food supply anxiety brings back Victory Gardens
“Small things count,” read a headline in the tiny, insistent pamphlet published by the National War Garden Commission in 1919. The pitch made gardening a civic duty. The victory garden movement began during World War I and called on Americans to grow food in whatever...
Central Texas Gardener: PBS show producer offers tips
Your garden need not be cancelled! Central Texas Gardener producer Linda Lehmusvirta offers pandemic-proof advice for growing food and sprucing up your yard. Spring and early summer are always a good time to get out in the garden—but of course, our notion of “getting...
Opinion: In Permian Highway Pipeline fight, property rights are the answer
There are few things Texans value more than property rights and few things closer to our collective imagination than iconic Texas landscapes and the wildlife that fills them. An ongoing battle over a pipeline in the scenic Hill Countrythreatens both – and represents a...
Austin’s Tom Spencer: ‘It’s time to plant trees’
“Austinites are the people I love,” Spencer said not long before the 50th anniversary of the first Earth Day. “But they feel terrible because of the times. It’s hard to see the future, but trees are a part of that future. It’s a good time to think about rebirth and to...
COVID-19 relief for farmers, ranchers
The Agricultural and Food Policy Center at Texas A&M University in College Station has developed a briefing paper that identifies provisions most applicable to agricultural producers in the three recent Congressional interventions to stimulate the economy and...
Sierra Club lawsuit challenges construction of Permian Highway fracked gas pipeline
The Sierra Club filed a lawsuit today against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for permitting the ongoing construction of the 428-mile Permian Highway fracked gas pipeline, despite a federal court order vacating the nationwide permit on which the pipeline’s 449 water...
Central Texas farmers survive selling directly to customers
Central Texas farmers are adjusting to the new reality and in some cases thriving at farmers markets from Cedar Park to Southwest Austin. Even with strict access requirements and cones to keep customers 6 feet apart, sales are high, albeit with fewer customers who are...
NRCS invests more than $1.1 million in partner-driven Comanche Springs project in West Texas
USDA’s Natural Resources Service (NRCS) today announced that it is investing $1.1 million in Texas for a partner-driven conservation project through its Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP). NRCS will leverage nearly $1.6 million in partner contributions...
As a billion birds fly through Texas, they find a landscape quiet and still
Once the stay-at-home orders were in place and the sounds of traffic and business dimmed, the birds seemed louder. There seemed to be more of them. It’s not clear if birds have really raised their volume (more on that in a bit), but there are more in Texas these days....
Supporting local Hill Country producers
During these unprecedented times, it’s especially important to support and invest in our local communities. One way to do this is with our food choices. You can help local businesses bounce back from economic downturns and invest in the overall resiliency of your...
Hill Country Alliance Board Member: A view from the Hill Country
The world has changed. In the span of 90 days, an unlikely viral emissary from Mother Nature has issued forth from a market in Wuhan, China and spread across the globe with dizzying speed and crushing effect. Who could have thought such a tiny, invisible strand of RNA...
KXAN investigation uncovers safety concerns over pipes used in Kinder Morgan’s Permian Highway Pipeline
A tip led us to a storage yard holding hundreds of pipeline segments in Blanco. The segments will become the Permian Highway Pipeline. The group fighting the pipeline is concerned the anti-corrosion coating on the pipes has been outside, uncovered for far too long....
Supreme Court gives environmentalists partial water law win
The U.S. Supreme Court gave environmentalists a partial win on the scope of the Clean Water Act, ruling that the law applies to some pollution discharges that don’t go directly into a major body of water. The 6-3 decision Thursday told a federal appeals court to...
Speak now please! Together we can save our Hill Country future, not pave it!
The next Hays County Commissioners’ Court meeting is TUESDAY, April 28th at 9:00 AM - please contact the following elected officials in advance to state your views! judge.becerra@co.hays.tx.us (512) 393-2205; mark.jones@co.hays.tx.us (512)...
Permission revoked by County for pipeline to cross under roadways
The commissioners court on Tuesday voted to revoke permission for the energy giant to cross any roads in the county. The unanimous vote came after a lengthy executive session and the motion was made by Pct. 3 Commissioner Lon Shell. It was in Shell’s precinct that...
State and regional flood planning: the future of flood resilience in Texas
Starting in 2020, Texas stakeholders will have the opportunity to determine the best flood mitigation strategies for their region through a process called “flood planning.” Regional Flood Planning Groups (RFPG) will lead this effort, as prescribed by Senate Bill 8...
Higher temperatures for 2020 warns of Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB) growth
Warmer weather means warmer water, which is a catalyst for the overgrowth of highly toxic blue-green algae known as cyanobacteria harmful algal blooms or cyanoHABs in ponds, lakes and reservoirs. Statistically, the warmer the weather, the worse the cyanoHABs. The...
‘Mega-drought’ could be in store for Texas, western U.S.
The American West is well on its way into one of the worst mega-droughts on record, a new study warns, a dry period that could last for centuries and spread from Oregon and Montana, through the Four Corners and into West Texas and northern Mexico. Several other...
Don’t touch the wildlife. Seriously.
With more people enjoying the outdoors and working from home this April, you may start to notice more wildlife in your backyard, neighborhood or surrounding area. Species including birds, deer and snakes are active this time of year and their young often stray or...
I went bird watching in Colombia from my couch and you should too
Of all the virtual experiences being offered to us these strange days, this was the one that caught my attention: virtual bird watching in Colombia. The creators of The Birders, a 2019 documentary about a birding road trip through northern Colombia have created a...
Financing nature-based flood mitigation projects with Texas’ Flood Infrastructure Fund – Hill Country
The Hill Country is no stranger to flooding. In 2015, the Memorial Day flood brought devastating rains to the region. As flood events grow stronger and more frequent, it is more important than ever to take advantage of opportunities to protect our citizens and natural...
Earth Day 50th anniversary could mark turning point for Texas energy sector
Wednesday marked the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. When it was first celebrated in 1970, more than 20 million people took to the streets and that action spurred the passage of environmental laws and regulations that are still in effect today. Large gatherings aren’t...
A gift for Texas: Collins family donates easement on 531 acres in Williamson County
More than 50 years ago, Michael Collins and his father bought land north of Liberty Hill, drawn to the river that cut through the property and the old log home that stood there. They evicted the goats bedding down in the house and renovated it, and the Collins family...
Big opportunities lie ahead for green infrastructure in Texas
Green infrastructure and nature-based solutions are essential to creating flood resilient communities in Texas. Traditional gray infrastructure techniques such as dams, levees, and channels, capture water and push it downstream. On the other hand, green infrastructure...
Bamberger – A strongly rooted legacy
As a child, J. David Bamberger grew up in an Ohio family without electricity or running water. Each day his mother sent him to the neighbor’s farm with a bucket to pump water from their well. “When you’re that age, walking a quarter-mile back home with a bucket full...
Coronavirus hits already struggling Texas farmers and ranchers
Coronavirus has hit U.S. farmers and ranchers hard — to the point where they’ve stopped saying “it can’t get worse.” Burnet County ranchers are seeing those hard-hitting effects by the day. Auction sales are down significantly at the Lampasas Cattle Auction, according...
Austin Parks adds new restrictions to hike-and-bike trail to combat COVID-19
The city has announced even mores changes for the Butler Hike-and-Bike Trail. In the weeks since Austin Mayor Steve Adler and Travis County Judge Sarah Eckhardt rolled out Stay Home/Work Safe measures to help combat the novel coronavirus, the 10-mile trail has become...