News
Volunteers remove over 1,300 pounds of trash from Concan
The second-annual “Frio River Trash Bash” hosted by the Texas Hill Country River Region on Sept. 14 raised $9,180 for local non-profits, more than doubling the $3,825 raised during the first event in 2023. THCRR director Hailey Hart Conrad said 204 volunteers spent...
“Cultivating a Community of Stewardship” theme of recent HCA Leadership Summit
Written by Michael Hawkins, The Comfort News - republished with permission. The Summit has become a must-attend event for Deborah and I because of its unwavering focus on what people and organizations are getting right in the work they’re doing to preserve the Texas...
The Hill Country is celebrating the stars and night sky throughout October
The fifth annual Hill Country Night Sky Month is here. The October celebration affords people the chance to enjoy one of the region’s most beloved features, the star-filled sky. The Hill Country Alliance (HCA) and dozens of partners make this a community-wide event....
Burnet County seeks law change for more power over subdivisions
The Burnet County Commissioners Court joined the Hill Country Alliance in condemning a 2023 state measure that allows developers to build subdivisions with questionable infrastructure and water access in rural counties. The court voted unanimously at its regular...
Shortlist for where the Texas Water Fund’s $1 billion could go first
Voters went to the polls last November and overwhelmingly supported creation of the Texas Water Fund, a pot of money totaling $1 billion meant for water infrastructure improvements across the state. In the months since then, the state’s water agency has worked to...
Stewardship: Armbrusts build a connection to the land
Restoring land in the Hill Country is no easy task. In many places, there’s a scarcity of topsoil and an excess of native and exotic, non-native deer species impacting the vegetation. There are also the feral hogs, searing droughts, destructive floods, and the...
Oppenheimer to speak on land stewardship
The public is invited to attend a talk sponsored by the Hill Country Chapter, Texas Master Naturalists in Kerrville on Aug. 26 at 7 p.m. featuring Daniel Oppenheimer, land program director at the Hill Country Alliance. Oppenheimer will be presenting “Land Stewardship...
City, Greater Edwards Aquifer Alliance continue battle against Hill Country wastewater plant
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality voted Wednesday to grant a contested case hearing to the San Antonio Metropolitan Health District, the Greater Edwards Aquifer Alliance (GEAA) and landowner Ann Toepperwein in opposition of a wastewater permit for a plant...
Central Texas water company under fire again for wanting to raise prices for customers
Aqua Texas is proposing a rate hike for water and wastewater services in the Wimberley area, and customers aren't thrilled. The Texas State Office of Administrative Hearings hosted a hearing on Wednesday to consider the proposition. The water utility company wants to...
50 murals in 50 small towns: How public art can revive communities
In the Spring, Emma Durand-Wood, a longtime Strong Towns contributor, concluded the same while planning a neighborhood walk. “We typically think of public art as about adding character, personality, beauty or visual interest to a place. Part of that can be...
Shield Ranch Barton Creek named the first Urban Night Sky Place in Texas
DarkSky International officially certified Shield Ranch Barton Creek as an Urban Night Sky Place (UNSP). Shield Ranch joins three neighboring designated International Dark Sky Places; Dripping Springs and Bee Cave, Texas – both International Dark Sky Communities – and...
Shield Ranch Barton Creek named first Urban Night Sky Place in Texas
“Shield Ranch is Texas’s 20th International Dark Sky Place certified in the International Dark Sky Places program. In addition to three Developments of Distinction, there are now 23 internationally recognized sites in the state that have gone above and beyond in the...
Vulcan Materials’ Hill Country quarry gets key permit despite locals’ concerns
A Texas Hill Country quarry recently hit a major milestone years in the making. Despite hundreds of residents trying to halt the controversial project, it now appears to be moving forward outside New Braunfels in Comal County. Read more from Gabriel Romero with Laredo...
Old pipes cause Texas cities to lose tens of billions of gallons of water each year
Texas’ most populous cities lost roughly 88 billion gallons of water last year because of aging water infrastructure and extreme heat, costing them millions of dollars and straining the state’s water supply, according to self-reported water loss audits. The documents...
Burnet groundwater district could seek priority status, more protections
County Commissioner Damon Beierle and Central Texas Groundwater Conservation District General Manager Mitchell Sodek were among 50 regional officials at a Hill Country Alliance summit on how natural resources can be better managed and preserved. Beierle said the June...
What’s the value of planting trees? Conservation groups say a new formula can tell them.
“We're gonna pull the heartstrings, because it does make you feel good, we're doing good things,” Carswell said. “But we also want to show the true value of the work that we're doing and show that we'll be smart about investing in our future.” The report found that...
SAWS’ updated conservation plan aims to address wasted water
San Antonio Water System has seen drastic water loss over the last several years due to an increased number of water main breaks exacerbated by extreme heat and drought. SAWS’ board of trustees unanimously approved a new five-year water conservation plan Tuesday that...
Hill Country leaders discuss innovative water solutions
Hill Country leaders discussed opportunities for innovative water management at the recent Hill Country Leadership Institute meeting on June 20. The meeting took place at Wimberley’s Blue Hole Primary School, 15900 Winters Mill Parkway. During the meeting, over two...
San Antonio enters Stage 3 watering rules for the first time ever — here’s what it means
The San Antonio Water System officially entered Stage 3 watering restrictions for the first time in the utility’s 30-year history on Tuesday. Under the new watering rules ordinance, which was approved by the City Council last week, all SAWS customers — including those...
Local Hill Country leaders discuss opportunities for innovative water management
Wimberley, TX - With a growing population, increasing demand on water resources, and recurring drought conditions, community leaders from across the Hill Country are thinking hard about how to manage growth while protecting our water supply. That was the focus of the...
A ‘heat dome’ is back over Texas. Here’s what that means (and why it’s the worst).
A heat dome is a high-pressure system that, because physics, traps heat and keeps it there. That pressure system’s atmospheric energy is hard to bust up: The high pressure above is met with the rising heat below, which makes the system especially stubborn and...
Rural Roundup: Building community through art in Kerrville, Texas
On June 8, 2024, the Hill Country Alliance, Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country, and Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service joined forces for a Rural Roundup in Kerrville, all about Building Community Through Art. This event brought out more than 60...
Texas farmers face mounting expenses as droughts worsen
The nonprofit Environmental Working Group, a longtime critic of the federal crop insurance program based in Washington, analyzed data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and showed that drought accounts for more crop insurance payouts than any other weather...
DROUGHT & DEMAND: Water conservation a focal point as new style of developments arrive in New Braunfels, Comal County
Hill Country Alliance program director Cliff Kaplan works across the region to promote responsible water use. “It’s kind of become a cliché to say that water is life, but of course, it’s true,” Kaplan said. “None of our communities can exist without water, and if...
Saved from sprawl: Deal on ranch in Comal County part of efforts to protect water for S.A.
Under a new conservation easement, held by the Edwards Aquifer Conservancy, Moore and Dischinger have guaranteed that the land will remain as it is in perpetuity, preventing it from being turned into more suburban sprawl. The agreement also protects vital acres on the...
Exclusive: Travis County reaches $90M deal for 1,500 acre wilderness park near Spicewood
The $90 million purchase, the largest amount for a buy in Travis County Parks’ history, was made possible by voters’ approval last November of a $276 million bond for parks and land acquisition, as well as the decision by Scott’s mother, Nadya Scott, to donate roughly...
Wastewater plans make Hill Country residents worry Pedernales River could turn into ‘sewer’
Landowners are concerned about the future of the Pedernales River after recent filings for wastewater permits at two developments. The permits ask for permission from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to discharge treated wastewater on land near the river....
Fight ensues over pristine Texas land purchased by billionaire for luxury resort: ‘The alarms went off when people in this area first heard’
Part of the area, perhaps "one of the last remaining ecosystems" in the state, according to the Austin American-Statesman, has been in Lew Adams' family since the 1940s. The creek and springs feed the Pedernales River, which ran dry in each of the last two summers....
New trail in San Marcos will connect natural areas on aquifer recharge zone
Hikers will be able to walk — by next March at the latest — from one pristine natural area to another on a new trail planned near San Marcos. The “Limestone Link” trail will run between River Recharge Natural Area and Ringtail Ridge Natural Area on the west side of...
‘Kerrville Runs On Water’
An appropriate rain filled afternoon marked the official unveiling of the new mural Saturday on the East End Market building on Water Street. The event was sponsored by the Kerrville Runs on Water and the Upper Guadalupe River Authority. The massive mural was painted...