News
Energy company develops ultrasonic device to keep bats away from Texas windfarms
An energy company is taking steps to protect bats from windmills. Research shows hundreds of thousands are killed every year. There's new technology to keep this from happening. The Mexican free-tailed bats fly in the millions at their peak. They’re the state's...
Kinder Morgan mobilizes for pipeline construction in Central Texas; opponents prepare to sue
After more than a year of community meetings, negotiations, resolutions and legal action, the pipeline company Kinder Morgan is getting ready to begin construction on the Permian Highway Pipeline in Central Texas—at least if legal challenges do not stop it. Work has...
Record-breaking vote shows consensus and need for more Texas state parks
To my wife’s dismay, I was going to cook the Thanksgiving turkey over a campfire at Tyler State Park with the guidance of my son’s most recent Boy’s Life magazine. We have a big map of Texas on the wall of our family room. We’re on a mission to visit all 90 or so...
Urban sprawl making its way toward slower growing parts of the Hill Country
Cities up and down the I-35 corridor have experienced explosive growth over the last decade, but the counties adjacent to them have largely escaped the surge of people. That all appears to be over, with the urban expansion beginning to head their way. “We have three...
As aquifer protection debate continues, Nirenberg offers funding details
Mayor Ron Nirenberg plans to propose using future borrowing to help preserve land over the Edwards Aquifer while shifting the sales tax that currently funds that preservation over to San Antonio’s transit system. In an interview Thursday, Nirenberg laid out more...
In a first, researchers find CWD prions in deer semen
For the first time, researchers have documented chronic wasting disease prions in semen from white-tailed deer at U.S. deer farms, according to a recently-published paper. While further work is needed to determine if the prion-containing semen could infect another...
A river worth saving: Who will protect the unheralded Llano?
The Llano River is an ecological gem in Texas Hill Country, supporting dozens of native and rare plants and animals. But due to weak state environmental protections, the Llano — along with other waterways in Texas — is increasingly facing pressure from industry and...
Smart home experiment may change how we conserve water, build and live
On the banks of the Llano River, just south of Junction, Texas, amongst the cactus and mesquite trees sits a house that researchers hope will change the face of conservation. Atmospheric scientist Brian Ancell walked along the edge of this mesquite field. He walked...
TCEQ adopts new wastewater rules
In December, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) adopted new rules for the disposal of treated wastewater effluent by land application. In 2016, Austin petitioned the TCEQ to consider rule changes that would encourage beneficial use of treated...
San Marcos City Council weighs allocation of $24 million in disaster mitigation funding
City of San Marcos staff have developed a proposal for the use of $24,012,000 in Community Development Block Grant mitigation funding that the city received in 2019 to address flooding risks and prevention. Members of City Council received a presentation on the...
Water crisis puts Oregon community at a crossroads
In a desert far from any city, farmers use groundwater to grow lush green hay. The hay fattens livestock all over the world. But there's a big problem: The water is drying up. Now scientists warn it will take thousands of years for an aquifer in southeastern Oregon to...
In win for Harvey victims, federal judge finds government liable for reservoir flooding
During Hurricane Harvey, thousands of properties behind two federally owned reservoirs flooded. On Tuesday, the United States Court of Federal Claims ruled that the government was liable for the flooding and that property owners are eligible for damages. Houston's...
Report urges buying floodplain properties to head off $3 billion bill by 2050
It would be less expensive for the government to buy and preserve undeveloped land that lies in Houston’s floodplains than it would be to let development occur and face a potentially devastating bill if those properties flood, according to a new study. Allowing...
Austin water use at record low
Water use per person in Austin has fallen to the lowest point since the city began keeping records more than two decades ago. The historic low continues a trend in water usage in the aftermath of drought conditions spanning from 2008 to 2016 that strained Central...
Fight against Vulcan goes on
As 2019 draws to a close, Preserve Our Hill Country Environment and Stop 3009 Vulcan Quarry are so grateful to all our supporters and volunteers in the ongoing battle against the huge, 1500-acre quarry planned by Vulcan Construction Materials between New Braunfels and...
Big money is building a new kind of National Park in the Great Plains
A privately funded, nonprofit organization is creating a 3.2 million-acre wildlife sanctuary — American Prairie Reserve — in northeastern Montana, an area long known as cattle country. But the reserve is facing fierce opposition from many locals because to build it,...
Hill Country’s Honey Creek no longer set to receive treated sewage
A developer planning a subdivision upstream of an ecologically sensitive Hill Country creek has changed his plans to avoid filling the creek with treated wastewater. The controversial proposed wastewater treatment plant north of San Antonio is tied to a 2,347-unit...
Cookie-cutter suburbs could help spread sustainable yards
Yards in Austin, Tex., look like most across the country: sprawling expanses of short, uniform grass. But when intense Texas droughts set in, dead brown patches deface the Kelly green monochrome. Instead of repeatedly replanting these patches with the typical sod, the...
Texas regulators want stiffer penalties for company whose Port Neches plant exploded
In a surprising vote, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality rejected a staff-proposed penalty against TPC Group's Port Neches chemical plant — which was rocked by explosions last month — for a slew of 2018 pollution violations and asked that they be referred...
IDA Advocate helps teens open eyes to light pollution in Chicago
Each month the International Dark-Sky Association features an IDA Advocate from the worldwide network of volunteers who are working to protect the night. This month we’re highlighting the work of IDA Delegate, Rosalía Lugo. Self-described as “a true believer in the...
Val Verde County white-tailed deer tests positive for Chronic Wasting Disease
AUSTIN – Chronic wasting disease (CWD) has been detected in a free-ranging, 5 ½ year-old white-tailed doe between Del Rio and Amistad Reservoir, making it the first confirmed case of the disease in Val Verde County. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) and...
BSEACD denies motion for rehearing of the Needmore Water LLC Permit
This evening at its Regular Meeting, the Barton Springs/Edwards Aquifer Conservation District (BSEACD) Board of Directors denied the request from the Trinity Edwards Springs Protection Alliance (TESPA) for a rehearing of the Needmore Water LLC permit. Blayne...
Over 60 roadway improvements require relocation of water and wastewater lines
At the Dec. 11 meeting of the Water and Wastewater Commission, Austin Water presented an update on the 65 active transportation improvement projects that necessitate the repositioning of water utility lines. Of those projects, 56 percent are in the planning period, 22...
Rep. Zwiener named to House Interim Study Committee on concrete plant operations
State Representative Erin Zwiener (D-Driftwood) was one of nine representatives and public members appointed to the House Interim Study Committee on Aggregate Production Operations (APOs) by Speaker Dennis Bonnen (R-Angleton) on Tuesday, December 10. APOs, which...
Travis County commissioners delay approving RV park proposal near Hamilton Pool Preserve as residents raise concern
Important Update: Despite last week's decision (discussed in article below) to delay voting on this agenda item, the Travis County Commissioners Court will be meeting on Tuesday, 12/17/19 at 9 AM to discuss the Bentree RV proposal AGAIN. Learn more here. For the...
Nature up close: The largest bat colony in the world
Bracken Bat Cave, northeast of San Antonio, is the summer home of about 20 million insect-eating Mexican free-tailed bats. Bats don't always get the respect they deserve, especially Mexican free-taileds which, even among some bat researchers, are considered the rats...
Marble Falls, Granger added to statewide list of lakes infested with Zebra Mussels
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) has added Lake Marble Falls and Granger Lake to the statewide list of lakes infested with invasive zebra mussels after discovering established, reproducing populations in the lakes this fall. Lower Colorado River...
Wild pigs increase their urban and suburban area sprawls
Whether you call them wild pigs or feral hogs, they are no longer just a rural problem, according to a Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service expert. Wild pigs cause more than $52 million in agricultural damage in Texas annually, said John Tomecek, Ph.D., AgriLife...
Proposition will start state’s first flood fund
After garnering the approval of voters, Texas has been given the go-ahead to create the state’s first flooding infrastructure fund. The fund is being established with a one-time injection of $793 million in funding from the state’s Economic Stabilization Fund—more...
Edwards Aquifer Protection Program and sales tax funding questions answered
A dialogue has emerged on the relative merits of programs apparently now competing for a future share of the City sales tax. This has included confusing statements about the Edwards Aquifer Protection Program (EAPP). As chair of the Conservation Advisory Board, the...