News
Austin wastewater main break causes 100,000-gallon sewage spill
More than 100,000 gallons of wastewater flowed into a dry tributary bed of Bull Creek after there was a 21’’ main break and sanitary sewage overflow, according to Austin Water crews. The overflow was discovered at 11:30 a.m. Sunday at 10801 Sierra Oaks. Austin Water...
U.S. House Natural Resources Committee passes landmark wildlife conservation bill out of committee
The Texas Alliance for America’s Fish and Wildlife applauds the House Committee on Natural Resources for a bipartisan vote last week on the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act. The bill passed out of committee following a 26-6 vote and will now move to the House Floor....
‘I don’t believe it’s in until it’s in’: Gillespie County landowner still fighting pipeline
“This is Texas, by God. I am fifth generation Texan and I am not going to roll over for a multi-billion dollar company,” says Kay Pence. She has been fighting Kinder Morgan for more than a year now. The company offered her $45,000 to run part of the Permian Highway...
Residents near Hamilton Pool up in arms about proposed RV park
The Travis County Commissioners Court spent all morning Tuesday discussing a proposed RV park on Stagecoach Ranch Road in Southwest Travis County, near Hamilton Pool. The court still hasn’t come to a decision on the matter and will take it up again at next week’s...
Report: Texas ranks second in budget cuts for environmental protection
In the past decade, a historic industrial buildout has taken hold in Texas — thanks to the fracking revolution — and has created vast wealth and greatly increased the need for government permitting of new facilities, as well as pollution monitoring. But during the...
New bill will help preserve family farms
A bill introduced today to help more farm families continue their livelihoods after the death of a loved one has the full support of the American Farm Bureau Federation. The Preserving Family Farms Act of 2019 is sponsored by Reps. Jimmy Panetta (D-Calif.) and Jackie...
Doctor’s orders: Support land and water conservation
Humans are a part of nature. We can’t be healthy if the world around us isn’t healthy enough to sustain, nourish and protect us. And without a healthy population, we can’t achieve our full potential for generating strong economies, driving innovation and securing a...
When a developer uses a cow or two to dodge property taxes, guess who pays: Homeowners
We finally know what Texas lawmakers meant when, at the end of this year’s legislative session, they crowed about relief from property taxes. Developers who keep a cow or two on a few urban or suburban acres are paying less in back taxes when they cash in and build a...
Songwriters unite in support of Blanco’s night skies and BHS students learn how to preserve the night sky
Thirteen area songwriters gathered on Friday, November 22 in the basement of Liz on the Square in Blanco to perform original songs for the “Deep in the Dark of Texas ™” songwriting contest, sponsored by the Blanco County Friends of the Night Sky. The more...
An unlikely environmentalist with an eye on the future
I’m an unlikely environmentalist. I spent most of my working life with a state transportation agency. I was an advocate for investments in safe efficient highways. Suffice it to say, I made few friends among those who worked for environmental groups. Ironically, I...
How communities are joining the fight to keep Texas’ night skies big and bright
In his time as a naturalist at Enchanted Rock State Natural Area, Scott Whitener loved taking kids on night hikes. Whitener had left his previous job teaching in Fredericksburg partly because he wanted to spend more time outside. On treks up the massive granite dome,...
Q&A+water: Katherine Romans
Executive Director of the Hill Country Alliance In this issue’s Q&A, Texas+Water Editor-in-Chief, Dr. Todd Votteler, interviews Katherine Romans, Executive Director of the Hill Country Alliance, a regional nonprofit focused on protecting the water, land,...
Hill Country photo contest winners announced
The Texas Hill Country is a unique region filled with diverse wildlife, clear springs, sprawling rural landscapes, historic towns, and some of the starriest night skies in the country. Each year the Hill Country Alliance (HCA) holds a photo contest encouraging...
San Antonio’s challenge: Protect the aquifer and get real with VIA Funding
San Antonio’s efforts to increase funding for VIA Metropolitan Service to give citizens a better mass transit system suffered a significant setback last week and left mobility advocates uncertain of the road ahead. The ConnectSA initiative right now is a plan without...
Hill Country landowners say Kinder Morgan is lowballing them. Special courts are agreeing.
Kay Pence owns a ranch in the Hill Country town of Fredericksburg. About a year ago, she got a call from the pipeline company Kinder Morgan. The caller told her the company planned to run a section of its 430-mile Permian Highway natural gas pipeline through her...
One Water: Projects In Motion
Ian Taylor, Chief Executive Officer at New Braunfels Utilities, knows his city is growing, fast. And that with that growth means looking at new ideas to manage resources. “I really struggled with [One Water] because … it was just kind of this out there concept,”...
Gov. Abbott issues emergency proclamation for 53 counties suffering from drought
Gov. Greg Abbott issued an emergency proclamation for exceptional drought conditions posing a threat of imminent disaster in 53 counties. Significantly low rainfall and prolonged dry conditions continue to increase the threat of wildfire throughout the impacted...
Light pollution is key ‘bringer of insect apocalypse’
Light pollution is a significant but overlooked driver of the rapid decline of insect populations, according to the most comprehensive review of the scientific evidence to date. Artificial light at night can affect every aspect of insects’ lives, the researchers said,...
Mysterious creatures: Exploring the depths of our karst aquifers
“These ecosystems harbor some really amazing species,” said Dr. Ben Hutchins at the most recent Texas Water Symposium forum on Wednesday, November 13 at Schreiner University in Kerrville. Referencing the plethora of creatures that reside within Texas’ karst aquifers,...
Former Boy Scout camp will become next Hill Country swimming hole after Tuesday vote
Hays County commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday morning to put up about half the money to buy a portion of the former El Rancho Cima Boy Scout camp along the Blanco River. The Nature Conservancy pledged the other half of the $13 million price tag in a bid to...
NIGHTS OVER TUCSON: How the Tucson, Arizona, LED conversion improved the quality of the night
Can a lighting retrofit in a growing metropolitan city save energy, maintain safety standards, and protect the starry night sky? __ Tucson, Arizona, is a major metropolitan city in the southwest United States. The city has a long-standing commitment to best lighting...
Nirenberg calls for shifting sales tax to VIA Transit, away from Aquifer Protection
San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg joined other local leaders this week in calling for a one-eighth-cent sales tax to be redirected towards funding mass transit – and away from popular water quality protection and trailway programs. Voters would need to approve the new...
Pipeline opponents focus on ESA: Agencies put on notice to comply with law or be sued
Opponents of Kinder Morgan’s routing of its Permian Highway Pipeline (PHP) have put two federal agencies on notice – either comply with existing federal law or face legal action. In one of the latest challenges to the 435-mile, 42-inch natural gas pipeline, which is...
Efforts encouraging Texas ranchers to restore native grasses show promise
There aren’t many pastures with native grasses left in Texas. Instead there are invasive weeds like bermudagrass and Old World bluestem. Some Texas landowners and nonprofits are working together to change that. Restoring native grasslands takes years and is an arduous...
These are the world’s best stargazing spots
FOR MANY CITY people, a clear night sky is a mythical beast. We’ve heard the legends inspired by the constellations and we know sailors used the stars to guide their way home, but urban light pollution means we can’t quite see the heavens ourselves. Enter the...
San Jacinto River turns milky white in Kingwood
The San Jacinto West Fork is white like milk in photos captured by a citizen in a helicopter flying over the Kingwood area Monday. He reported the strange color to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ). An agency spokesman told FOX 26 that TCEQ is...
San Antonio Food Bank partners with hunters to collect deer meat for hungry families
The San Antonio Food Bank is once again participating in the Hunters for the Hungry program, which is managed by Feeding Texas, to help those in need. Through the program, hunters can drop off legally tagged deer to a participating meat processor, and eventually, the...
Dark Skies meeting attracts Medina crowd
Nearly 40 people filled the meeting room at the Medina Community Library on Tuesday, Oct. 29, to be enlightened about a program called Dark Skies which helps combat light pollution from cities and towns. “We had a great turnout at the Medina Dark Skies Night,” said...
Axis deer population control in Texas
Axis Deer Control Warranted Gillespie County AgriLife Extension and Hill Country Alliance have launched the Axis Deer Control Project and are encouraging landowners and hunters to participate. Axis deer are an exotic species that were introduced from India to the...
Hill Country Land Trust to celebrate two decades
The Hill Country Land Trust wants to get the word out about its conservation easement program as development from the east encroaches on area counties. The trust (HCLT) will mark its 20th anniversary with a “Conservation Celebration” on Saturday, Nov. 9 at the...