News
City reaches milestone for cave site restoration
City staff members have completed a draft land management plan to protect the city’s natural resources at the William H. Russell Karst Preserve, the 191-acre Southwest Austin site previously known as the Blowing Sink Research Management Area. The natural features of...
Conservation easements like on Cherry Springs Ranch push back against development
“It’s huge,” said Frank Davis, the Hill Country Conservancy’s chief conservation officer. He’s referring to the recent conservation easement on the 1,038-acre Cherry Springs Ranch in Spicewood. “Spicewood is right in the path of future development, and Cherry Springs...
‘History is being made’: Plans to turn former Boy Scout property into public park along Blanco River in Hays County
WIMBERLEY, Texas — More than 2,000 acres of land with Blanco River waterfront property has been closed off to the public for decades. The Sam Houston Area Council of the Boy Scouts owned the "El Rancho Cima" land for 60 years. But now, thanks to an opportunity...
8th Annual Hill Country Alliance Leadership Summit Celebrates Conservation in the Heart of Texas
(October 7, 2019) —On Thursday, September 26th, conservation leaders from across the Texas Hill Country met at Camp Lucy in Dripping Springs for the Hill Country Alliance’s Annual Leadership Summit. The event theme, Conservation in the Heart of Texas, brought together...
Kyle City Council approves $2.7 million settlement over Kinder Morgan pipeline
KYLE, Texas (KXAN) — In the early hours of Saturday morning, Kyle City Council approved a settlement with Houston-based company Kinder Morgan over the Permian Highway Pipeline. The settlement was approved in a 5 to 2 vote. Under the agreement, Kinder Morgan will pay...
The next megadrought in the American Southwest may be right around the corner
IF THE PLANET CONTINUES TO WARM AT CURRENT RATES, SCIENTISTS PROJECT THE LIKELIHOOD OF A MEGADROUGHT IN THE SOUTHWEST WILL INCREASE TO ABOVE 70 PERCENT. WE’RE SIMPLY NOT PREPARED. “This is absolutely abysmal,” David Gutzler said in March 2018, speaking to an...
Crude oil pipeline averted over Recharge Zone points to lack of State oversight
The now-defunct plan by Houston-based Enterprise Products Company to build a crude oil pipeline from Midland County to Wilson County crossing the Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone was a really bad idea. Enterprise is a midstream natural gas and crude oil pipeline company...
Vote in November to fund our state parks for future generations of Texans
Some of our families' best summer adventures over the years have been at Texas' state parks. And the numbers indicate that you and your family have probably enjoyed our parks and historic sites over the years, too: Nearly 10 million people visited state parks in 2017,...
Precinct 3 office invites residents to public meeting on El Rancho Cima conservation efforts
Hays County Courthouse, San Marcos, TX (Oct. 1, 2019) – The Hays County Precinct 3 Office will host a public meeting Wednesday, October 9, to discuss recent efforts to conserve portions of El Rancho Cima. The meeting will be held at the Wimberley Community Center,...
New snorkel tours offer up-close view of protected San Marcos springs
SAN MARCOS, Texas (KXAN) — The springs that once played host to an underwater theme park are now protected, and the group leading conservation efforts at Spring Lake is offering an up-close view of the area’s ecology. The springs that form Spring Lake, the headwaters...
Houston company halts plans for crude oil pipeline across aquifer recharge zone
Plans to build a controversial proposed crude oil pipeline over the Edwards Aquifer recharge zone have been canceled, Texas Hill Country landowners and a Houston pipeline company told the Rivard Report on Thursday. Rick Rainey, vice president of public relations for...
Grand Canyon is the Dark Sky Place of the Year. Here’s why that’s big
Lots of hard work went into making Grand Canyon an even better place to enjoy the night sky in recent years and that effort has been recognized. Grand Canyon National Park has been named Dark Sky Place of the Year by the International Dark-Sky Association. The park...
Geneva to be plunged into darkness (on purpose) to expose light pollution
Almost 150 municipalities in greater Geneva will hold a planned blackout on Thursday night to raise public awareness of the negative effects of light pollution. Authorities across much of greater Geneva will switch off public lighting on the night of Thursday...
Map shows proposed oil pipeline’s route across Hill Country West of San Antonio
A planned crude oil and condensate pipeline across the Texas Hill Country would cross over the Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone on its route from West Texas to south of San Antonio, according to a map obtained by the Rivard Report. A set of slides from Houston-based...
TxDOT unveils plan to widen Loop 1604
Colleen Waguespack, president of Northside Neighborhoods for Organized Development, is among thousands of Northsiders familiar with the challenges that come with driving Loop 1604. Waguespack and more than 100 others gathered at Resurrection Baptist Church on Redland...
One Water in action: Travis County Courthouse
This summer, Travis County broke ground on the new Civil and Family Court Building. The 435,000 square foot facility is located at 1700 Guadalupe Street and sits on 1.46-acres. It is located in the northern part of downtown which is rapidly being re-developed. Travis...
Houston company proposes crude oil pipeline across Edwards Aquifer
A Houston pipeline company is planning to build a new crude oil pipeline across the Hill Country that would almost certainly pass over the recharge zone of the Edwards Aquifer, the main drinking water supply for the San Antonio region. Landowners in Bandera County...
Voters should confirm groundwater district in November
I’ve been saying for a long time that we need a groundwater conservation district in western Travis County, and now we can confirm our very own this November. Southwestern Travis County Groundwater Conservation District covers 200 square miles of southwest Travis...
Ensuring One Water delivers for healthy waterways
Texas Living Waters is an active advocate for the One Water approach because it offers tremendous opportunities for improving how water is managed. Even so, we are concerned that the available One Water implementation frameworks are not providing adequate guidance or...
Reflections on Texas, the outdoors and 40 years of writing and photography
Shannon Tompkins, who retires as September arrives and hunting seasons begin, has covered outdoor recreation and natural resources issues for four decades. September’s arrival marks a time of transition for Texas’ natural world and those whose hearts and actions are...
A world rocked: Communities clamor for regulation as Texas mining industry explodes
Kevin Baum gazes out from his second-floor porch across his 12-acre slice of Texas Hill Country heaven. On a cloudy day, he points past live oak trees and a kaleidoscope of wildflowers to Horseshoe Bay 20 miles to the south. When it’s clear, he says, he sees 30 miles...
Splash Into Science Snorkel Program launches at Spring Lake
Spring Lake is renowned for being one of the most biologically diverse aquatic ecosystems in the country. While many visitors view Spring Lake’s artesian springs and teeming aquatic life on a glass-bottom boat, one can now get a closer look by enrolling in a new...
Kyle amends pipeline-related ordinance, files motion to dismiss Kinder Morgan’s lawsuit
Lawyers for the city of Kyle filed a motion Sept. 11 to dismiss Kinder Morgan’s lawsuit against the city, based in part on the City Council’s adoption, two days earlier, of an amended version of the pipeline development ordinance on which the suit was based. “Because...
San Marcos City Council passes resolution for support of Emerald Crown Trail
The San Marcos City Council voted 7-0 to pass a resolution for support of the Emerald Crown Regional Trail Proposal on Tuesday. The Emerald Crown Trail is a proposed regional trail system that aims to connect Hays County cities and ultimately cities to the North and...
Texas environmental commission denies waste permit after residents rally against new facility
Colorado County officials on Wednesday won the latest round of a five-year fight to prevent a waste processing near the Colorado River that they say would contaminate ground and surface water for thousands of rural Texans. During a Texas Commission on Environmental...
Building a water-resilient future for all Texans
After heavy rains last winter and early this summer, Texas is seeing a rapid return to hot, bone-dry conditions. While we watch our lawns brown and wait for the rains to return, the age-old question echoes again, “Does fast-growing Texas, which is adding 1,000 new...
Austin’s eels born in the Sargasso Sea, surmount Longhorn Dam
You’ve heard of the endemic salamanders that live in Barton Springs, but did you know that Austin is also home to nocturnal eels? Swimmers who frequent the springs by moonlight sometimes catch a glimpse of sinuous yellow eels moving slowly through strands of algae and...
The credible case for One Water
The state of Texas is a behemoth. At some 268,820 square miles — from the Piney Woods of East Texas, the Texas Hill Country and the Texas Panhandle to the desert mountains of West Texas and the Texas Gulf Coast — the Lone Star State encompasses disparate climate...
‘Endless source of water’: Texas man plans to take machine to Bahamas to aid recovery
Families in Flint, Mich., still dealing with lead in their pipes have a continuous source of clean, free water thanks to a Texas man who developed a machine to pull water from the air. Now, Moses West wants to take that machine to the Bahamas to aid in recovery after...
Deal keeps four lakes intact for now
The Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority won’t drain its four remaining lakes on the Guadalupe River, but all recreation on the water will soon be banned, at least temporarily. Those are the major terms of a legal settlement approved Monday by a judge and announced in a...