News
What’s porous paving? All new lots in New Orleans must have in city’s fight with water woes
New Orleans is a city often inundated by water and, just as often, a city frustrated in its attempts to deal with it. Now, joining a movement that supporters say will help mitigate flooding and soil subsidence, the City Council has decided that all new commercial...
State-funded studies help federal agency remove two mussels from endangered species candidate list
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) has determined that two Texas mussels can be removed from the list of candidate species under the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA). The determinations were based mainly on research funded by the Texas Comptroller’s office...
Moonlight helps white barn owls stun their prey
Barn owls are skilled nocturnal hunters, swooping across open landscapes to scout out small rodents that scurry below. But scientists have long been puzzled by a trait that seems like it would work against the birds during their nighttime prowls. Some barn owls boast...
In latest development, SOAH disagrees with citizen groups on proposed Vulcan Quarry
External Article - Press Release from Stop 3009 Vulcan Quarry State Office of Administrative Hearings administrative law judges Rebecca Smith and Victor Simonds rendered a long-awaited decision Tuesday morning in the contested case hearing against Vulcan Construction...
Underground lakes part of major new discoveries at Natural Bridge Caverns
A 19-hour trip deep into the caves at Natural Bridge Caverns in July led to some major new discoveries, including underground lakes and massive rooms. Brad Wuest and Travis Wuest, who own and operate Natural Bridge Caverns, were joined by Bill Steele on their journey...
San Marcos River Foundation names new executive director
The San Marcos River Foundation announced its new executive director on Friday. Virginia Parker Condie was selected by the SMRF’s Board of Directors. The SMRF says Condie will provide the foundation with a wide range of experience and a deep passion for the San Marcos...
This land is your land: Local property owners in eminent domain battle
Few people know much about the issue of eminent domain when it comes to underground pipelines being laid out across the state of Texas. Even fewer people are fighting it. Several Erath County landowners say they are willing to defend their property right, and are...
Citizens continue to fight Comal County quarry, push for statewide reforms
External Article - By Stop 3009 Vulcan Quarry In the fall of 2018, hundreds of citizens and groups in Comal County continued the fight against Vulcan Construction Materials’ proposed 1500-acre limestone quarry, located over the Edwards Aquifer between New Braunfels...
The butterfly effect: Native milkweed can save monarchs – if you know how to grow it
Barbara Keller-Willy remembers her reaction when fellow Texas gardeners told her that native milkweed, a plant essential for the survival of the monarch butterfly, was nearly impossible to grow: How hard could it be? It was 2009, and Keller-Willy had just quit her job...
Watering limits loom as aquifer drops amid heat
So far, the San Antonio area has escaped outdoor watering restrictions this summer, but that could change next month. In the past several weeks, the Edwards Aquifer has dropped sharply and is approaching the level that triggers the first stage of cutbacks. July and...
New tools for flood preparedness available for Medina River near Bandera, Texas
New tools for flood preparedness are now available for the Medina River near Bandera, Texas, from the U.S. Geological Survey, the Bandera County River Authority and Groundwater District, and the Texas Water Development Board. Resources include two new USGS real-time...
Wimberley residents want to buy Mount Edith to protect it from developers
Hill Country residents are worried developers will scar the area’s scenic hill tops, and one town has decided to do something about it. Mostly pickups, SUVS and bikers drive down the scenic main drag of the little town of Wimberley, about an hour’s drive from San...
Creatures of the deep karst
Groundwater—the water that is stored beneath the Earth’s surface in soil and rock—makes up more than 95 percent of the Earth’s liquid fresh water. The subsurface aquatic realm is also the world’s largest freshwater habitat. Although organisms that live only in...
The public should have a say before anyone cuts a pipeline through the Texas Hill Country
A few weeks ago, construction on the Mopac Expressway near Slaughter Lane in Austin came to an abrupt halt when the workers encountered a larger than normal karst feature. Karst features are essentially holes in the limestone underneath our feet that channel water...
Baby Boomers are leaving behind a trail of luxury ranches
Decades ago, a generation of America’s wealthiest, raised on television shows like “Howdy Doody” and “The Lone Ranger,” headed west with dreams of owning some of the country’s most prestigious ranches. Now, as those John Wayne- loving baby boomers age out of the...
Water wars pit rural and urban Texas against each other
You know you’re getting close to Harrold Witcher’s place when you pass the water tower in Carson, a community of 22 people in northeast Texas just south of the Oklahoma border. A mere 20 minutes from the Red River, this is a part of the state that’s predicated on...
Here’s how America uses its land
There are many statistical measures that show how productive the U.S. is. Its economy is the largest in the world and grew at a rate of 4.1 percent last quarter, its fastest pace since 2014. The unemployment rate is near the lowest mark in a half century. What can be...
IN DEPTH: Hays County, Travis Audubon demand full, public environmental review in legal challenge to Permian Highway Pipeline
Local opponents of the Permian Highway pipeline have taken a second major legal action to try to push the company developing the project into conducting a full and public environmental review. Hays County, Travis Audubon Society and several private plaintiffs filed a...
It’s not too early to plan for the Great American total solar eclipse of 2024
Wednesday (Aug. 21) marked the two-year anniversary of the Great American Solar Eclipse, and if you are eager to view the next celestial sensation to cross the North American skies, get ready for another eclipse treat on April 8, 2024. According to a study led by...
RV park planned near Hamilton Pool worries some Austin-area neighbors
Just outside of Austin, where the Pedernales River winds lazily through the Hill Country before pouring into the Colorado, a series of parks and preserves showcase and protect large swaths of rugged Texas wilderness. The Westcave Outdoor Discovery Center harbors a...
New Texas nonprofit offers novel approach for preserving coastal lands, combating global warming
Herff Cornelius and his family have ranched in the Texas Gulf Coast for five generations, four in Matagorda County, but he is struggling to keep the tradition going. Growing up, he was one of nine siblings. Even though he was the only boy, his sisters did as much on...
Hill Country Commission awards more landowners major damages in pipeline case
A court-appointed panel has awarded a total of more than $3 million to four landowners caught up in condemnation proceedings with Kinder Morgan over the proposed Permian Highway Pipeline. The awards, the largest of which was $1.3 million, paint a stark contrast to...
A challenge awaits all of us
Ernie Wittwer is a resident of New Braunfels. He is a volunteer for the Comal County Conservation Alliance (CCCA), believing that the wonderful natural features of the area should be preserved. He is retired after a career in public service. Those of us who live in...
Meeting on proposed wastewater plant set
A public meeting has been scheduled for Aug. 26 in Bandera on an application for a wastewater treatment permit for a Christian youth camp planned near Tarpley that has generated enough protests from area property owners and concerned citizens to get the proposed...
Hill Country caves reveal secrets to the biology of cave-dwelling animals
Along U.S. Highway 281 headed north to the Comal County line, drivers can see shopping centers and housing developments that look indistinguishable from suburbia elsewhere in the country. But hundreds of feet below the highway, inside the Edwards Aquifer and some...
After negotiations, energy companies opt against placing wind farms in Val Verde County
VAL VERDE COUNTY, Texas - In the wide-open spaces of Val Verde County lies the Devils River, one of the last pristine, wild rivers in Texas. Recently, it was at the center of a monthslong negotiation. "Absolutely. It's a major win for us and for future generations of...
Officials advise keeping pets out of Lady Bird Lake
Additional testing has revealed increasing levels of neurotoxins in algae at a greater number of locations. Samples were taken on Monday, August 12, 2019, at Auditorium Shores, at Red Bud Isle and at Barton Creek. Samples at Barton Creek were taken just below the...
Guadalupe lakes to be emptied
The Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority will drain its four remaining lakes on the Guadalupe next month, citing the imminent public danger posed by the decrepit condition of spill gates in its 90-year-old dams. The lakes will be dewatered one by one beginning Sept. 16....
Kinder Morgan ordered to pay another $2.7 million in Hill Country pipeline dispute
Houston pipeline operator Kinder Morgan has been ordered to pay another $2.7 million in a widening eminent domain dispute out in the Texas Hill Country. A three-member panel of the Blanco County Special Commissioners ordered Kinder Morgan to pay three landowners more...
CCCA is bringing nature and wellness to NB
Those struggling with anxiety, depression or feeling down have an opportunity to get a dose of self care thanks to nature. The Comal County Conservation Alliance (CCCA) is presenting a community program “Health & Nature How Nature Cures” on Aug. 13, from 6 to 8...