News
Volunteers: The tip of the spear
Dear Hill Country Neighbors, I’ve gained a deeper appreciation for our Hill Country community after joining the Hill Country Alliance (HCA) family as a volunteer member of the Night Sky team. During my time volunteering with the night skies team, I educated various...
Apache donates $257,000 to McDonald Observatory
Apache Corp. gifted $257,000 to the University of Texas’ McDonald Observatory to help with the prevention of light pollution in dark West Texas skies – which are often used for research. The funds will hire additional staff to create resources for the dark skies...
Sedimentation surveys on the Highland Lakes a look into the future of water resources
Nathan Leber is all about finding the dirt on Lake Buchanan and other Texas reservoirs, or, more precisely, the dirt at the bottom. Leber, manager of the TexMesoNet and Hydrosurvey programs for the Texas Water Development Board, is in charge of a crew that’s currently...
Kinder Morgan sues Austin suburb over anti-pipeline ordinance
Houston pipeline operator Kinder Morgan has sued an Austin suburb over the passage of an ordinance that the company alleges aims to keep a proposed natural gas pipeline out of town, disrupting a project already registered with state regulators. In a 22-page lawsuit...
Plans for treatment plant raise worries about impact on San Marcos River
Huddled into a small 1930s-era high school auditorium, dozens of people this week declared their opposition to letting a yet-to-be-built residential development dump treated wastewater into Dickerson Creek, a tributary of the San Marcos River and a typically dry...
Rep. Zwiener’s HB 4158, ‘Hill Country Night Sky Tourism Bill,’ becomes law
Dark Sky cities in the Texas Hill Country can now use their hotel occupancy tax dollars to protect the night sky. Representative Erin Zwiener’s (D-Driftwood) HB 4158 is now law and effective immediately. HB 4158, the Hill Country Night Sky Tourism bill, gives small...
Texas could gain millions in federal funding to help at-risk fish and wildlife
Texas could receive more than $50 million annually to pay for initiatives that support at-risk fish and wildlife populations under a bipartisan bill introduced in Congress. Known as the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act (RAWA), House Resolution 3742 would provide $1.3...
Why we are losing the night sky
It never gets dark anymore. Not REALLY dark, anyway. Not like it used to. Light pollution is not only making it more difficult to see the night sky, but it's also affecting our health. For the past century and a half, since the dawn of electric light, we’ve been...
Letter to the Editor: Get started now to save green space for the future
by Richard Bigelow, New Braunfels ETJ Resident Letter to the Editor of the New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung July 14, 2019 Citizens of New Braunfels and Comal County, help save our area’s natural beauty! I began looking for a place to move in 2007 and the beauty, parks,...
Op-ed: Much info about pipeline was not mentioned
By David Baker, Executive Director of the Wimberley Valley Watershed Association Op-ed for the San Antonio Express-News July 15, 2019 It’s more than ironic that Allen Fore, Kinder Morgan’s vice president of public affairs, began a recent op-ed (“Pipeline safest way to...
New Wimberley school aims to take water conservation to the next level
From Texas Standard: Wimberley Independent School District in Central Texas is moving forward with the construction of a new environmentally friendly school. The project focuses on the conservation of water. According to the U.S. Drought Monitor map released...
Craft conservation: The new effort to save Texas water sources through beer
If you have a favorite brewery, you also have a favorite watershed. A new effort from conservation groups and local breweries aims to connect those two ideas, that good craft beer must start with good, clean water. “That water flows through, and it picks up minerals...
During a solar eclipse, what are plants doing?
As the total solar eclipse crosses South America on Tuesday, it won’t just be people oohing and ahhing as the sun is blotted out. Other living things will have their own responses, too — some of which we are just beginning to understand. As some scientists used the...
Dry Comal Creek Greenway public session set July 10
The city of New Braunfels and the National Park Service are hosting the final community meeting associated with revisions to the Dry Comal Creek Greenway Master Plan from 6-8 p.m. Wednesday, July 10 at Columbus Club, 111 Landa Street in New Braunfels. All property...
SAWS Board reviews metrics, gives CEO 5% raise, $100,000 bonus
After hearing from outside consultants, the San Antonio Water System’s board approved a raise and $100,000 bonus for the water and sewer utility’s top official. At its July meeting on Tuesday, the SAWS board of trustees approved a 5 percent pay increase for President...
A year later, the Trans-Pecos Pipeline still isn’t reaching Mexico
The hotly-contested Trans-Pecos Pipeline went into service in West Texas one year ago this month, amid protest from local opponents over private property disputes and environmental impacts. The aim of the Mexican-backed project was to export natural gas from the...
Proposed pipeline would cut through Golden-cheeked Warbler habitat
Every March, birders spill into the canyonlands outside of Austin, Texas, to search for Golden-cheeked Warblers. The tiny black-and-white songbird, with vibrant yellow splashed across its face, is the state’s sole endemic bird, and a federally protected species with...
Water recycling system at new elementary school will cut use by 90%
The newest elementary school in Wimberley will be the most water-efficient school in the state, conservation groups and planners hope. The school, funded through 2018 bond money, will gather rainwater and air conditioning condensate to flush toilets; that wastewater...
Letter to the Editor, Time to get past denial and start finding solutions
by Eva Silverfine Ott, Comal County Resident Letter to the Editor of the New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung June 27, 2019 I want to applaud Chris Lykins for his editorial, “The Climate Change Conspiracy” (Herald-Zeitung, 6-16-19). The effects of greenhouse gases (82% of...
Letter to the Editor, Face the challenge of growth
By Jeri Porter, Fischer, TX Letter to the Editor of the New Braunfels Herald-Zietung June 27, 2019 Comal County is at a crossroads. We have options in the directions to take and your readers can help! The changes we see today in our landscape and wildlife are...
Ground water pumping is bleeding US’s rivers dry
New research led by a hydrologist at the University of Arizona warns that massive groundwater pumping since the 1950s is bleeding rivers dry. The findings can help shape policy for the proper management of U.S. water resources, the authors say, and should be of...
Kinder Morgan wins Texas court challenge, removing obstacle to $2 billion gas pipeline
Kinder Morgan can begin work on a $2 billion natural gas pipeline without having the Texas energy regulator approve its proposed route, a state judge ruled on Tuesday. The decision removes a challenge to the state’s licensing process that lets gas pipeline companies...
Texas parks are broke. But there’s good news: voters can rescue them.
Money intended for state parks and historic sites should actually be spent on state parks and historic sites, right? It took lawmakers a little more than a quarter century to reach that conclusion. Since 1993, sales tax collected from the purchase of sporting goods...
Commentary: Why you should care about groundwater pumping in Hays County
Barton Springs, the Austin’s beloved spring-fed swimming pool, is the crown jewel of the city – the soul of this soulful town. Almost a million people cooled off in the springs in 2018, and more than a million swimmers are expected to return in 2019....In recent...
June Director’s Notes: Hill Country Conservation gets a national spotlight
In this month’s notes, we wanted to highlight how HCA and our partners have been working to elevate the profile of conservation in the Hill Country to a national level. Partnering with individual landowners, city and county governments, academic institutions and...
Wiring The Hill Country: new internet providers take on rural areas
David McCullough’s phone rang. It was Home Town Donuts in Johnson City, and their internet service was down. He raced through his house to find his laptop, which would allow him to diagnose the issue, but not before cracking four metatarsal bones in his foot. He...
Dripping Springs neighbors petition to ‘Save Hamilton Pool’ from RV park development
A petition circulating online is calling for an end to a proposal to put an RV park near The Hamilton Pool Preserve. "Our kids have grown up here. Our daughter had birthday parties down at Hamilton pool," said Stagecoach Ranch resident Bob Adkins. People who live...
Scientists have big hopes for Uvalde pool study
Ron Green, a scientist at Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, and his team of hydro-geologists are busy collecting data on and creating a lumped parameter model for the Uvalde Pool, a major reservoir of underground water centered over central Uvalde County...
Community aims to fight east side gentrification with affordable housing
As San Antonio’s real estate boom continues, finding affordable housing can be a challenge, especially in neighborhoods on the east side where entire streets are becoming gentrified. Old neighborhoods near popular downtown are seeing new residents moving in and...
Fredericksburg Historic District expansion
The local historic district has been expanded following a 3-1 vote by the Fredericksburg City Council Monday night. Mayor Linda Langerhans and councilmen Charlie Kiehne and Gary Neffendorf voted in favor, while councilman Tom Musselman voted against the ordinance....