News
Quarry hearing scheduled for Wednesday
Property owners and other stakeholders trying to keep Vulcan Construction Materials from developing a 1,500-acre open-pit limestone quarry at FM 3009 and SH-46 are expected to pack Comal County Commissioners Courtroom 9 a.m. Wednesday for a preliminary administrative...
GOP senator, oil industry clash over proposed eminent domain reforms
At a public hearing on Monday, state Sen. Lois Kolkhorst — who has long tried to strengthen protections for landowners facing condemnation — challenged officials from fossil fuel groups who said her latest legislation would drag down energy production. For years now,...
TCEQ OKs Dripping Springs discharge permit
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality issued a wastewater discharge permit to Dripping Springs on Wednesday, giving the city authority to expand its existing wastewater plant and discharge up to 822,500 gallons of effluent per day into Onion Creek. However,...
Hays County Commissioners Court unanimously votes to oppose Permian Highway Pipeline
Kinder Morgan is moving full-speed ahead with its plan to route a 430-mile, 42-inch natural gas pipeline through the center of Hays County—but local governments are making their opposition to the project known. Hays County Commissioners Court voted unanimously at its...
Conservation easement program preserves ranches for local water quality and nature benefits
Gary Puryear said he did not know much about nature conservation when he inherited his father’s 423-acre ranch near Hamilton Pool Road in Western Travis County. Members of his family had owned and lived on the working ranch since 1880, and Puryear said the emotion of...
Tempers flare at pipeline meetings
At two meetings last week about the proposed Kinder Morgan 42-inch natural gas pipeline project, landowners expressed displeasure with the routing of the giant project through land that, in some cases, stretches back generations. A landowner meeting was held Tuesday,...
Defenders: Thousands of Texas wastewater treatment plants dump into waterways
AUSTIN, Texas — As part of Boomtown 2040 we are looking into growth and the impact it has on the places we call home. One of the biggest concerns about our area's growth is water. The KVUE Defenders discovered a growing number of cities are dumping treated wastewater...
Senate passes a sweeping land conservation bill
The Senate on Tuesday passed a sweeping public lands conservation bill, designating more than one million acres of wilderness for environmental protection and permanently reauthorizing a federal program to pay for conservation measures. The Senate voted 92 to 8 in...
Wimberley group fighting to keep pipeline out of Hill Country
The Wimberley Valley Watershed Association is currently working to oppose and reroute the Permian Highway Gas & Oil Pipeline OUT of the Texas Hill Country and away from the Edwards and Trinity Aquifers. WVWA will be hosting a fundraiser event and kick off for...
Dripping Springs City Council approves resolution to support Hill Country Scenic Highways Bill
One week after Hays County Commissions voted to support House Bill 1303, Dripping Springs City Council on Feb. 19 followed suit, passing a resolution of support of their own. House Bill 1303 would restrict the presence of billboards along certain roads in Hays County....
Young advocates set their eyes on tackling light pollution
Earlier this month, the International Dark-Sky Association was contacted by a group of students from Bioscience High School in Phoenix, Arizona. The group, Helping Achieve a Renewable Planet (H.A.R.P.), has been researching the subject of light pollution and is now...
SAWS bills could rise less than planned for Vista Ridge due to developer fees
San Antonio Water System officials say they are planning on seeking a lower rate increase in 2020 than the nearly 10 percent originally approved by City Council to pay for the Vista Ridge pipeline project, though they have not said how much lower. Gavino Ramos, SAWS’...
‘Impressive’ wildflower season forecasted after rainy fall and winter
Don’t mind the cold. Spring has sprung in Texas, with wildflower season getting an early pop this year following months of wet and dreary weather. The above average rainfall Texas got in the fall and winter months, coupled with unseasonably warm temperatures, will...
Judge rules Golden-cheeked Warbler should stay on endangered species list
A bright-faced songbird of the Texas Hill Country still faces enough threat from population growth and land development in the San Antonio-Austin region to need shelter under the Endangered Species Act, a federal judge in Austin has ruled. Senior U.S. District Judge...
Texas Land Trends report shows value of conservation easements to ag, water, wildlife
The Texas Land Trends project of Texas A&M’s Natural Resources Institute, or NRI, has published a special series report describing Texas landowner participation in land conservation easements and their value to agricultural production, water and wildlife. About 83...
Group wants relief route answers
Gillespie County Commissioners received a presentation from the Citizens for an Informed Relief Route during their Monday meeting. The group, formed two weeks ago, consists of around 200 locals who want answers about the proposed relief route. Gary Saucier, group...
Texas is growing fast. We need to protect our water.
Texas is one of the fastest growing states in the country. But a downside of this growth is that, coupled with extreme weather events, such as droughts and floods, many of our existing water resources are becoming overburdened. If trends continue, our water supply...
Could Kinder Morgan’s ‘Permian Highway’ scar the Hill Country?
The golden-cheeked warbler — a compact, yellow-headed songbird that migrates from Mexico to Central Texas each March — is in trouble. The endangered species, which nests nowhere else but the cedar breaks of the Texas Hill Country and surrounding areas, has in recent...
25 states took additional steps to fight chronic wasting disease in the past year
It’s up to hunters to comply with new regulations on moving deer carcasses and using mineral lures—but it’s worth it to stop the spread of CWD The Boone & Crockett Club, North America’s oldest wildlife and habitat conservation organization founded by Theodore...
Cibolo Nature Center & Farm founder receives conservation award
Boerne, TX - Carolyn Chipman Evans, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the Cibolo Nature Center & Farm (CNC&F) in Boerne, is a recipient of the 2019 Texas Women in Conservation Terry Hershey Award presented by Audubon Texas. Evans will receive the award at...
Water emerges as ‘the new oil’ in $32.5 million sale of vast Permian Basin ranch
Toby Darden stomped on the ATV's gas pedal, carving through blustery winds to reach the far northern corner of his 37,000-acre West Texas ranch. He wanted to show off the crown jewel. This wasn't the spectacular views of the Davis Mountains or the herds of aoudad rams...
Public meetings on eminent domain a good start
AUSTIN — There is an information vacuum when it comes to private companies using eminent domain in Texas. Even though eminent domain is a governmental power that is supposed to be used only for the public good, private entities who use eminent domain have very few...
Bill would bar new billboards from some Hays County roads
Legislation filed in the Texas House would prohibit new billboards along segments of three Hays County highways. Local elected officials say billboards disrupt the scenic Hill Country views that attract tourists and homeowners alike in the fast-growing region. The...
Confluence Park Awarded Country’s Highest Architectural Honor
The American Institute of Architects (AIA) has recognized Confluence Park with a "2019 Institute Honor Award for Architecture"! The award is one of the highest honors in the architecture profession, celebrating the best contemporary architecture which highlights the...
State parks a boon to Texas economy according to new report
Parks generated nearly $900 million in sales in 2018 AUSTIN — The Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation today released a new report about the strong and growing economic role state parks have on the Texas economy. The research showed the parks generated more than $891...
Flows of the Llano still strong
The Llano River continues to flow strongly past the gage in Llano; the latest reading is 442 cfs, well above the median flow of 157 cfs. Over the three months since last fall’s rains, the Llano has flowed at a 3-month average of 4,111 cfs, greater than the...
State lawmakers aim to lock in funding for Texas parks, historic sites
For nearly a decade, the Texas parks department has hoped to turn a 4,400-acre swath of pristine forest in North Texas into what some hope could be the "metroplex's playground." About 80 miles west of downtown Fort Worth, the already-named Palo Pinto Mountains State...
Devils River SNA designated as first International Dark Sky Sanctuary in Texas, sixth in world
DEL RIO-- Devils River State Natural Area has been designated an International Dark Sky Sanctuary by the International Dark-Sky Association (IDA), making it the only Dark Sky Sanctuary in Texas. As the sixth International Dark Sky Sanctuary to receive the title,...
Trinity Glen Rose District studies impacts of new pumping from the Trinity aquifer
Over the past year, the Trinity Glen Rose District (TGR) has been working with a groundwater modeling consultant to take a look at how some projected new pumping from the Trinity Aquifer, exempt from TGR regulations, might impact the water source over time. The...
Central Texas pipeline reignites fight over land rights
A fight over a pipeline is never only about the pipeline. It’s about the environment, property rights, public safety and a community’s sense of itself. Just such a fight is now brewing in the Texas Hill Country, where company Kinder Morgan plans to lay a part of its...