News
UPDATE: Georgetown evacuations continue for third week after natural gas leak
The evacuation of 64 businesses and 57 homes in Georgetown due to the results of an initial natural gas leak continued Monday, according to a news release from Atmos Energy. The company would not say when it planned to lift the evacuation order, which started Feb. 20....
Texas Stream Team honored by Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
The Texas Stream Team, part of The Meadows Center for Water and the Environment at Texas State University, received a Texas Environmental Excellence Award from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Governor Greg Abbott and TCEQ commissioners selected 10...
New report by the Texas Land Trust Council highlights over $1 billion in annual economic benefits of conserved lands to flood mitigation, agriculture, water resources
The new study, produced by Siglo Group in partnership with the Texas Land Trust Council, quantifies the value of lands and conservation easements that have been conserved by or with assistance from the Texas land trust community. Values for benefits provided by...
Going dark to reconnect to the night sky
For those who missed it, Feb. 19 brought a super snow moon, the biggest and brightest supermoon of the year. Social media and national news sites lit up with spectacular photos of the event, with an unusually large full moon rising above the horizon. Although...
How a Central Texas community is preparing for wildfires before an emergency happens
Last month, the Lubbock Avalanche Journal reported that though wildfire season typically begins in March, West Texas is seeing wildfires even earlier in the year. As a result, lots of communities have a plan of action for wildfires. But how many Texas communities...
Final draft of Austin Strategic Mobility Plan passes Environmental Commission
Following a presentation on the Austin Strategic Mobility Plan at the March 6 meeting of the Environmental Commission by Annick Beaudet, the assistant director of Austin Transportation, commissioners began asking about some of the environmental aspects of the plan....
Landowners work to “heal” Sandy Creek after flood
An effort to restore Sandy Creek has taken root in Llano County. About 25 landowners, conservationists and other volunteers attended the Sandy Creek Riparian Restoration Field Day March 2 on private property (County Road 316) adjacent to Sandy Creek to assess land and...
San Marcos joins growing list of local governments opposed to Kinder Morgan’s Permian Highway Pipeline
The list of local governmental bodies that have passed resolutions opposing Kinder Morgan’s Permian Highway Pipeline just got longer. San Marcos City Council unanimously voted on March 5 to oppose the 430-mile, 42-inch natural gas pipeline set to be routed through the...
SOAH Judge Rules in Favor of Quarry Opponents
An extremely vocal coalition of area ranchers, business people, ex-military personnel and retired professionals convinced Administrative Law Judge Rebecca Smith to grant them “affected-party” status at a March 6 hearing to determine who has the right to challenge a...
Commentary: We must act now to save our state parks
More than 30 million visitors have taken in the majesty of the Crown Jewels at the Tower of London. Last year alone, more than 10 million visited the Louvre in Paris with such masterpieces as the Mona Lisa. Imagine for a moment the absurdity of locking these treasures...
Why native plants matter
Restoring native plant habitat is vital to preserving biodiversity. By creating a native plant garden, each patch of habitat becomes part of a collective effort to nurture and sustain the living landscape for birds and other animals. Over the past century,...
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...