News
August Director’s Notes: Introducing the Newest HCA Family Member!
Hill Country Neighbors, It’s easy to see why the Hill Country is one of the fastest growing regions in the Lone Star state. With the combination of friendly neighbors, family values and idyllic scenery - it provides a wonderful place to raise a family. And, raising...
Recovering America’s Wildlife Act Offers Exceptional Opportunity to Help Wildlife, Business, and Texans in the Hill Country
With fish and wildlife populations under decline throughout the country, Hill Country Texans are hailing a new opportunity to reverse this trend. The Recovering America’s Wildlife Act, H.R. 4647 in the U.S. House of Representatives, would provide $1.3 billion...
Hill Country land comes back to life at Spicewood Ranch
Spicewood Ranch has evolved from a cattle ranch into a laboratory for management of native plants and habitat. Chris Harte acts like a proud papa as he points out a grove of tiny green, white and red flags sprouting alongside a gravel road cutting through his Hill...
SwRI, UTSA researchers map Edwards Aquifer with innovative new tracers
August 7, 2018 — Researchers from Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) and The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) are using unique DNA-based tracers to characterize the recharge and flow patterns in the Edwards Aquifer. The work, led by Dr. Ronald Green of...
$76 million resort coming to Fredericksburg
Fredericksburg is already a hot spot for visitors — and developers and city tourism officials say a planned $76 million hotel project will help take the Hill Country city to the next level. Construction is scheduled to start on the Seven Hills Resort and Conference...
Pape: State ‘betrays’ Bastrop County by allowing Cedar Creek waste site
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has approved a permit for a waste transfer station proposed in Cedar Creek despite strong opposition from residents, the Capital Area Council of Governments and Bastrop County and state officials. “We have been betrayed by...
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...
‘Orphan’ oil, gas wells are problem
So-called “orphan” oil and gas wells, which have been abandoned by defunct companies that cannot pay to plug them, are a growing problem in many states thanks to a recent slump in energy prices that has forced marginal operators out of business. Nobody knows how many...
How gas flare-offs could bring water
One of the biggest freshwater reservoirs in the worlds is, literally, up in the air. Between 6 and 18 million gallons of freshwater hover above every square mile of land, not counting droplets trapped in clouds. Scientists realized this centuries ago but they have...
In Wimberley, a fight bubbles up over sewage and a beloved swimming hole
In November 2012, more than 100,000 gallons of sewage spilled into Plum Creek near Kyle. The partially treated sewage was managed by a private company, Aqua Texas. Now, about 18 miles away in Wimberley, a newly elected city council is considering hiring the same...
Hill Country Bat Cave Closure Raises Questions of Pesticide Safety
A State investigation is underway at a bat cave near Mason, Texas, after the spraying of pesticides by the neighboring exotic game ranch wafted onto the nature preserve, threatening harm to visitors and the 1.6 million Mexican free-tailed bats that visit there each...
It’s official: CodeNext is dead
With a unanimous vote Thursday, the Austin City Council killed off the ambitious rewrite of Austin’s land-development code known as CodeNext. The controversial project’s demise came with minimal debate as several of council members laid the blame for its failure on a...
Three Additional Ranches Conserved with Travis County Bonds
Diverse Partners Protect Hamilton Pool Road Corridor (Dripping Springs, TX) – On Monday, July 30th, Travis County and the Puryear family celebrated the closing of a real estate deal on their 423-acre historic ranch. Unlike most real estate deals, however, this one...
NBU examines the future of water in New Braunfels, releases 20-year plan
In late May, New Braunfels Utilities approved a strategic water resources plan that will help guide accommodations for the next 20 years. “So we looked at supply and we projected demand,” NBU Chief Executive Officer Ian Taylor said. The plan, which will be updated...
In Business and Conservation, George C. ‘Tim’ Hixon Was a Force of Nature
Hikers visiting the preserved dinosaur tracks or mysterious German ranch house at Government Canyon State Natural Area might never have seen these sights had it not been for San Antonio businessman George C. “Tim” Hixon. Hixon, who reached international heights in the...
Lawmakers, Lobbyists and the Administration Join Forces to Overhaul the Endangered Species Act
The Endangered Species Act, which for 45 years has safeguarded fragile wildlife while blocking ranching, logging and oil drilling on protected habitats, is coming under attack from lawmakers, the White House and industry on a scale not seen in decades, driven partly...
Artificial light is killing our view of the night sky. But we can change that.
Through much of human history, our ancestors looked up at a night sky filled with stars that set planting patterns and helped lead them across continents. We've since filled that night sky with artificial light, brightening our immediate surroundings and dimming the...
Report: Sludge dumped into river by wastewater plant caused algae
Test results show that an unauthorized dumping of sludge by a city-operated wastewater treatment plant in Liberty Hill was to blame for the algae that blanketed the South San Gabriel River in Georgetown this spring. The excessive algae marred the appearance of the...
Central Texas archaeologists find ancient artifacts dating back 20,000 years
Archaeologists at Texas State University say there have been people living in Central Texas for tens of thousands of years. In fact, they believe they may have discovered the oldest civilization in North America, right here at home. "We can't just say people were here...
Artificial Light at Night May be Contributing to “Ecological Armageddon”
In 2017, drastic declines of insects were reported by a team of scientists in Germany. The research indicated that the biomass of flying insects decreased more than 75% over the 27-year study period. In a new study published in the Annals of Applied Biology,...
Opposition to sand crusher grows
As the news of a planned sand dredging and crushing operation along Sandy Creek has spread, controversy about this commercial project has grown. Property owners upstream and downstream from the proposed site on the Nash Ranch are voicing environmental, lifestyle and...
Well’s gone dry: aquifers taking a hit during the drought
“It’s not out of the ordinary to have wells drop in a severe drought like this, when there is a really terrific shortage of groundwater,” said John Fisher, a Bell County commissioner, who lives in southern Bell County near the Williamson County line. As of July 10,...
Hoping to raise water awareness, state returns to a famous ad man
An Austin advertising legend who once helped sell “Don’t mess with Texas” is now working with state officials on a sequel: a campaign to get Texans to cherish water, from their lakes to their sinks. Roy Spence, one of the founders of ad giant GSD&M, is partnering...
From the Banks of Sandy Creek
It's called Sandy Creek for a reason. It's fairly long and, coming up to its mouth, pretty wide, and like many Hill Country creeks, when it's not flooding, it usually has a little bit of water and quite a bit of sand. It's pretty, though, largely unspoiled as it runs...
Hays County resolution requests hearing over permit to pump water from Middle Trinity Aquifer
The Hays County Commissioners Court unanimously signed a resolution Tuesday to ratify a letter requesting a contested case hearing from the Barton Springs Edwards Aquifer Conservation District over a permit application by Electro Purification, LLC. According to Hays...
July Director’s Notes from the Executive Director
In this month’s Director’s Notes, I’m excited to share our 2017 Annual Report with you, which highlights the Hill Country Alliance’s many achievements last year. One accomplishment we are very proud of is HCA’s commitment to our mission of bringing together an...
Will Austin stores restock single-use plastic bags now that the city’s ban is lifted?
Austin is ending its ban on free single-use plastic bags at stores and restaurants after a state Supreme Court ruling against a similar ban in Laredo. But repealing the ordinance, commonly known as the “bag ban,” doesn't mean every store will start handing them out...
Hill Country browse
The Texas Hill Country has the highest density of shrub-eating animals in the United States. Texas is home to about 4 million white-tailed deer, and about half of them live in the Hill Country and Edwards Plateau. In addition, Texas is home to more than 2 million...
Are deer evolving resistance to CWD?
If you hunt whitetails, you’ve probably already heard of chronic wasting disease (CWD). This neurodegenerative disease is caused by an odd sort of protein called a prion that develops in the brains of infected animals and causes abnormal behavior, loss of body...
River Revival: Restoring a once-vital waterway with recycled wastewater
The Santa Cruz River once flowed year-round in Tucson, AZ, supporting one of the largest mesquite forests in the world. But urban development and extensive groundwater withdrawals in recent years caused the river’s volume to dwindle. Today, city administrators hope...