News
Texas deer industry to bring concerns over chronic wasting disease to Legislature
For some Texans, there’s big money in deer. Breeding and raising whitetail deer, running deer hunts on ranches, it’s all part of a multibillion-dollar industry. But since 2015, deer breeders and the state have been locked in an old-fashioned standoff. Texas Parks and...
Battle over Wimberley sewage reaches critical juncture … again
The on-again, off-again Wimberley wastewater treatment plant is off again while the City Council revisits a plan to outsource to a private utility company. Emotions are running high in the Hays County town of about 3,000, divided over an issue that’s been the subject...
Water restrictions in effect in Austin for first time in two years
Water restrictions are in effect starting Monday in Austin, the first time in two years Austin Water has cut back the number of hours residents can water their lawns. Lake Travis and Lake Buchanan have dipped below a combined 1.4 million feet of water, triggering the...
What if another Harvey Hits?
On Aug. 24, 2017, we all watched the radar screen on the news as the storm gained energy in the Gulf of Mexico and began making its way toward the Texas coast. No one understood the unprecedented rainfall that was about to hit portions of Texas and Louisiana over the...
Bexar County weighs whether to join regional fight over Edwards Aquifer rights
Bexar County could soon join the fray in a legal battle over water rights that highlights the conflict between the fast-growing cities and suburbs around San Antonio and agricultural areas that also depend on the Edwards Aquifer. On Friday, Medina County Judge Chris...
Sand is choking Lake LBJ, but a battle looms over its removal
In early 2017, homeowners in Sandy Harbor, a waterfront community in the Highland Lakes chain where Lake Lyndon B. Johnson meets the mouth of Sandy Creek, called Kevin Collier about a problem: sand. There was so much of it that it was preventing some of them from...
Wildlife and The Wall
"I wish that everybody who wanted to build an actual, physical wall could come and see this place first, because I think if they came and saw it and realized what the wall was going through and what it would do would have a profound impact on their way of thinking."...
Honey Creek, a pristine Hill Country stream, could soon see treated sewage
Developers planning a subdivision of more than 2,300 homes in Comal County want to build a sewage treatment plant to discharge into one of the most pristine, spring-fed streams left in the Hill Country. According to a permit application filed with state environmental...
Texas Hill Country sets example for saving dark skies
Dripping Springs became the first city in Texas to become dark sky- certified by International Dark-Sky Association, and since the Texas Hill Country has become a hotbed for dark sky preservation. Dripping Springs City Administrator Michelle Fischer said there are...
Texas on pace for worst wildfire year since 2011
Last week, nearly 100 firefighters from across Texas loaded up and headed west to join thousands of colleagues in an extended battle against massive wildfires burning across Northern California, one of which has become the largest in that state’s history. While the...
As lake levels drop, LCRA undergoes review that could lead to legislative changes
The Lower Colorado River Authority is in the midst of its first sunset review, which could result in the Texas Legislature mandating the entity make changes to its performance and mission. Organizations such as nonprofit Central Texas Water Coalition see the sunset...
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...