News
Council firestorm erupts over SAWS appointee
All three of Mayor Ron Nirenberg’s nominees to the San Antonio Water System board of trustees were approved recently by the City Council after a heated exchange over the appointment of water law expert Amy Hardberger. Councilman Greg Brockhouse grilled Hardberger, the...
Do Landowners Have Right to Protest Proposed Water Project?
An interesting legal question has arisen in Bastrop County recently that could have impacts on groundwater law and landowner rights across Texas. Background: In 2013, Recharge Water (formerly End Op) applied for a permit from the Lost Pines Groundwater Conservation...
Vulcan faces fight over projects in Comal and Kendall counties
Constructing roads, homes and bridges requires rock and concrete, so it’s understandable that Vulcan Materials wants to set up shop in the fast-growing Hill Country, where rolling ranchlands are quickly being developed into new subdivisions. But Vulcan, the nation’s...
City Council to Consider Outdoor Lighting Ordinance
The Blanco City Council soon will be asked to consider a complete revision of the city’s outdoor lighting ordinance. The revision, still in draft, will address perceived deficiencies in the city’s current ordinance that has been in effect since February 2006, when it...
Southwestern Travis County Groundwater Conservation District cancels confirmation and board elections, citing funding concerns
After a month and a half of planning and securing election funding on Tuesday from Travis County Commissioner’s Court,the temporary board for the Southwestern Travis County Groundwater Conservation District unexpectedly voted in a unanimous decision Friday afternoon...
How an endangered salamander forced a Texan city to save water
When it comes to water, San Antonio may be the world’s most forward-thinking city. But it learned to conserve a precious resource the hard way – and from an unlikely teacher This weekend in San Antonio, a new park is opening in one of the poorer neighborhoods just...
Community members protest permit for proposed Vulcan Quarry
Annalisa Peace | Greater Edwards Aquifer Authority | Around 500 Comal County citizens recently attended a TCEQ meeting at the New Braunfels Civic Center to protest a permit for a new Vulcan Quarry proposed for the intersection of FM 3009 and Hwy 46. Vulcan Materials...
Dripping Springs dumping permit battle could be headed to state court
Two and a half years into a protracted battle between the city of Austin, environmental groups and the city of Dripping Springs over whether the Hays County city should be allowed to dump treated sewage into Onion Creek, a state commission will likely decide Wednesday...
Young Pioneers set their sights on protecting the night skies
Recently the High School special projects group called the Young Pioneers has added a new direction to their program to support and educate the public regarding some other stars in Mason. In addition to their rainwater catchment project, they have begun to look at...
State permit sought for second concrete plant on Texas 46 east of Boerne
A concrete batch plant proposed on Texas 46 by Vulcan Materials has sparked intense opposition, including from Kendall County, but a similar project taking shape just down the highway has garnered comparatively little attention. Corvara West LLC applied last July for...
What can Nebraska teach the American West about managing water? A lot.
Nebraska is one of the top producers of corn, soybeans and hogs in the country. With 91 percent of the state's total land area dedicated to agricultural production, a lot of water is needed to support all of Nebraska's farms and ranches. Fortunately, the state sits...
Cape Town Pushes Back ‘Day Zero’ as Residents Conserve Water
Cape Town residents have drastically lowered their water use, allowing their drought-plagued city to push back the dreaded “Day Zero,” when the system is expected to run dry, by more than 10 weeks. Just three weeks ago, officials were predicting that Cape Town would...
Director’s Report – February 2018
February is the month of love! Here at the Hill Country Alliance, one of the things we love most is the wide-open lands of the Hill Country. Rolling hills, deep canyons, wooded grottos, and wide river basins are just a few of the things that define our special region....
Commissioners debate the creation and funding of a groundwater conservation district in southwest Travis County
Commissioners recently debated over whether to hold an election to create and fund a conservation district that would regulate, protect and conserve the groundwater supply derived from the Trinity Aquifer, one of nine major aquifers in the state. In January 2017, the...
Emerald Crown Trail: Network of county trails closer to fruition
The San Marcos Greenbelt Alliance (SMGA), in partnership with San Marcos, Kyle, Buda and other park development agencies, is looking for a way to connect the three biggest cities in Hays County with a trail. The Emerald Crown Trail is a proposed transportation trail...
Bandera’s outdoor lighting gets refocused
The Bandera City Council last week endorsed the Dark Skies movement that has swept the Hill Country by modifying its outdoor lighting regulations to get outdoor lights focused downward rather than allowing rays to stray into the night sky. The new outdoor lighting...
Groundwater conservation district up and running
With no funding, no staff and a board of temporary directors, the Southwestern Travis County Groundwater Conservation District is up and running. The body was created with the intent of monitoring and protecting the area’s supply of groundwater, but it must receive...
As World Eyes Cape Town Water Crisis, Texas Study Explores New Options
It's a resource so precious that human life can't be sustained without it, yet so common most of us take it for granted. But water is becoming scarce, a growing problem stemming from wasteful usage and exacerbated by climate change. Cape Town, South Africa, is bracing...
Texas Water Challenges film series premiers
The Texas Water Roundtable has premiered the short film series, Texas Water Challenges. Five ten-minute films on contemporary water issues impacting Texas - water pricing and economics, new water, surface/groundwater coordination, water education, and Texas water...
Keep sewage out of Hill Country creeks
Dripping Springs is a good 90-minute drive to the north of San Antonio, but the flow of water connects this region even as water fights divide it. In this case, Dripping Springs is pursuing a permit that would allow it to discharge up to a million gallons of treated...
Uvalde joins water lawsuit against San Antonio’s Edwards Aquifer Authority
The city of Uvalde has joined the Uvalde County Underground Water Conservation District and other plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the Edwards Aquifer Authority. The lawsuit seeks to protect residents and businesses in the Uvalde County area from what plaintiffs...
Vulcan encounters opposition to proposed quarry in Comal County
Vulcan Materials Co. recently filed permit requests to put a limestone quarry on 1,500 acres of land along Highway 46 and FM 3009 in Comal County, Texas, but neighbors have organized some resistance, News 4 San Antonio reports. “The ideal would be that it would not be...
Study: Deadly Wimberley floods rooted in weather patterns, intensified by development
The 40-foot wall of water that gushed down the Blanco River in May 2015, wiping out parts of Wimberley and killing more than a dozen people, was largely a natural phenomenon. But a new study shows that development along the waterway made its impact on the fast-growing...
Tax valuation for songbirds?
Anyone interested learning more about requirements and best practices for Wildlife Tax Valuation can attend a two-part Wildlife Tax Valuation Workshop from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 3 and Saturday, Feb. 10 at the Cibolo Nature Center in Boerne. Click here for...
Schools in Mason and Center Point Win Rainwater Revival Grants to Fund Water Conservation Projects
Managers of the Rainwater Revival School Grant Program were happily overwhelmed with 6 grant applications from Hill Country schools this year. Though all projects had merit, the three judges made difficult choices and picked two deserving high schools in Mason and...
Meadows Center Reports Groundwater Significant To Pedernales River Flow
The Meadows Center for Water and the Environment at Texas State University has released a series of reports that indicate groundwater provides a significant contribution of flow to the Pedernales River and Lake Travis. The Pedernales River is an important source of...
Drippings Springs wastewater proposal may impact local wells
The creek eventually flows into Barton Creek and into the Edwards Aquifer, where Austin sources its drinking water. The latest study by the Hays Trinity Ground Water Conservation District used pink dye to trace the water to nearby wells. At least three wells were...
Chile creates five national parks over 10m acres in historic act of conservation
The Texas Hill Country is roughly 11 million acres. Chile has recently announced 5 new national parks totaling 10 million acres. Chile has created five sprawling national parks to preserve vast tracts of Patagonia – the culmination of more than two decades of land...
Dupnik moves on
John Dupnik is leaving his position as the general manager of the Barton Springs/Edwards Aquifer Conservation District. Dupnik has held that position since 2013 and, prior to that, was a regulatory compliance team leader for the district. He announced his resignation...
New UTSA study examines the causes and consequences of the 2015 Wimberley floods
A new study by Chad Furl, postdoctoral research associate, and Hatim Sharif, professor of civil and environmental engineering at The University of Texas at San Antonio, delves into the 2015 Wimberley, Texas floods that destroyed 350 homes and claimed 13 lives. Furl...