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News
Hays County voters have big choice on $237.8 million bond package
Hays County voters will have to make a choice at the polls this year on the county’s largest request since 2008: a $237.8 million bond package. The bond package has two propositions: $106.4 million for public safety facilities, including an expansion and renovation of...
In the Growing Battle Against Invasive Plants, Texas Lags Behind Other States
"One of the great ironies of battling invasive plants is that many of them are legal to buy and plant in Texas. The City of Austin is one the few cities in the country that keeps a list of locally invasive plants that it works to control. It includes the plants glossy...
The Source: Garney Failure Could Mean SAWS Takeover Of Vista Ridge Project
In a turn-about San Antonio Water System CEO Robert Puente said the water utility would take over the construction of the Vista Ridge Water Pipeline if Garney was unable to meet certain deadlines. In May, after the Spanish conglomerate Abengoa went bankrupt, the...
Video: Monarchs: The Milkweed Mission (9:01)
From their winter home in Mexico and north along their amazing annual migration, Monarch butterflies are threatened by deforestation, climate change and drought and agriculture policies. The Nobelity Project's Turk Pipkin looks at the wonder of the monarchs and what...
California Law Recognizes Meadows and Forests as Water Infrastructure
California’s vast water infrastructure is likely the most extensive in the world. It includes the tallest dam in the nation and enormous state and federal water projects that tap rivers flowing from as far away as Wyoming. On September 27th, Governor Brown signed...
It Takes a Network to Tackle Growth and Complexity
Famous frontiersman and politician Davy Crockett once remarked, “You may all go to Hell and I will go to Texas,” and apparently, he was onto something. While the impetus for his remark was disenchantment with Tennessee politics in the early 1830s, an increasingly...
America’s Next Great Metropolis Is Taking Shape In Texas
If you drive south from Dallas, or west from Houston, a subtle shift takes place. The monotonous, flat prairie that dominates much of Texas gives way to a landscape that rises and ebbs. The region around Highway 35 is called the Hill Country, and although it does not...
West Travis County construction hammers may stop
Officials of the West Travis County Public Utility Agency, which services Bee Cave, Travis County Municipal Utility District No. 5 and parts of Hays County with water and wastewater, said it has exceeded, at least on paper, its service capacity. “We are...
What the Prairie Teaches Us
Paul Gruchow | The prairie, although plain, inspires awe. It teaches us that grandeur can be wide as well as tall. Young prairie plants put down deep roots first; only when these have been established do the plants invest much energy in growth above ground. They...
HCA Director’s Notes – October 2016
October always feels like a month of renewal in the Hill Country. August rains replenished our aquifers, rivers and rain tanks, and the signs of abundance are reflected in the tall grasses, brilliant fall wildflowers and flowing rivers. Fall is also a great time to...
Texas Water Symposium planned for November 10th in Austin: 2017 Legislative Outlook: Population Growth and Groundwater Management
The second Texas Water Symposium of 2016-2017 season has been set for 7pm on Thursday November 10th at Thompson Center Auditorium (adjacent to the LBJ School) on the University of Texas campus in Austin, Texas. The Texas Water Symposium is free and open to the public....
Rainwater Revival Raises Funds for School Grants
A good place to learn about the many benefits of rainwater harvesting is at the 7th annual RAINWATER REVIVAL to be held Saturday, November 5, from 10am to 4pm at Dripping Springs Ranch Park in Dripping Springs, Texas. In addition to a full-day of speakers and...
EP Aquifer Test Approved
Aquifer tests are an essential part of the District's permitting process. The Board and staff rely heavily on results of these tests to inform permit volumes and conditions. In the spring, Electro Purification (EP) submitted a test well application to allow them to...
Discovering Westcave
In the heart of the Texas Hill Country lies an astonishing place called Westcave Preserve, a 76-acre nature preserve and environmental education facility in western Travis County, near Austin, that provides a sanctuary for the flora and fauna of surprisingly diverse...
The Edwards Aquifer: A Valuable Resource We Must Conserve
The story of water and Texas starts right here, some 650 ft. below the surface where you are reading this. That’s the historic average for October of the J-17 well, 658 ft. above sea level, the measure that influences everything related to the Edwards Aquifer. The...
Dripping Springs Wastewater Discharge Permit update
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) published notice of the Dripping Springs application and preliminary decision for TPDES permit for municipal wastewater. They also set the date and location for the public meeting. The District submitted supplemental...
Hill Country Alliance marks its first decade
Many folks in Gillespie County still have not heard of the Hill Country Alliance, but the group marked its 10th year in existence in advocating for healthy land and waters, dark skies and fostering a community which cares about these things. The group’s footprint...
E.O. Wilson explains why parks and nature are really good for your brain
In recent years, a growing body of research has documented the psychological and even health benefits of spending time in natural settings, such as forests or parks. This research has shown that people who live in urban areas that feature more trees have better...
How to help monarch butterflies without accidentally luring them to their deaths
Dara Satterfield has a unique way of looking at Monarch butterflies. She thinks of them as “tiny camels.” “They store up energy to help them through these harsh conditions for a couple months.” says Satterfield, a James Smithson Fellow at the National Zoo in...
Llano River plan gets nod from EPA
Because the Upper Llano River is a healthy ecosystem, the Environmental Protection Agency has accepted a watershed protection plan that will help address future declines in water quality and stream flow, according to a news release. The plan was accepted as it met the...
Emily Warren, Associate Director at Meadows Center, Joins Hill Country Alliance Board of Directors
The Hill Country Alliance (HCA) is proud to announce that Emily Warren, a water resources expert with more than 15 years of experience in the public sector, recently joined as the newest member to the HCA Board of Directors. Warren is currently the Associate Director...
2017 Texas Hill Country Calendar Available for Sale: Photo Contest Winners Announced
Calendar captures the beauty of the Texas Hill Country and the importance of protecting it for future generations The Hill Country Alliance (HCA) recently released their 10th Texas Hill Country Calendar. Once again, the HCA calendar pairs stunning imagery of...
Wild and Scenic Film Festival screenings planned for Mason, San Marcos and Fredericksburg
Bee Cave – The Wild and Scenic Film Festival, the nation’s premier environmental film festival, is coming to the Texas Hill Country this fall with three screening events the whole family will enjoy. The theme of the festivals will be “Celebrating Hill Country Rivers,”...
Monarch Butterfly, Pollinator Festival to Fly into the Pearl
As the United States’ first official “Monarch Champion City” – a unique designation by the National Wildlife Federation for cities that adopt all of the federation’s 24 recommendations for Monarch conservation – San Antonio will host a fun and educational celebration...
Edwards Aquifer Authority has come a long way
The story of water and Texas starts here. San Antonio sits atop the Edwards Aquifer, one of the most abundant artesian aquifers in the world. It supplies water to more than 2 million people and thousands of farmers in the region. Spread underneath the land of South...
The Hill Country Land Trust video: Managing Cedar
The Hill Country Land Trust has released their second video in a series of videos on land management topics. This video takes a look at how best to utilize and control Ashe Juniper (Cedar trees). Many landowners are concerned about juniper's ability to overwhelm their...
Feeling the Burn in Big Bend
"It’s a place of delicate balance between fiercely competing plants, many living at the edge of their geographic ranges and tolerances for temperature and aridity. It’s an ecosystem on a knife edge, dependent on regular rains and steady temperatures. So in 2011, when...
Off-limits Boerne preserve is an oasis in the Texas Hill Country
As more and more people move to the Texas Hill Country, native plants and animals will need special sanctuaries to call their own. The board members who run one such wildlife haven, the private 644-acre Cibolo Preserve in Boerne, offered an exclusive look inside the...
Junction’s water issues
The Hill Country Alliance hopes to be part of the solution for how our rural communities can solve complicated problems like the one that occurred in Junction last month. On August 26th, the City of Junction Water System issued a Boil Water Notice to all of its...
‘Growth Summit’ Highlights Central Texas Economy
The Austin-San Antonio Growth Summit convened in San Marcos Friday, showcasing the economic strength of Central Texas. According to labor statistics presented at the summit, cities and counties all along the I-35 corridor have seen job growth well above the national...