News
Golden-cheeked warbler to remain on endangered list
Rejecting a bid by former state Comptroller Susan Combs and others to remove special habitat protections for the golden-cheeked warbler, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is set to announce their petition “did not present substantial information that delisting is...
I-35 corridor could see more groundwater from Burleson County
Another private company is quietly trying to sell central Texas groundwater to utilities along the fast-growing Interstate 35 corridor, putting it in competition with the San Antonio Water System and others. Coastal Water Regional Supply Co. is trying to sell Hays...
Being a Texas Master Naturalist According to 2016 Trainees
Becky Breazeale | Each spring, the Highland Lakes Chapter of Texas Master Naturalists has a new training class. Trainees learn about natural resources and conservation management with units of study such as geology and archeology, ecological regions of Texas, land...
Lights off for the love of lightning bugs
For the love of lightning bugs, experts ask people to turn off as many exterior lights as possible during peak mating months. Artificial lights have eradicated large populations of lightning bugs in East Tennessee and across the developed world. "Light pollution is a...
REI Awards Cibolo Nature Center and Farm $10K Stewardship Grant
REI San Antonio recently awarded the Cibolo Nature Center & Farm (CNC&F) with a $10K Stewardship Grant which was awarded to select nonprofits that care for the outdoor places its customers use and love. The grant will support National Trails Workday being held...
Opinion: What San Antonio should learn from Melbourne
San Antonio just made it through one of the worst droughts in Texas history. Climate change means we’ll have more — unpredictably longer and more intense. Is San Antonio prepared? Nope. And the San Antonio Water System is leading us the wrong direction. Express-News...
Leaving land alone to hold floodwater west of Houston
Houston sprawls for miles, but we went to where that sprawl stops. “I think if you’d listen for a minute, you don’t hear any cars,” says Mary Anne Piacentini as she stands near a pond on the Katy Prairie 45 miles west of downtown Houston. “We protect over 20,000 acres...
Adler drops surprise $720M mobility bond proposal
Mayor Steve Adler has blasted into the middle of the ongoing conversation about a November mobility bond election by proposing an estimated $720 million package of projects along Austin’s most vital arterials. In a closed-door speech before the Greater Austin Chamber...
In Weighty Water Ruling, Texas’ High Court Backs Landowner
The Texas Supreme Court has strengthened protections for landowners who don’t have rights to the water underneath their property. In a ruling Friday, the state’s highest civil court said Texas' “accommodation doctrine” should also apply to groundwater, in addition to...
Why become a Texas Master Naturalist?
The Hill Country Chapter of the Texas Master Naturalists are now accepting applications for the class of 2016. The mission of the Texas Master Naturalist program is to develop a corps of well-informed volunteers to provide education, outreach, and service dedicated to...
Unplugging the Colorado River
WEDGED between Arizona and Utah, less than 20 miles upriver from the Grand Canyon, a soaring concrete wall nearly the height of two football fields blocks the flow of the Colorado River. There, at Glen Canyon Dam, the river is turned back on itself, drowning more than...
The Texas Water Development Board launches TexasFlood.org
The Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) is pleased to announce the development and launch of TexasFlood.org. The website will serve as a centralized location for flood-related data and information on what to do before, during, and after a flooding event....
Brimming wastewater ponds must be lowered to avoid ‘catastrophic failure’
It seems most bodies of water in Travis County are filled to the brim, including wastewater ponds. The West Travis County Public Utility Agency has two full wastewater holding ponds, resulting from ongoing heavy rains. The utility must lower the water levels in those...
A year after Memorial Day floods, Central Texas still picking up the pieces
Homes destroyed. Lives stolen. Over Memorial Day weekend a year ago in Central Texas, disaster struck. On May 23, 2015, geologic factors, along with already-saturated ground, combined to produce a record-setting flash flood after heavy rain fell upstream of...
Water Symposium held in Junction
James Murr | The Junction Eagle | The Texas Water Symposium (TWS) series explores the challenges faced in providing water for Texans, and provides perspectives from policy makers, scientists, water resource experts and regional leaders. The TWS is a joint effort by...
Maximizing storm water: Researchers at UTSA trying to purify dirty water faster
All this recent rain has researchers at UTSA excited. They are taking advantage of all the extra water to see how well they can decontaminate it and replenish our drinking supply. They were awarded a $42,800 grant from the San Antonio River Authority and Greater...
Study foretold Abengoa woes
Calvin Finch hates to say, “I told you so.” But he feels he should anyway. “Yeah,” Finch said, “and I’m disappointed that I can.” This week, the San Antonio Water System’s board of trustees voted to allow a Kansas City firm to take over the utility’s largest-ever...
A sinkhole tells the story of the Edwards Aquifer recovery
The white Ford Explorer turned right onto the farm road and headed north, as sunlight broke through heavy storm clouds and illuminated the green knobs of the Hill Country on the horizon. In the driver’s seat sat Jon Cradit, a geologist with the Edwards Aquifer...
New Colorado Law Brings Rain Barrel Owners Out From Shadows
Rain barrel owners are passionate advocates who believe the practice is an essential water conservation tool.Rain barrel owners are law breakers who steal water from farmers and other water rights holders. These two long-held identities for many rain barrel owners...
In Sharp Reversal, California Suspends Water Restrictions
California recently suspended its mandatory statewide 25 percent reduction in urban water use, telling local communities to set their own conservation standards after a relatively wet winter and a year of enormous savings in urban water use. The new rules are a sharp...
Austin water pipe leaks could fill Lady Bird Lake twice, in 2015
For three years running, Austin Water Utility has posted an increase in the amount of water leaked from city pipes, and utility officials have not pinpointed exactly why. The city’s latest water loss report shows more than 5.8 billion gallons of treated drinking water...
We Must Protect the Endangered Species Act
"Texas Hill Country is home to the golden-cheeked warbler, a true Lone Star State native. It does not breed or raise its young anywhere else in the world except in 33 Texas counties. The striking black-and-white songbird with the brilliant golden face is finicky when...
With state population growing, Texas water board eyes new water plan
The Texas Water Development Board recently approved the state’s newest water plan, basically a road map for how the state will meet its water demands over the next half-century amid a steady growth in population. The population boom is expected to be especially acute...
The Texas Water Development Board adopts 2017 State Water Plan
The Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) today unanimously voted to adopt the 2017 State Water Plan. “The new state water plan projects that Texas’ population will increase more than 70 percent by the year 2070,” said TWDB Board Chairman Bech Bruun, “and the 2017...
The Texas Water Development Board names Jeff Walker as executive administrator
The Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) today named Jeff Walker as the new executive administrator. He will begin his service as executive administrator today. Walker currently serves as the deputy executive administrator of Water Supply and Infrastructure. His areas...
SAWS Board Approves Garney Takeover of Vista Ridge Project
The San Antonio Water System board on Wednesday unanimously approved a measure that lets Garney Construction, a Missouri-based construction firm, take over control and 80% equity of the Vista Ridge water pipeline project from financially-troubled Abengoa Vista Ridge,...
After SAWS vote, construction firm takes reins on pipeline project
The construction firm originally tapped to build a 142-mile pipeline to deliver water to the San Antonio Water System will now take control of the project. On Wednesday, SAWS’ board of trustees voted unanimously to allow a subsidiary of Spanish conglomerate Abengoa,...
Price of Water 2016: Up 5 Percent in 30 Major U.S. Cities; 48 Percent Increase Since 2010
America’s water systems were built to last. Philadelphia is one of the older cities on the Atlantic Coast and Northeast that still use pipes that were installed before the Civil War. The pipes have held up remarkably well over 160 years. But without new parts and...
The Meadows Center Appoints Carlos Rubinstein as Advisor to its Programs
Carlos Rubinstein, an expert in water resources with more than 20 years of experience in the public and private sectors, will help guide water sustainability efforts as an advisor to The Meadows Center for Water and the Environment at Texas State University, officials...
Share Water: The Other U.S.-Mexico Border Issue
When determining borders, a river is often the clearest delineation between sovereign nations. But that clarity abruptly ends when countries must decide how to use the water that the river provides. Even managing rivers that do not determine borders, but rather travel...