News
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...
SAWS drops plan to secure state loan for Vista Ridge pipeline
The San Antonio Water System has decided not to apply for a low-interest state loan to finance part of its work on the Vista Ridge pipeline project. Many people following the proposed 142-mile water pipeline from Burleson County expected SAWS to file a full...
Water conservation is a big deal in Texas. How did your utility score?
Texas has received high marks for our state’s laws and policies on water conservation. That positive recognition is deserved even though there is more the Lone Star State could do to advance conservation. But the real question is what’s happening “on the ground?” Are...
Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board to Enhance and Restore Monarch Butterfly Habitat
The Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board (TSSWCB) is working in cooperation with 143 soil and water conservation districts located in Texas to enhance and restore the Monarch Butterfly habitat. It is estimated that over the past 20 years the Monarch...
May 18 in Junction: Texas Water Symposium – Economic and Conservation Perspectives on Protected Species
The second Texas Water Symposium of 2016 has been set for May 18th at the Llano River Field Station at Texas Tech University in Junction. The program will feature a conversation between leading biology experts about endangered species on the Hill Country’s rivers....
How Texas can grow with grace
Texas is often thought of in terms of its wide-open spaces and rustic sensibility, but as Bob Dylan so famously said, the times, they are a-changin’. The Lone Star State has become increasingly urbanized over the past few decades — nearly 90 percent of our 26 million...
Bexar County to Consider $1.2 Million for Confluence Park
Bexar County Commissioner Sergio “Chico” Rodriguez is lobbying his colleagues on the Commissioners Court to include $1.2 million in next year’s County budget for Confluence Park, a “living classroom” that broke ground Wednesday morning in his Southside precinct on the...
Will the song of a single bird delay an Austin highway?
The song of a single endangered bird, detected by Austin biologists in April, could spell a years-long delay for a major Southwest Austin highway project. The builders of the proposed Texas 45 Southwest had reported as recently as last year that no golden-cheeked...
Fredericksburg peaches are ready — earlier than ever
We usually think of peaches in summer, but here in Central Texas, we know that “summer” starts earlier than everywhere else. And this year, summer has started even earlier for the Fredericksburg peach growers. According to TexasPeaches.com, last weekend was officially...
Dozens Caught in Land Rights Fight Over Trans-Pecos Pipeline
James Spriggs, a 70-year-old west Texas rancher, is dealing with what he calls a lose-lose situation. Spriggs owns a 4,400-acre ranch south of Marfa and is one of about 45 landowners in the Big Bend region recently slapped with a condemnation lawsuit by Energy...
New Native Pollinator Management Guidelines Available for Landowners Working to Achieve Wildlife Tax Valuation
Protecting native insect pollinators on private property now comes with new benefits for landowners. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s Nongame and Rare Species Program developed new guidelines for landowners to develop wildlife management plans for their...
San Antonio Plots Monarch Butterfly Conservation Plan
When San Antonio became the first Monarch Butterfly Champion City in December, people in the conservation community outside the city limits took notice. Mayor Ivy Taylor was the first mayor in the country to commit to all 24 recommendations on the National Wildlife...
Texas Water Development Board executive to head Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority
The top executive of the state agency in charge of water planning across Texas will step down to lead the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority. The GBRA’s board of directors approved Texas Water Development Board executive administrator Kevin Patteson to take over the job...
Healthy Creeks Initiative Launched in Pedernales and Blanco Basins
A partnership between the Hill Country Alliance, The Nature Conservancy, TPWD and local stakeholders is seeking to address the issue of invasive species and other threats to our Hill Country rivers and streams. A recent workshop kicked off the partnership and provided...
SAWS stores record amount of water, desal plant nears completion
The San Antonio Water System reached a milestone last week when it announced that their Aquifer Storage and Recovery Facility (ASR) in southern Bexar County reached a record 100,000 acre feet of water. "Nobody else is doing what we're doing,” ASR Plant Manager Robert...
The Q&A: Steve Young
With each issue, Trib+Water brings you an interview with experts on water-related issues. Here is this week's subject: Steve Young is a principal geoscientist at Intera, a geoscience and engineering consulting firm in Austin. Young focuses on groundwater issues and...
U.S.-Mexico Teamwork Where the Rio Grande is but a Ribbon
"Los Diablos are a team of Mexican firefighters who are part of a group of Mexicans and Americans including firefighters, conservationists and park rangers. They travel along the most desolate stretches of the river not to put out fires, but to set them in a...
Call for school grant applications ends May 2
For the sixth consecutive year, the Hill Country Alliance’s Rainwater Revival offers funds to help students learn about rainwater catchment and water conservation. As Texas Hill Country residents and businesses look for ways to conserve water, HCA's Rainwater Revival...
Texas Landowners Earn Lone Star Land Steward Awards for Conservation Efforts
Every year TPWD honors landowners from across the state with the Lone Star Land Steward Award for their contributions to natural resource conservation and management. This year seven winners, including long-time HCA Friends Steve Nelle and the Winklers at Winkler...
Highway 290 pipeline may be doing more harm than good, study suggests
The Highway 290 pipeline, which was intended to alleviate groundwater usage in Hays County, may be doing otherwise according to a recent study. The study, conducted by the Meadows Center for Water and the Environment and published by hydrologist Douglas Wierman,...