News
Why dark skies matter
Light pollution not only effects our ability to see the stars at night, but studies show it can also have negative effects our health, wildlife and the economy. This article from MNN discusses the effects of light pollution and what communities around the world,...
The Source: More Questions In SAWS Vista Ridge Deal
Last night, the San Antonio Water System (SAWS) held the first of four public meeting on the changes to the 142 -mile Vista Ridge Pipeline. The $3.4 billion deal, which covers 50,000 acre feet of water per year for 30 years, will have a change in ownership. Spanish...
One Vista Ridge Loan Application Approved; A Second Denied
In 2013 voters approved the State Water Implementation Fund for Texas, commonly referred to as SWIFT. The fund provides highly sought-after low-interest loans for building water projects. Qualifying for a SWIFT loan can save utilities and taxpayers a lot of money....
Vista Ridge Pipeline Opponents Win Small Victory
Opponents of the city of San Antonio’s Vista Ridge water supply project scored a minor win this week when Texas Water Development Board staff announced the 142-mile pipeline was ineligible to seek an $885 million low-interest construction loan. Abengoa Vista Ridge,...
Vista Ridge Changes Before Council
The San Antonio City Council awaits details from SAWS on the changes with the Vista Ridge Project. SAWS officials are expected to detail the shift in project control from troubled Abengoa to Garney Construction. “I need to be assured that the contract that was entered...
Lawmakers mull tweaks to eminent domain law to favor landowners
State lawmakers next session may renew an age-old clash between two intrinsically Texan values: property rights and energy interests. The Senate Committee on State Affairs heard testimony Tuesday on whether to tighten eminent domain laws to benefit landowners battling...
Hamilton Pool is making some big changes this summer — read this before you go
The extreme growth that Austin has undergone over the past decade can now count one of the Hill Country’s most famous green spaces as a victim. Today, the Travis County Commissioners Court enacted a new plan to help curb the staggering amount of visitors to Hamilton...
Austin Mayor proclaims March 31st as Craig Smith Day in honor of HCA friend and long-time water quality advocate
In honor of Craig Smith’s tireless efforts to help initiate the Barton Springs Zone Regional Water Quality Protection Plan and lead the working group, the City of Austin has recognized the achievement that provided a framework for local governments to adopt standards...
Workshop provides landowners with information on conservation easements
The Hill Country Alliance (HCA) and the Guadalupe-Blanco River Trust (GBRT) are hosting a landowner workshop on Friday, May 13. This workshop will focus on conservation easements—a tool available to help landowners steward and protect their land investment in the long...
Council will leave pipeline deal changes to SAWS
The San Antonio Water System, not the City Council, will retain sole control over who will develop a massive water pipeline to eventually supply up to 20 percent of the city’s water. The issue came up in a Wednesday meeting of the San Antonio City Council’s governance...
Texas A&M University Press’ The Texas Landscape Project: Nature and People to feature maps of longtime HCA collaborator Jonathon Ogren
The Texas Landscape Project explores conservation and ecology in Texas by presenting a highly visual and deeply researched view of the widespread changes that have affected the state as its population and economy have boomed and as Texans have worked ever harder to...
Mayor faces ethics complaint over pipeline, political contributions
A member of the Sierra Club’s Alamo Group has filed an ethics complaint against Mayor Ivy Taylor, alleging she inappropriately accepted campaign contributions from the owners of Pape-Dawson Engineers, who were involved in contract negotiations for the controversial...
Spain’s Abengoa SA Obtains Backing From Creditors To Evade Bankruptcy
Spanish energy company Abengoa SA (NASDAQ:ABGB) has obtained the support of about 75% of its lenders to reorganize its large debt and ask for additional time from the judiciary for negotiations targeted at preventing bankruptcy as per a document. The organization...
Garney Construction Taking Over Vista Ridge Water Pipeline
Missouri-based Garney Construction is now the owner of the Vista Ridge water pipeline project after attorneys representing the construction firm, former owner Abengoa Vista Ridge, and other partners came to an agreement on Tuesday afternoon. Garney was already a...
Austin homebuyers are moving farther from city center amid rising home prices
In recent years, urbanization has become a dominant narrative in American cities like Austin. Since the 1990s, Austin has touted the "smart growth" concept, which should have more people rushing to live centrally rather than in suburbs. And downtown Austin is indeed a...
Abengoa is out, and Vista Ridge is stronger than ever
One of the two great ironies of the Vista Ridge saga is how Abengoa was supposed to bolster the controversial water project but instead became an albatross that threatened to doom the pipeline before it ever could be built. As a behemoth in clean energy technologies,...
Lone Star rail dodges ‘kill shot’ but put under microscope
The rail district that has spent a decade and more than $26 million looking into a Georgetown to San Antonio commuter line, floundering after Union Pacific shut off the possibility of using its freight tracks, for now has survived one move to cut off critical funding....
TWDB announces the 2015 Texas Rain Catcher Award recipients
The Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) announced today the recipients of its annual Texas Rain Catcher Award, a rainwater harvesting competition and recognition program. The award recipients have displayed excellence in rainwater harvesting in Texas in five...
“Dark Skies” comes to the Frio Canyon
Barbara Baggett of Stars Over Utopia, a Keep Utopia Beautiful project,will present an educational program at the Utopia Senior Center on April 1 at 11:00 am. for a potluck lunch. The program is a collaboration of the Hill Country Alliance and International Dark Skies...
Environmental group sues water pipeline partner for information
Arguing that partners in a proposed multibillion-dollar water pipeline proposed for Austin’s eastern flank should divulge more information about the workings of the project, an Austin environmental group has filed an open records lawsuit in state District Court. The...
Texas Farm and Ranch Lands Conservation Council Approves $1.4 Million in Grant Awards
The Texas Farm and Ranch Lands Conservation Council today approved land trust funding totaling $1.4 million for a wide array of conservation easements to help bring more than 14,300 acres of the state’s high-value working farm and ranch lands under long term...
Rainwater Harvest as a solution to drought and flood?
Stormwater is starting to get some serious attention in California, as the state’s drought enters a fifth year. Thanks in part to El Niño, rain has been surging through downspouts and gutters lately. And a lot of it: one storm in Los Angeles County, packing one inch...
How much is the urban forest of Austin worth? More than you might think
Trees within the city limits of Austin, Texas contribute nearly $34 million in ecosystem services to the community annually, according to a new report by the U.S. Forest Service (USFS). From May to October 2014, researchers from the Texas A&M Forest Service...
Spring Break is here and it’s time to capture those bluebonnets! Be sure to submit your favorite shots to the HCA Photo Contest
Houston Chronicle - If you have driven down our state highways lately you have probably seen the state flower, the bluebonnet, dotting roadsides and grassy expanses. Yes, Lupinus texensis has returned, along with warmer temperatures. It was a warm winter that led to...
The high cost of sprawl in San Antonio: a look at Hausman Road
" It’s sprawl relief, a costly fix to a traffic problem caused by unplanned growth. The result is that taxpayers across the city are paying the bill for upgrades needed in the aftermath of continuing suburban sprawl.” The Rivard Report - To understand the funding...
Golden-cheeked Warblers return to the Hill Country
Golden-cheeked Warblers (GCWA) are beginning to arrive within their Hill Country haunts. Many more of these birds will arrive over the next couple of weeks. The Golden-cheeked’s scientific name, Setophaga chrysoparia, translates to golden cheek moth eater; moth eater...
Arsenic persists in some Texas water supplies
Drinking water systems serving 51,000 people in several dozen rural Texas communities exceeded federal drinking water standards for arsenic for more than a decade, according to a report to be published Monday by an environmental group. The Environmental Integrity...
Public comment period on draft 2017 State Water Plan is now open
Your voice matters! Texas Water Development Board is taking public comment on the draft 2017 State Water Plan. Here is HCA’s Water Planning page with a good explanation of the state water planning process, our written Public Comments for the proposed 2017 plan, and a...
Pipeline builder, through nonprofit, seeks $885 million state loan
The company contracted to build a pipeline for the San Antonio Water System has applied for an $885 million low-interest state loan to finance the project. SAWS officials have often said in public meetings and interviews that financing for the 142-mile pipeline that...
Burnet County Master Naturalist receives lifetime achievement award for volunteer service
At a recent meeting of the Highland Lake Master Naturalists, Sammye Childers was presented with the nation’s highest honor for volunteer service - a Lifetime Achievement Award for her contribution of over 4,000 hours of volunteer service. Along with the presidential...