News
Editorial: Flawed Vista Ridge project doesn’t make sense
In February 2014, San Antonio Water System CEO Robert Puente informed us that SAWS would not pursue the Abengoa Vista Ridge water supply project, or AVR, because the project was too risky. He was quoted as saying: “Groundwater law in Texas leaves too much uncertainty...
Livin’ life by the drop: Rainwater systems flourish in Texas
The use of rainwater for drinking, irrigation and conservation has been a growing trend for decades, said Alan Rossing, owner of Lakota Water Company. When he started his rainwater business in 2000, Hays County had more rainwater related businesses than the rest of...
Alcoa Inc. puts massive Texas land holdings, water rights on market for $250M
New York-based metals manufacturer Alcoa Inc. (NYSE: AA) has put its Texas land holdings on the market for $250 million, which include a vast array of water rights that could be the biggest known water rights deal struck of its kind in the Lone Star state. The...
New documentary highlights all 16 National Park Service sites in Texas
Think of national parks in Texas and you probably envision the sprawling skies, cactus-covered canyons and steep mountains of Big Bend National Park. But the National Park Service’s holdings in our state go far beyond West Texas, and a new 60-minute documentary, set...
Repaying loan may affect SAWS’ pipeline deal
The San Antonio Water System’s Vista Ridge pipeline project is still moving ahead, despite concerns over a $120 million loan, litigation between water suppliers and a challenge to rate increases from customers outside the city limits. Garney Construction, a company...
Kerr County honored for exhibit hall’s rain-catching system
The award-winning elements of the Hill Country Youth Event Center aren’t discernible to motorists passing the site on Texas 27, where a $3.7 million exhibit hall was added last year. The accolades flow from rain gutters along the edges of the new 72,000-square-foot...
Celebrating the Balcones Canyonlands Conservation Plan
On May 6, local biologists will lead guided hikes through the Balcones Canyonlands Preserve in celebration of the 20th anniversary of the program that created the project—the Balcones Canyonlands Conservation Plan. In 1996, Travis County became the first area in the...
How Austin-San Antonio commuter rail backers plan to get back on track
Reports of the death of commuter rail between Austin and San Antonio have been greatly exaggerated, according to officials with the Lone Star Rail District. At a meeting Friday in San Marcos, the Lone Star Rail board unveiled new options for a potential route and...
The College That Ate a City
"San Marcos, population 58,000, was listed as the fastest-growing city in America according to 2014 census data. The growth is mostly thanks to an expanding Texas State University — the largest employer and largest property owner in the city. With the anchor...
SAWS: Banks Not Cooperating On Renegotiating Vista Ridge Loan
By mid-week the San Antonio Water System (SAWS) expects to know whether it will be able to easily move ownership of the Vista Ridge pipeline to a different company. Because of financial problems current owner Abengoa has agreed to sell 80-percent of the water project...
Spicewood eyes municipal status
According to Burnet County Judge James Oakley, Spicewood is a part of “God’s country.” The native Central Texan, who has lived in the Spicewood area for more than two decades, said he has witnessed the unincorporated area’s expansion that has replaced fishing cabins...
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...