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News
Highly Anticipated Water Report Released
City officials, community leaders, and any interested citizen can now download the final version of a controversial Water Policy Report from the Texas A&M University’s Institute of Renewable Natural Resources that analyzes projects and policies related to water...
Texas Water Symposium: Stories about Water, November 12 in Kerrville
Join us November 12 at Schreiner University for the next Texas Water Symposium. The topic of this very special water symposium will be Stories about Water: Narratives that Remind us of our Personal and Collective Connections to Water. The symposium will be moderated...
The 6th Annual Rainwater Revival is this Saturday – Rain or Shine!
The Rainwater Revival is back in Dripping Springs for its 6th anniversary to be held on Saturday, Nov 7, at Dripping Springs Ranch Park. The popular, annual event is part festival, part educational series, and always a celebration of the ease, sweet taste, and wisdom...
Art Barrel Auction Goes Online for Good Cause
Artists from around the Hill Country have once again donated their time and talent turning 55-gallon drums into beautiful functional works of art for the 2015 Rainwater Revival and the Hill Country Alliance’s School Grant Program. Starting on November 1, the Hill...
Transit planning in San Antonio, let your voice be heard
VIA Metropolitan Transit is requesting public input as they create their Vision 2040 Long Range Plan Update for the Greater San Antonio Area. The next phase of Vision 2040 is to analyze transportation corridors throughout the region to identify which are most...
SOSHCE Annual Meeting: Updates on industrial wind and transmission developments
The Save our Scenic Hill Country Environment (SOSHCE) Annual Membership Meeting will be held on Tuesday, November 17, 2015 at 7 pm in the Central Texas Electric Co-op Community Room at 386 Friendship Lane in Fredericksburg. The featured presentations will provide...
Exciting things happening at Westcave Preserve
Westcave Outdoor Discovery Center will soon be connecting more children with nature with their soon-to-be unveiled Roadrunner Outdoor Adventures Bus. Thanks to the support of Impact Austin and a successful Indiegogo campaign, more than 7,500 school kids will...
Eminent Domain – Changing the Landscape
“Texas is growing and changing,” said Greg Simons, president of the Texas Wildlife Association (TWA). “More people mean more demands for all types of infrastructure – roads, transmission lines, pipelines, reservoirs, schools and on and on. It all has to go somewhere....
Will the Land and Water Conservation Fund Rise Again
The LWCF does a lot more than buy inholdings. Roughly half of it goes to providing conservation easements on private land, conserving privately owned timberlands, developing urban parks and ball fields, and funding endangered species projects on non-federal lands....
Water Forum VI: Vista Ridge, Conservation, Rate Increase
The $3.4 billion Vista Ridge water pipeline, water conservation, the Nov. 19 City Council vote on a new rate increase and structure that will result in reduced bills for low usage and higher bills for big water users dominated the conversation at the San Antonio Clean...
How Will San Antonio Manage Growth and Gentrification?
San Antonio is expected to gain 1 million people by 2040 and the City is planning to annex 66 square miles of commercial and residential areas. What should the city prioritize as it grows? Without pause, Christine Drennon, head of Trinity University‘s Urban...
Chronic Wasting Disease “Town-Hall” Meeting, Nov. 4 in San Antonio
In July, Chronic Wasting Disease was detected in a white-tailed deer in Medina County, Texas. This disease, first discovered in 1967 in Colorado, affects the nervous systems of white-tailed and mule deer, elk, moose, and red deer. For the first time, the disease was...
Vista Ridge pipeline the focus at Texas Water Symposium
“Whether the Vista Ridge pipeline will soften the city’s efforts to encourage residents to use less water is just one of a variety of concerns that have surfaced ahead of the city council’s vote on a water rate increase to help pay for it.” Texas Tribune’s Kiah...
You don’t want to miss this party – Be sure to get your tickets!
10 Years Together - celebration less than two weeks away! HCA celebrates “10 Years Together” at the historic Albert Dance Hall near Stonewall on Sunday, November 1st. Join us and spend a beautiful fall afternoon & evening in the scenic hills, listening to great...
Summit eyes Hill Country development, future growth
Ranchers, conservationists and tourists all share one thing in common: they love experiencing rural land by seeing the beauty of the Texas Hill Country. This was the message told throughout the Hill Country Alliance (HCA) leadership summit at the Nimitz Museum...
New Questions Face San Antonio Water Pipeline
Nearly a year after the San Antonio City Council unanimously approved what could be the most expensive water project in the region's history, some council members appear to be having doubts. Dubbed the Vista Ridge Project, the $3 billion-plus venture would pipe in 16...
October Pedernales Newsletter Available
HCA's Pedernales-specific newsletter was mailed this week with news and events from across the basin. This month's email profiles a brand new report released by the Meadows Center for Water and the Environment to answer the question: "How Much Water is in the...
Llano River Watershed Week in Review
The Watershed Week in Review from the Llano River Watershed Alliance covers important topics impacting citizens, land, water and wildlife along the Llano River. This week's newsletter: "Bush nonprofit partners with State and Feds to Restore Monarch Population," "3...
Film addresses lessons and future strategies following Blanco River flood
The Texas Hill Country, known as “Flash Flood Alley”, is a semi-arid region known for extended periods of drought interrupted by significant flooding events. The Memorial Day flood along the Blanco River was one of the most devastating on record. Citizens and...
Needmore Ranch seeks giant groundwater pumping permit
CARD Urges Complete Evaluation and Public Meeting Just east of Wimberley along the Blanco River lies the 5,000 acre Needmore Ranch owned by McAllen businessman Greg LaMantia. This ranch made headlines in 2013 when the Texas Legislature approved a 4,000 acre Municipal...
Nurseryman Bill Neiman harvests native seed to restore Texas prairies
As a child growing up on the rural outskirts of Dallas in the 1950s, Bill Neiman loved to plant himself beneath the native horse apple trees in his family’s backyard. Water hose in hand, he created rivers and lakes for his imaginary little people in the make-believe...
Government Canyon State Natural Area Celebrates 10th Anniversary
“If you have never been to Government Canyon, you will be amazed”, says Government Canyon Superintendent Chris Holm. “Surprisingly, it’s only a few minutes from San Antonio. Many people don’t even know we are here but when they find us, they are amazed by the peaceful...
A new web-based land-use tool is available at the Texas Land Trends website
“Snelgrove said users can view 15-year trends in private working lands for such metrics as land use, market value, ownership size and population by county, river basin, eco-region or region of interest. They can also choose different regional areas to make...
Mason Residents Resist Unwelcome Wind Project
Adding a wind farm to its Lone Star energy portfolio in the scenic Texas Hill Country is proving to be much tougher than setting up shop on the high Texas plains for Enel Green Power North America. Folks in Mason, where construction of the wind project is proposed,...
New Report Shows That Vista Ridge Project Would Harm Aquifer Levels
A new report written by groundwater hydrologist, George Rice, uses the state’s own Groundwater Availability Model to predict that the Vista Ridge water supply project would drop water levels and hydraulic (water) pressure hundreds of feet in the Simsboro and Carrizo...
Texas Water Symposium – The San Antonio/Vista Ridge Pipeline: Regional Considerations of a Potential Municipal Water Supply Project
An upcoming Texas Water Symposium (download flyer), set for October 21 in San Antonio will take a close look at the SAWS/Vista Ridge pipeline project. The program will feature a conversation about the regional, financial and ecological considerations of the 142-mile...
Team begins work on giant river cane
Work has begun to fight back against the giant river cane clogging local creeks. Members of the Hill Country Alliance and Texas Parks and Wildlife Department met early Wednesday morning at the recently renovated Frantzen Park to start test plots on treating Arundo...
“We all know that the Hill Country is one of the most beautiful features of Texas”
“And, we know that its springs and pristine rivers are its jewelry,” Con Mims at the HCA Leadership Summit. More than 150 regional leaders assembled in Fredericksburg last week. “Protecting those springs and rivers is an ever increasing challenge as the population of...
Controversial Water Report to Get Peer Review
Calvin Finch, the lead author of what has become a controversial report on long-term water management and conservation in San Antonio and Fair Oaks Ranch, stands by his work. His still-unreleased report has become the talk of the water community, even if only a...
Vista Ridge study making San Antonio headlines
“City has suppressed controversial water report…Report slams pricey water project City has kept it hidden despite coming vote on SAWS rates,” “Lead writer of water study replaced,” “Puente: Water policy study a ‘joke’...SAWS boss tears into water policy study" and...