News
A Hill Country Senate race to pay attention to
State Rep. Susan King (Abilene) has announced that she is running to replace Sen. Troy Fraser in Texas Senate District 24 (Bandera, Bell, Blanco, Brown, Burnet, Callahan, Comanche, Coryell, Gillespie, Hamilton, Kerr, Lampasas, Llano, Mills, San Saba and parts of...
Environmental group opposes state water grid
The state's largest environmental group is voicing strong opposition to a proposed study of a state water grid — a network that would distribute water across the vast and often dry expanses of the Lone Star State. Proponents of the idea say a study is needed to cope...
Comanche Moon to Eclipse this Sunday Night
By Wayne Gosnell: My friend Sandy and I get great pleasure out of being the first to text the other whenever we first glimpse a Comanche Moon. That’s when the full moon rises out of the eastern horizon just after sunset, catching the rays of the setting sun, which...
What should be the new drawdown of the Trinity Aquifer?
A special public workshop and meeting of the Hays Trinity Groundwater Conservation District (HTGCD) will be held at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 23, at the Wimberley Community Center. The board is to discuss, and possibly vote on, how it will participate in the upcoming...
Hill Country Workshop Provides Landowners with Information on Conservation Easements
The Hill Country Land Trust (HCLT) and The Hill Country Alliance (HCA) are hosting a conservation easement workshop on Friday, October 23. This workshop will focus on the landowners in the nineteen-county Hill Country region and will bring landowners the message...
Blanco River Flood Exacerbated by Manicured Lawns on the Riverbanks
Rachel Ranft steers a mud-splattered white pickup slowly along River Road, a narrow strip of asphalt a few feet above the now-placid Blanco River in Wimberley, Texas. She pulls up next to a towering bald cypress, a type of conifer native to central Texas that grows...
Colorado nonprofit partners with city on mobility
Austin leaders announced a partnership Monday morning between the city and Colorado-based nonprofit Rocky Mountain Institute to develop “innovative mobility solutions” to the transportation woes that frustrate many Austinites. Jeruld Weiland, managing director of...
TCEQ grants permit to take land for private developer despite judge’s ruling
The Graham family can never seem to cut a break from big government. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), the state agency that grants wastewater permits, approved a permit for the neighboring developer of Johnson Ranch in spite of the fact that...
House Committee Holds Medina County Hearing For CWD Update
Colleen Schreiberm Livestock Weekly: The Texas House Committee on Culture, Recreation and Tourism conducted another special hearing to address the chronic wasting disease issue. This one was not held at the Capitol, however, but in Medina County, where four deer in a...
Photo Contest Winners Announced!
Winning Photos in Calendar Contest Capture Extraordinary Moments of Hill Country Beauty Dazzling color and light emanate from each of the winning photographs from Hill Country Alliance’s (HCA) annual photography contest. Soft ripples of lavender and tangerine clouds...
Hill Country residents are encouraged to participate in Regional Water Planning
Hill Country regional planning groups have completed drafts of their portions of the 2017 State Water Plan, and now is the time to review and make public comments. These plans are essentially lists of water supply strategies intended to accommodate growth...
As the Lone Star State booms, our wide-open spaces shrink
As the heart of Texas — the Texas Triangle — swells with population, the cornfields and sunflower stands recede before the march of the suburbs. But there is a glimmer of hope because ranchers and environmentalists, hunters and city dwellers now have something crucial...
New Law May Not Thwart Hays County Water Project
On a recent weeknight, nearly 200 Hays County residents packed into the Wimberley Community Center for what some described as a celebration. Six months earlier, three times as many had stormed the place demanding state legislation they hoped would thwart a major water...
Residents of Hill Country town upset about wind farm plan
They first started appearing in West Texas, where the wind howls through oil rigs. Then it was the Panhandle, and small towns along Interstate 20, like Sweetwater, where cattle farms have given way to giant, white spinning blades. Now the wind turbines are getting...
Transportation the Talk of Austin-San Antonio Growth Summit
“A key area for improving connections, he said, is transportation. Raising the opportunity to finally plan and build commuter rail service between the two cities with stops all along the way, Adler said, “Austin is ready to have those data-driven conversations....
Join GEAA protecting landowner rights and water
TCEQ recently approved a plan by the Johnson Ranch subdivision in Comal County to dump approximately 350,000 gallons per day of treated sewage effluent on their neighbors' land. Neighboring families have spent the last year and hundreds of thousands of dollars...
Texas Farmers Brace for New Clean Water Rule
In the 65 years that Tommy Calvert has grown hay and raised cattle in Denton County, he’s never applied for a federal permit. But with a new national clean water rule in effect, he's not sure if it's something he needs to think about. After heavy rains, runoff from...
Kendall County’s History of Conservation
A four-part series by Brent Evans: Kendall County’s tradition of protecting natural resources has a long history of gradual recognition of needs and spirited citizen action. Brent traces the history of local conservation efforts up to the present, and encourage both...
The Future of Conservation in Kendall County, Part 2
Part Two - By Brent Evans Here are some selected voices about future conservation efforts. (I have had to edit for brevity.) Mayor Mike Schultz and Pamela Bransford, Public Relations Coordinator for the City of Boerne: “When Boerne’s founding fathers settled in this...
The Future of Conservation in Kendall County
Part One - By Brent Evans “In the end our society will be defined not only by what we create, but by what we refuse to destroy.” - John Sawhill, The Nature Conservancy The beauty of the Hill Country, “the Sweet Spot of Texas”, is its blessing and its curse. Being one...
Kendall County’s History of Conservation, Part 4
Part Four - By Brent Evans “If future generations are to remember us more with gratitude than sorrow, we must achieve more than just the miracles of technology. We must leave them a glimpse of the world as it was created, not just as it looked when we got through with...
Take Action for Hill Country Spring Flow
HCA and the Our Desired Future project have made it easy for you to voice your “desired future” for groundwater management and the springs and streams that are sustained by healthy aquifers. Read the stories, watch the videos, use the maps to find your groundwater...
Kendall County’s History of Conservation, Part 3
Part Three - By Brent Evans Boerne has successfully marketed itself as a beautiful place to visit or live. The Handbook of Texas describes the area: “Throughout its course, Cibolo Creek has been judged to be a ‘scenic’ and ‘picturesque’ stream. This is particularly...
Kendall County’s History of Conservation, Part 2
Part Two - By Brent Evans Kendall County’s tradition of protecting natural resources has a long history of gradual recognition of needs and spirited citizen action. This the second in a four part series will trace the history of local conservation efforts up to the...
RPA President Emeritus Robert Yaro Appointed Potter Rose Visiting Professor of Planning at The University of Texas at Austin School of Architecture
"I'm thrilled to have the opportunity to work with UT's exceptional faculty and students on strategies to preserve the Texas Hill Country," said Yaro. "This is one of the most beautiful natural areas in the country. The future livability of Austin, San Antonio and the...
84th Texas State Legislature: summaries of water-related legislative action
The Texas Water Journal recently released a review of the 84th legislative session written by leaders from the Texas Water Conservation Association, Sierra Club, Lone Star Chapter, Texas Alliance of Groundwater Districts and the Texas Water Infrastructure Network....
Who is Really Paying for SAWS Rate Structure?
What most people don’t realize is that those increased impact fees that developers have to pay in the future will never include the cost of water from the Vista Ridge deal, because of how that deal was structured. It is extraordinarily expensive water that SAWS...
2015 Bennett Trust Land Stewardship Women’s Conference, Oct. 5-6 in Fredericksburg
A conference devoted to helping women manage natural resources in the Edwards Plateau will take place in Fredericksburg Oct. 5-6, 2015 at the Inn on Barons Creek. The 2015 Women’s Natural Resource Management Conference is funded by the Ruth and Eskel Bennett...
Millennials Favor Walkable Communities, Says New NAR Poll
Millennials prefer walking over driving by a substantially wider margin than any other generation, according to a new poll conducted by the National Association of Realtors® and the Transportation Research and Education Center at Portland State University. The 2015...
Bob Ayres honored by Travis Audubon
“Bob Ayres and his family are devoted stewards of the land. In 1998, they placed nearly all of the 6,800-acre Shield Ranch, located in the heart of the Barton Creek watershed, under conservation easement with The Nature Conservancy and the City of Austin.” Travis...