News
LCRA: Lots of water for sale
In the latest sign of the drought’s ebbing, two top officials with the Lower Colorado River Authority met with Hays County commissioners to deliver a simple message: They have spare water for sale — lots of it. The river authority, which oversees the doling out of...
Are we “overestimating” our resources?
It’s often said that many of our aquifers and rivers are already over-allocated in Texas. In 1922, seven Western states — Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, Wyoming and California — drew up an agreement on how to divide the waters of the Colorado River. But...
Hays Commissioners pull plug on water deal
"The deal was up for renewal, but Hays Commissioner Will Conley said Tuesday that the county should not be involved with pulling water from Lee and Bastrop counties, where the plan was deeply unpopular. He said the Forestar plan echoed the highly controversial...
HCA Welcomes New Board Member Matt Lara
Born and raised in Amarillo, Matt Lara grew up in the back seat of bright-orange Volkswagen pop-top making trips to the Rocky Mountains of New Mexico and Colorado. While watching the landscape change from the flat plains of the Texas Panhandle, to the breathtaking...
Texas Water Symposium discusses water demands, conservation
By Richard Zowie, Fredericksburg Standard-Radio Post: Texas is growing, and a concern in the water industry is whether the Lone Star State can keep up with residents’ water needs. A three-person panel discussed this and fielded questions at the 8th Annual Texas Water...
TPR re-broadcast of last week’s Texas Water Symposium, June 28 at 8pm on KTXI 90.1
Whether you are concerned about the on-going drought, rainwater harvesting or even cedar management, the Texas Water Symposium recently held at Texas Tech University in Fredericksburg will inform and entertain you. Join Texas Public Radio for a broadcast of the forum...
Water Legislation recap from Environment Texas
"On June 1st, the 84th Session of the Texas Legislature came to a close. The session was not great for the environment overall, but water legislation fared a bit better. Yet for every good bill that passed there seemed to be a bad bill passed, or a good bill that...
Better Lights for Starry Nights
Are you ready to see more stars in your community? HCA's newest board member, Matt Lara has created a wonderful, easy to give presentation about protecting the night sky with effective lighting. Contact HCA to schedule a program in your community. View the...
Save Oak Hill Petition
"Did you know the TxDOT plans for the “Oak Hill Parkway” is not a parkway, but an elevated toll road that slices through the heart of Oak Hill, wipes out multiple groves of heritage trees, and squeezes Williamson Creek in between elevated roadways for more than a...
Taking Care of Your Creeks and Streams
Essential lesson’s from Steve Nelle recently published in Ranch and Rural Living Magazine: “Stewardship of creeks and rivers involves the notion that creeks are to some extent a shared resource. Even though the landowner may legally own the creek, he or she realizes...
Minnesota Governor signs bill to mandate buffers to improve water quality and habitat
The governor said the buffer bill will be one of his most important legacies. “I think we’ll see in the next couple of years a very significant expansion in the number and quality of buffers to make our water cleaner and increase wildlife habitat,” he said. “Given...
Rainwater harvesting getting new flood of interest after recent rains
With the recent abundance of rain, a Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service program specialist who presents rainwater harvesting programs in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and elsewhere in the state, has been “flooded” with calls from people interested in water...
May marks wettest month for Texas in recorded history
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reports that May was the wettest month on record for the Continental US- and the wettest for both Oklahoma and Texas in recorded history, with rainfall totals almost twice the average levels. Recent rains have...
Texas planners look to aquifers to prepare for next drought
The torrential storms of last month essentially ended one of Texas’ worst droughts, but much of the excess water has already flowed into the Gulf of Mexico or will evaporate by year’s end. With a wary eye toward the next prolonged dry-streak that inevitably will come,...
Flood Aid TX, June 28th
The United Way of Hays County is partnering with ADRN, Crosswind Promotions, the City of Austin and others to hold a benefit concert for flood relief. The concert line-up includes Ray Benson, Jack Ingram, The Spazmatics and many more. The concert will be held from...
City Says No Thanks to Niagara Water Bottling Deal
Ten days ago, a rezoning application by California-based Niagara Bottling to build a water bottling plant at Brooks City Base was fast-tracked for City Council approval by the Zoning Commission, but the deal is now dead. The company’s rezoning application has been...
Chairman of Water Development Board Stepping Down
Carlos Rubinstein, chairman of the Texas Water Development Board, has announced he is stepping down after serving in the position for nearly two years. Rubinstein led the board into a new era after it was handed greater authority over water supply projects by the...
The Texas Drought is over, but what about the next?
The drought that just ended (in all but a small corner of the Texas Panhandle, according to the latest U.S. Drought Monitor) made Texans aware of the importance of a reliable water supply, for themselves and for the state’s economy. The Texas Legislature in 2013...
Our Water Future Is Not For Sale
San Antonio’s business-as-usual is putting our water future at risk. Last week Brooks City Base sought rush-rush rezoning approval to allow Niagara Bottling to put San Antonio’s water in plastic bottles to sell nationwide. This, while San Antonio Water System (SAWS)...
Barton Springs – Edwards Aquifer Conservation District Expansion News, Map, And FAQs
Barton Springs/Edwards Aquifer Conservation District (BSEACD) has set up a new page on their website devoted to the annexation of the white zone of the Trinity in Hays County. It currently includes a map of annexed area, a copy of the final bill, and a FAQ page. For...
Post-Flood Riparian Recovery Workshops Planned for Wimberley and Blanco Communities
In the wake of the Memorial Day 2015 floods that roared through Central Texas, people in the Hill Country are left grappling with the aftermath. Images of hundred-year-old cypress trees, stripped bare of their bark and ripped up from their roots, inevitably turn our...
Texas Water Symposium to Feature Regional Water Experts, June 18 in Fredericksburg
Regional Growth and Our State Water Planning Process: How You Can Get Involved The 8th Annual Texas Water Symposium series continues this June in Fredericksburg with a personal conversation between Hill Country water experts about the State’s water planning process...
Six Schools Win Rainwater Revival Grants to Fund Conservation Projects
HCA was happily overwhelmed with 13 terrific Rainwater Revival grant applications from Hill Country schools this year. Though all projects had merit, the three judges made difficult choices and picked six deserving schools to receive $1,000 awards each. “Judging by...
Zoning Change for Water Bottling Plant Paused for a Second Look
Environmental groups called foul this week when the City of San Antonio Zoning Commissionapproved a plan to rezone a section of Brooks City Base to make way for a possible water bottling plant on Tuesday. The fast-tracked rezoning request was on the agenda for City...
Paradise Lost: What the Texas Floods Swept Away
The flash flood warnings kept coming in over television. That is, until the power went out. The entire valley, I could see from my home on the hill, was plunged into pitch-blackness made all the worse by the sheets of rain. After a sheriff’s deputy came to the house...
Letting the River Heal
The good news is, the best thing you can do for your trees and river banks is to leave them alone. Please watch this video from Blanco Valley River Restoration Project and read this helpful information from the Texas Forest Service, Hays County Master Naturalists and...
Sen. Fraser Decides Against Running for Re-election
State Sen. Troy Fraser, R-Horseshoe Bay, announced Tuesday that he is not running for re-election, ending a tenure at the Capitol that has spanned four decades. "There comes a time when leaders must take a look at the trail they have blazed and reflect on all they...
Texas legislators mostly kept hands off local control
A simmering feud between state lawmakers and municipal leaders over local control never quite reached full boil this year. Spooked by Gov. Greg Abbott’s push against “unchecked overregulation” and by tea party Republicans who filed bills to limit local government,...
After Error, Hays County Groundwater Bill is Revived
A bill designed to protect western Hays County residents' water wells in light of a massive groundwater pumping project is headed to Gov. Greg Abbott's desk —following an emotional week of political drama over an issue once considered local and relatively...
Legislative victory for Texas’ working lands
Texas Agricultural Land Trust: HB1925, authored by Representative Charlie Geren, will move the Texas Farm & Ranch Lands Conservation Program to the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department (TPWD). TPWD is well-suited to ensure that the program meets its purpose,...