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News
SAWS Backpedals on Right Choice – Still Considering Groundwater Importation Project
Last month, the Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club praised staff at the San Antonio Water System (SAWS) for recommending to their Board that the focus of future water supplies for the city should rest on nearby brackish groundwater, rather than the importation of...
HCA’s Rainwater Revival calls for grant applications to fund water conservation and catchment programs at Hill Country schools
March 11, 2014 The Hill Country Alliance has set an April 30 deadline for local schools to apply for grants of up to $1,000 to develop or continue water catchment and conservation programs. The auction of “art barrels” during the Alliance’s annual Rainwater Revival,...
SAWS: Yes to Desal Plant, Maybe to Pipeline
The San Antonio Water System board voted unanimously Tuesday to fund Phase I construction of a brackish water desalination plant in southern Bexar County – the most ambitious water diversification project in the city’s history – and enter negotiations with the Vista...
Meet TWDB’s new Agricultural and Rural Texas Ombudsman
It's a good thing Doug Shaw loves Texas back roads. In just his first six weeks on the job, he traveled over 3,000 miles. The Texas Water Development Board's first Agricultural and Rural Texas Ombudsman began this new staff position on Dec. 1, 2013. The product of a...
Art and Conservation’ to feature landowner-artist partnerships to promote Hill Country conservation
Artists will have access to lands not open to the public BOERNE, Texas—Hill Country-area artists and landowners are invited to join together to promote conservation of the region’s natural resources during “Art and Conservation: Our Hidden Treasures,” a collaboration...
Texas’ Most Endangered Places
Nominations are now being accepted for the Preservation Texas, Most Endangered Place list. Some wonderful places in the Hill Country already grace this list including the Spettel Riverside House in Bandera County, The Old Llano County Jail, Hamilton Pool, Scenic...
Registration is open for the Annual Kent Butler Summit
Faucets, Toilets, and Automobiles: Balancing Growth and Sustainability in the Barton Springs Aquifer Region. Join us Friday, April 25th for a day of learning at the Lady Bird Wildflower Center. Click here to learn more and register online.
Medina Lake Water Well Meeting March 17
The Medina Lake Preservation Society (MLPS) has invited officials from the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) to speak with LakePlex citizens about drought assistance availability for communities and individual well...
Learn about Fredericksburg SHINES
Promoting Solar, Electric Vehicle charging stations, Zero Waste, Bicycling, Water Efficiency… Fredericksburg SHINES is striving to make Fredericksburg become the most sustainable community in Texas! Read their most recent newsletter and get involved.
American Dream and the Economic Myth
Property is a thing. Happiness is an ideal, a story of the future created by the imagination. The American dream, even when it takes material form, is a wish the heart makes in its pursuit of happiness. It is an act of the imagination made vivid by the life and...
San Antonio’s Water Future: Who is Running SAWS?
Who is in charge at the San Antonio Water System as major water supply policies are about to be set for the next decade and beyond? The answer, for the moment, is evident only to a handful of senior SAWS executives, board trustees, city officials and business leaders....
Hill Country Water: Myths and Truths
Cow Creek Groundwater District Directors Milan J. Michalec and Bob Webster will present a program about Groundwater in the Texas Hill Country on Thursday evening, March 20. The program is titled “Hill Country Water- Myths and Truths”. This informative program focuses...
Gravel pit proposed near Guadalupe River
Commissioners seemed to agree they don’t have much chance of preventing the pit, even though it is in the 100-year floodplain, where land modifications require the county’s approval. The county must approve the proposal if the company submits plans to the county...
Drought Fuels Rising Tide of Texas Water Conservation
San Antonio and Austin are separated by roughly 80 miles and receive an average of about 32 inches of rain each year. They sit just east of the 100th Meridian, which is often considered the divide between east and west where the plentiful rainfall greening the east...
California’s Drought: Cheap Water, But No Free Lunch
Droughts are too often viewed as local disasters. The historic drought gripping California, which grows more than 90% of the country's almonds, broccoli, grapes and tomatoes, reminds us that in today's global economy, the economic repercussions of water scarcity...
Symposium Will Explore Issues Facing Iconic Pedernales River
Download FlyerPhoto:Rusty Ray The first Texas Water Symposium of 2014 will feature a conversation between Hill Country landowners and water experts about the Pedernales River. The symposium, which will take place from 7 to 8:30 pm on Thursday, March 20, at the Hill...
Scenic America Announces 2014 Conference in Houston on April 11
Scenic America Scenic America is proud to announce that their 2014 Conference will take place on Friday April 11 at the Magnolia Hotel in downtown Houston. For a draft agenda and to register go to:http://www.scenic.org/houston2014. Hosted by Scenic Texas and Scenic...
Latest twist in the Lerin Hills saga near Boerne in Kendall County
"The MUD needs the pipeline to get Canyon Lake water to Lerin Hills, where 1,475 homes — plus businesses, parks and a school — are proposed.” Read the article from SA Express-News.
Hays County Water Security – At What Price?
Hays County is gambling one million tax payer dollars a year on our water future. Citizens Alliance for Responsible Development (CARD) believes our elected officials need to show the taxpayers of Hays County that this is a sound bet, not wasted tax money that will...
Councilman Nirenberg asks key questions about San Antonio water and growth
How are the city’s current policies affecting water quality and supply? How do the city’s growth strategies impact our water security measures? Do these efforts complement or conflict with each other? And most importantly, how are ratepayers impacted? A full...
Texas Stream Team Paddlers launched at the Meadows Center
The Meadows Center for Water & the Environment at Texas State University is inviting kayakers and canoeists to join the Texas Stream Team, a citizen science program that has been monitoring the quality of Texas waterways since 1991. Learn more about opportunities...
Hill Country Land Trust Adds Skilled Board and Committee Members
Hill Country Land Trust February 25, 2014 The Hill Country Land Trust (HCLT), a non-profit land conservation group headquartered in Fredericksburg, Texas, recently welcomed several new board and committee members. Steve Nelle joined the Board in late 2013, and is a...
Bennett Trust Land Stewardship educational program set April 23-25 in Kerrville
By: Kay Ledbetter AgriLife Today State photographer Wyman Meinzer has been selected as the keynote speaker for the Bennett Trust Land Stewardship educational program, “Protecting the Legacy of the Edwards Plateau,” to be hosted by the Texas A&M AgriLife...
January Driest in Decades – Severe Drought Continues
The amount of water flowing into the Highland Lakes in January was the lowest for that month since the 1950s. The lower Colorado River basin is in its seventh year of a severe drought, and the Highland Lakes remain near historic low levels...Lakes Travis and Buchanan,...
Public Invited to Outdoor Adventure Showcase at LBJ State Park
Lyndon B. Johnson State Park and Historic Site presents a day of family fun from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 22, featuring adventure and hands-on experiences for all ages. Representatives from a dozen central Texas state parks and state natural areas will be...
Farm Bill Update: The Agriculture Act of 2014 and Conservation
With the enactment of the Agriculture Act of 2014, known to most of us as the Farm Bill, landowners have more certainty about the availability of federal funds for conservation on farm and ranch lands. The Farm Bill provides up to $57 billion dollars over the next...
Success Stories of Trails in Texas
The National Park Service, Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance Program is working on trail projects throughout Texas including urban trails in Austin and San Antonio and the Llano River Biodiversity trail at Texas Tech University in Junction. Learn More
Water Blues
“How much IS too much?” Is the rate of growth northwest of San Antonio undermining the good efforts of land conservation investment over the aquifer recharge area? These tough questions are explored in the new documentary film project, Water Blues. View clips by...
Globe At Night – Get Out and Observe the Night Sky!
The Globe at Night program is an international citizen-science campaign to raise public awareness of the impact of light pollution by inviting citizen-scientists to measure their night sky brightness and submit their observations to a website from a computer or smart...
Hill Country Land Trust Acquires 685 Acre Easement in Gillespie County
February 11, 2014 The Hill Country Land Trust The Hill Country Land Trust (HCLT), a non-profit land conservation group headquartered in Fredericksburg, Texas, recently acquired a land easement of 685 acres in Gillespie County, bringing the total of preserved...