News
A more “Night Skies” friendly community
James Murr The Junction Eagle March 26, 2014 It started when the Kimble County Commissioners Court, followed by the City Council, passed resolutions supporting voluntary efforts to protect the Night Skies. This paralleled actions being taken in other Hill Country...
TWDB’s Water Data for Texas website now includes groundwater data
Today Texans are more aware than ever of the importance of groundwater. As part of ongoing efforts to synthesize and communicate water-related data to scientists, policy makers and the public, the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB)recently announced its Water Data...
New Billboard Fact Sheet
Scenic America has just released a handy 4-page reference guide to basic facts and figures about billboards. Download the PDF here. Learn more about scenic issues and billboard in the Hill Country here.
CAMPO Planning – Now is the time to get involved
The Capitol Area Metropolitan Planning Organization is currently seeking public input for projects including new roads in the long-ranch plan. Learn more about transportation planning taking place in Burnett, Travis and Hays counties and attend an open house near you.
Build Water Smart Now
Tom Hegemier Chair, Central Texas Land / Water Sustainability Forum March 17, 2014 We felt reassured by the fall rains, but most storms missed lakes Travis and Buchanan. Now the empty clouds of drought hover and the water supply clock ticks on. Drought again is a...
West’s Drought and Growth Intensify Conflicts over Water Rights
Across the parched American West, the long drought has set off a series of fierce legal and political battles over who controls an increasingly dear treasure - water. Read more from the New York Times.
Stormwater Management Can Be “Green” Too
Meet Dr. Katherine Lieberknecht. She is a professor in the University of Texas School of Architecture who proposes the revolutionary idea that stormwater runoff can – and should – be managed as a water resource, rather than as nuisance to be drained “away” as...
The Bats are on their way back to the Hill Country
While South by Southwest (SXSW) comes to a close in Austin, Texas' bat season is just beginning. That's right, the Mexican free-tailed bats have begun their northward migration. To celebrate, here's a little "Q&A" to help answer any questions you may have about...
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...