News
In Major Water Case, Win for Ranchers is Loss For Cities
The Texas Supreme Court on Friday handed a victory to farmers, ranchers and other longstanding water rights holders by declining to take up a Brazos River case with widespread implications for future water battles in drought-prone Texas. Denying a state petition for...
Edwards Aquifer Authority must shell out to pecan farmers
The government agency in charge of the Edwards Aquifer must pay two pecan farmers upwards of $2.5 million for limiting their groundwater pumping, a jury decided. The verdict came as welcome news to Glenn and JoLynn Bragg. The couple has been in litigation with the...
Conservation Easement 101: What Is a Conservation Easement?
As development in Texas increases, lands that have been in families for generations are at a greater risk of fragmentation and development than ever before. Many are beginning to look to conservation easements to protect family lands for future generations. But what...
Pecan farmers at the center of historic groundwater case
A Medina County jury will decide this week how much the Edwards Aquifer Authority should pay a pecan-farming couple for limiting the water they can pump from below their land. The lawsuit involving farmers Glenn and JoLynn Bragg has been in litigation for 10 years....
Win for farmers confirms state water rights system
In a win for farmers, ranchers and longtime water rights holders, the Texas Supreme Court on Friday let stand a Brazos River basin decision that limits the power of the state to divvy up water during drought. Farmers along the Brazos River, whose basin includes...
UT study: More development regulation needed
A major new study on protecting the Hill Country from unrelenting population growth and land development was recently unveiled for Comal County residents. “People love this place and they really want to be here and appreciate the beauty that the Hill Country has to...
Abengoa Vista Ridge announces that it will sell 80 percent of its share in the SAWS pipeline project
San Antonio Water System officials today released a list of firms interested in buying into the Vista Ridge pipeline project. Brookfield Global Infrastructure Advisor Ltd., John Laing Group PLC and the Blackstone Group have all submitted formal proposals to Abengoa...
Rehabilitation of Herff Homestead in Boerne Receives 2016 Honor Award
Preservation Texas, Inc. has announced that the rehabilitation of the Herff Homestead in Boerne, Texas, will receive a 2016 Honor Award on February 18, 2016. The Honor Award will be presented at a special ceremony at the historic State Theatre on Congress Avenue in...
The Stars At Night are big and bright—and ready for their close-up
Texas is full of wide-open spaces perfect for gazing at the night sky. This month, five planets will line up and be visible to the naked eye for the first time in decade. Check out some of the best places in Texas to view the night sky and learn about star gazing...
USDA announces $6 million for monarch program
Thousands of acres of private land across Texas and eight Midwestern and Plains states could become better habitat for vulnerable monarch butterflies, thanks to a federal grant program. U.S. Department of Agriculture officials Friday announced $720 million in funding...
Some City Council members want say on pipeline contract revision
The City Council is divided over whether the San Antonio Water System should allow the company planning to build a water pipeline from Burleson County to sell most of its stake in the project without council approval. District 8 Councilman Ron Nirenberg is leading a...
Proposed Texas Water Grid to Share Water Statewide
"In order to have a sustainable Texas—both the economy and the supporting environment— we must realize that water is in a special category. If we overbuild or overuse our water resources or pollute them too badly, there are NO substitutes. Research this matter and...
Expert: Vista Ridge/Abengoa generates plenty of intrigue
It started out, by most accounts, as a good business deal. "The return was estimated to be upwards of 12 percent over a 30-year period, so this was a pretty fantastic project,” said David Vequist, a professor of management at the University of the Incarnate Word of...
What’s under Texas? A LOT of brackish groundwater!
Resting under Texas, there is more than 2.7 billion acre-feet of brackish groundwater in the state's minor and major aquifers. To put that into perspective, the total conservation capacity (water supply) for reservoirs monitored by the Texas Water Development Board...
Tomorrow: Growth is focus for local forum
February 18th, the League of Women Voters will be holding a forum to present the findings of the just-released study “Toward a Regional Plan for the Texas Hill Country,” which was done by the University of Texas School of Architecture. The study focuses on ways of...
The Hill Country Studio wins Groundwater Stewardship Award from BSEACD
Barton Springs Edwards Aquifer Conservation District (BSEACD) has named Hill Country Studio a 2015 Groundwater Stewardship Award winner for their comprehensive report "Toward a Regional Plan for the Texas Hill Country." "The Hill Country Studio addressed regional...
With a rush for water, experts debate what will happen to aquifers
Four groundwater scientists grappled with some big questions about the aquifer in Central Texas expected to be tapped to supply fast-growing San Antonio and Austin. A water symposium at Texas State University on Thursday addressed the Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer, a layer...
TPWD, partners plan riparian restoration workshop for Blanco River
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, and several partner organizations, and are planning a riparian recovery workshop for landowners impacted by the Memorial Day flood. Free grass and sedge plants will be given away and agency staff will train landowners in proper...
Union Pacific stops passenger train idea in its tracks
Union Pacific dealt a major blow to a proposal to connect San Antonio and Austin with passenger rail by pulling one of its tracks from a possible plan. UP ended its agreement with the Lone Star Rail District to study the feasibility of running passenger trains on a...
South Llano River State Park installs night sky quality meter
Ken Kattner, of Putnam Observatory and key leader on HCA Night Skies Team, recently donated valuable high-tech scientific equipment to monitor sky quality at South Llano River State Park near Junction. Dedicated to preserving large swaths of Hill Country night skies,...
New Texas Farm and Ranch Lands Conservation Council Holds Inaugural Meeting
Armed with $2 million in legislative appropriations to help bring more of the state’s high-value working farm and ranch lands under long term conservation protection, the Texas Farm and Ranch Lands Conservation Council held its inaugural meeting under the...
Will Dripping Springs sewage expansion foul Onion Creek?
From his rolling Hill Country spread, Wes Pitts can watch changes in gray-green Onion Creek as it riffles by. This is the same creek that twice in 2015 flooded poor neighborhoods in Southeast Austin, but here, miles upstream, on a windy, dry late January day, it wends...
State Senate hopefuls sound off on issues
Six Republican candidates vying for the Texas Senate District 24 seat of retiring Sen. Troy Fraser attended a candidate forum recently at the Hill Country University Center. Ross Ramsey, executive editor of the Texas Tribune, moderated a two-hour forum in which...
Interregional Water Piping to Supply Thirsty Regions Debated in Statehouse
Texas House of Representatives Committee on Natural Resources debated the long-term ability of water rich rural regions to supply the thirsty growth of municipalities. Growing Texas metroplexes will continue to advocate for Interregional water supply pipelines to...
Waters of the United States and the Clean Waters Act: New EPA Rules
There has been considerable interest in the Hill Country about the EPA’s new Waters of the US (WOTUS) rules clarifications. The debate revolves around the EPA including more waterways into its jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act than it traditionally has. (We...
Sewage Spill in the Llano River
Ironically, a few days before the Texas Stream Team training at Texas Tech Junction, members of the Llano River Watershed Alliance hiking just downstream of the junction of the North and South Llano Rivers, observed pools of algae-covered water along the Llano River...
Texas Night Sky Festival – Coming March 5th A Star-Studded Event for the Whole Family
As light pollution continues to increase from rapidly growing urban sprawl, the sparkling starlit night skies of Texas have dulled for many across the state. Instead of allowing our magnificent star-filled nights to fade into a cherished memory, there is a statewide...
Regional Experts Recommend Swift Action to Conserve the Hill Country
According to a report published last week by regional thought leaders, the need now is greater than ever to ramp up preservation efforts for the Texas Hill Country’s natural landscape. With the Austin-San Antonio-San Marcos region experiencing an explosion in...
Protecting The Hill Country’s Scenic Beauty From Suburban Sprawl
A new study makes several recommendations for protecting the Texas Hill country's cultural heritage and scenic beauty from the intense population growth that Austin and San Antonio have seen. A big focus on planning for the future, the report recommends mapping what...
UT Report: Hill Country At-Risk By Development
The Greater Texas Hill Country needs a new plan because its scenery, wildlife and water are being threatened by too much growth and too little regulation. That's according to a report issued by the University of Texas School of Architecture. Travis County Commissioner...