News
San Antonio’s treated sewage proving vital to river and estuaries
It’s easy to turn up your nose at what you flush down your toilet, but once the city cleans that wastewater, it can benefit the San Antonio River. Treated effluent makes up 90 percent of the flow in the river. It keeps aquatic plants and animals alive. It cools...
New project seeks ‘equitable adaptation’ of urban stormwater infrastructure, management
The National Science Foundation recently announced project awards for its Civic Innovation Challenge (CIVIC) planning grant program, and the team led by Wendy Jepson, Ph.D., Texas Water Resources Institute associate director and University Professor of Geography in...
Opinion: Texas has a long way to go to live up to vision of Clean Water Act
Last month the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) voted to remove what would have been a first-ever microplastics ban from its proposed Surface Water Quality Standards. The decision went against the support of numerous environmental organizations and...
Dried Up: Hydrologists dig into Jacob’s Well, prepare for explosive Hill Country growth
Texas researchers are taking a closer look at the future of the Trinity Aquifer. The aquifer, which provides much of the drinking water to the Texas Hill Country, has seen a sharp decline amid rapid growth and years of extreme drought. The research could help...
Feral hogs back in the crosshairs for bounties in Hays, Caldwell counties
Hunters and landowners, it’s time again to go hog wild. Feral hogs in Texas wreak havoc on the environment, and Hays and Caldwell counties are renewing an effort to curtail the curly tailed nuisance species. Read more from Annie Blanks with San Antonio Express-News...
Grassroots gathering of Hill Country water advocates reveals ongoing water challenges and opportunities in the region
Hill Country water advocates from across the region gathered in Bandera, TX on October 13th for a day of learning, connecting, and strategizing for water stewardship in our region. “The work to protect our aquifers and rivers is challenging but vital to the long-term...
Looking to re-wild your yard and stray from St. Augustine grass? Native American Seed is here to help!
As we learn more about living mutualistically with nature, we find an increasing number of things in our lives that we need to change. In the 1960s, for example, the world learned about CFCs in hairspray and what those chemicals were doing to our ozone layer. So, in...
Pedernales river springs salamanders may be federally recognized as endangered
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced that the Pedernales River springs salamander will undergo status reviews to be put on the federal endangered species list. The Pedernales River springs salamander was discovered in 2019 by researchers at The University of...
In Texas, a new study will determine where extreme weather hazards and environmental justice collide
The way Geeta Persad sees it, the nation’s great coastal cities are facing an environmental reckoning with threats from both the air and the sea. In the air, there is the belching, toxic exhaust from factories, petrochemical facilities, sewage treatment plants and...
Groundwater sampling helps better understand Edwards-Trinity Aquifers
The Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) and scientists from the Barton Springs Edwards Aquifer Conservation District (BSEACD) are studying water deep underground to further understand how drought and pumping affect the quality and quantity of groundwater that flows...
Texas heat index could soon surpass 120 degrees, study finds
A recent report published by the First Street Foundation found soon the heat index could surpass 125 degrees in much of Texas. The study was first reported by our media partners with the Texas Tribune. The increase in the heat index is a result of climate change....
Abandoned “dry hole” oil wells are polluting Texas farms, ranches and groundwater. The state won’t fix them.
Schuyler Wight is a fourth-generation rancher who has raised longhorn cattle outside Midland for decades. Wight is no geologist, but over the years, he’s had to familiarize himself with what lies underground. Scattered across his sprawling 20,000-acre ranch are more...
Sadly, “A Day Without Water” is becoming all to common for Texans
For many Texans, “a day without water” is not an imagined experience—it’s just another day. Some communities have never had running water. For the rest of us, experiencing days without water has become the rule rather than the exception. The one-two punch of...
Rapidly growing Dripping Springs ends development moratorium
After nearly a year, the rapidly growing city of Dripping Springs is no longer under a development moratorium. That means commercial and residential development can, and has, resumed — but that doesn’t mean the small Hays County city’s growing pains are solved. Read...
Hill Country leaders gather in Dripping Springs for 2022 Hill Country Leadership Summit – Our shared stories: Past, present, and future
On Thursday, September 29th, conservation leaders from across the Texas Hill Country met at The Hall at Jester King Brewery for the Hill Country Alliance’s annual Leadership Summit. The event theme, Our Shared Stories: Past, Present, and Future, brought together more...
Contentious Comal County quarry gets its air quality permit back
A proposed 1,500-acre limestone quarry between New Braunfels and Bulverde has secured its air quality permit from the state, leading to outrage and frustration from environmentalists and nearby residents. A three-judge panel of the Third Court of Appeals reversed a...
With midterms ahead, is water on the ballot?
With midterm elections just around the corner, Texas voters must consider immigration, abortion access and gun violence. But when prompted, many worry about water, too. Eighty-four percent of Texas voters want the Legislature to create a fund to update aging water...
Central Texas home to all 5 of state’s dark-sky communities
Central Texas lies within the main corridor of North American bird migration with flocks of aviators flying south for the winter and vice versa for the summer. But despite the innate directional awareness, some birds can get confused or harmed by lights shining in our...
Hill Country Alliance Leadership Summit provides information, knowledge, and a path forward
Last week Deborah and I attended the Hill Country Alliance’s Leadership Summit in Dripping Springs. We’ve been following the Alliance for many years and, especially in the last ten years, have come to rely on them as the source for information about the health and...
Ex-slave’s relatives battle to save farm
To Texas transportation officials, expanding U.S. 183 is a chance to alleviate congestion south of Austin. But to the Alexander family, it’s a threat to the land they’ve vowed for generations to protect. Daniel Alexander was enslaved when he secured a promise in 1847...
To save water in Texas, these nonprofits are paying farmers to leave it in reservoirs
As Texas faces an increasingly fraught environmental future from climate change, a new approach to conservation is growing. Drought conditions have created a two-pronged problem for Texas aquifers, natural bodies of water that move through porous rock underneath the...
‘The Olympics of astronomy’: Travis County gears up for 2024 solar eclipse
Travis County officials are gearing up for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity in 2024, as a total solar eclipse is expected to pass over the Central Texas region. A total solar eclipse will pass over the Hill Country region on April 8, 2024, from 1:32-1:41 p.m. The...
Dry riverbeds, dead fish, tapped-out wells: Drought takes toll in Hill Country
Kathleen Tobin Krueger stood on a low cliff last week, looking down on her family’s ranchland. Below her lay an expansive field laden with smooth white rocks, trees with exposed roots growing between them. There should be a full, flowing river here — there usually is...
National Park Service releases video series on Texas White House
On Sunday, August 21st, Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park will launch Texas White House: Past, Present, and Future, a series of short educational videos on the history and importance of the Texas White House and LBJ Ranch. Videos will be released daily via...
Drought Stage 3 declared by Blanco-Pedernales Groundwater Conservation District
With at least two months of a hot Texas summer left, the Blanco County water situation is becoming a serious concern. Water levels continue to decline in District Monitor Wells. Some well owners have had to lower pumps. Blanco County rainfall for 2022 is currently...
USDA investing $197 million in partner-driven, locally led conservation
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced it is awarding $197 million for 41 locally led conservation projects through the Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP). RCPP is a partner-driven program that leverages partner resources to advance...
Commentary: Drought, growth and the future of the Hill Country
On Thursday, June 9, the North Llano River stopped flowing. On August 4, the U.S. Drought Monitor showed 80 percent of the Texas Hill Country in exceptional drought. The Pedernales, Guadalupe and Frio Rivers are dry, and many other Texas rivers are heading toward zero...
U.S. spares Western states from Colorado River water cuts – for now
The U.S. government spared seven Western states from mandatory Colorado River water cutbacks for now but warned on Tuesday that drastic conservation was needed to protect dwindling reservoirs from overuse and severe drought exacerbated by climate change. Read more...
Spring Branch wastewater plant seeks permit to deposit up to 260,000 gallons of treated domestic wastewater into Cypress Creek daily
On Thursday, Spring Branch residents will get the chance to ask questions and voice their concerns over a permit that would allow up to 260,000 gallons of treated domestic wastewater to be deposited daily into Cypress Creek and then into the Guadalupe River, according...
Artificial light masks natural light cycles, affects both human and animal behavior
Natural light cycles have been obscured for years by artificial light used at night. According to experts, this has an impact on both human and animal behavior. Numerous nocturnal animal behaviors and many others like them have evolved to benefit from the night's...