December 2012 News Archive

  • December 31, 2012
  • News

December 17, 2012 Meeting Texas’ water needs Local and regional water suppliers say that state financial assistance is needed to fund about half of the total $53 billion price tag for water infrastructure projects in the current State Water Plan. However, simply providing funding without improving the plan and carefully prioritizing projects to be funded would not be an efficient use of taxpayer funds. More from Caller.com. Behind the scary water headlines It’s hard to look at any media in…

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2012 County Authority News

June 19, 2012 Top leadership resigns from RMA board The Alamo Regional Mobility Authority’s long-standing board chairman, Bill Thornton, and the board member expected to succeed him resigned from their positions Monday, less than a week after the Bexar County Commissioners Court voted to take over the organization’s operations. Read more from SA Express-News. April 16, 2012 Expert: Clear strategy on growth management can help lure employers As Austin and Central Texas continue to grow, how do we manage that…

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2012 SLow Impact & Sustainable Development News

December 18, 2012 Is smaller mixed-use viable? Developers say size doesn’t matter when you take a local approach Steve Miller didn’t set out to build the first mixed-use development in York County. In 2009 Miller, a managing partner with York-based developer Pritchard & Miller Real Estate Development, was looking to build town homes in York County but was having a hard time finding parcels of land where a town home development was feasible. Read more from the Daily Press. December…

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2012 Public Lands News

November 21, 2012 Blue Hole Regional Park continues to win awards! The Texas Municipal League (“TML”) has presented the City of Wimberley with the 2012 Municipal Excellence Award for Public Works for cities of less than 25,000 population. The award recognizes the City for the unique design and development of the Blue Hole Regional Park. “The Park protects sacred Hill Country flora and fauna, water quality, and land forms through sustainable programming and design, native landscape restoration and habitat protection,”…

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2012 Native Landscape News

October 15, 2012 Chasing Monarchs on the Llano River with Dr. Chip Taylor, Champion of Monarch Butterflies Monarch Watch founder Dr. Chip Taylor visits ranch along the Llano River in the Texas Hill Country. His prescription: cultivate seeds, plugs and plants of more native milkweed species through a Texas version of Bring Back the Monarchs, an innovative prairie restoration program that NPSOT is importing from Kansas. Why the Texas focus? ”It’s the most important state. Spring conditions in Texas determine…

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2012 Local/Sustainable Agriculture News

September 20, 2012 Farm to Table Caucus Advances Local Food Movement On a mission to advance the local food movement, a Democrat from Austin is finding common ground with Republicans and rural Texans. Read more from Statesman.com. May 19, 2012 Urban farmers fight to be treated like their country cousins A major challenge facing city farms in the Austin area centers on property tax rates that are much higher than those at traditional farms and ranches in more remote parts…

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2012 Land Stewardship News

December 9, 2012 Historic Maverick Ranch threatened again The Maverick Ranch-Fromme Farm (MkR-FF), is national landmark and endangered species wildlife refuge located in Northwest Bexar County. Landowners working with their community have withstood five eminent domain fights in order to retain this rare and sensitive open space. They need support Wednesday, Dec 12 as San Antonio considers adjacent dense development. Incentivizing ranch land protection will not be effective unless we get serious about dealing with encroaching development. Learn More November…

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2012 Habitat Conservation News

August 18, 2012 New EAA website, video explain Edwards Aquifer Habitat Conservation Plan A new website and video developed by the Edwards Aquifer Authority (EAA) help explain the purpose and goals of the Edwards Aquifer Habitat Conservation Plan (EAHCP), which is currently under review by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). The website www.eahcp.org went live August 3, 2012, and features helpful background information on the development of the EAHCP, its history, mission and goals, including a new informational…

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2012 Conservation Easement News

November 7, 2012 Austin commits another $30 million for Land Conservation! Hill Country voters keep on proving they value open space and land conservation. Yesterday, Austin passed another bond election that includes $30 million to buy land or easements in environmentally fragile areas to protect those areas from development. “I think the bonds passing reflects Austin’s determination to have a high quality of life,” said George Cofer, executive director of the Hill Country Conservancy. “The voters of this town have…

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2012 Water Catchment News

December 9, 2012 Everyone lives in a Watershed – Find out what’s happening along the Llano At HCA, we prefer the term “Water Catchment Area”. Many great water catchment area planning projects are in the works around the Hill Country. The Upper Llano partnership includes residents in Edwards, Kerr, Kimble, Menard, Real, and Sutton counties who recognize their “obligation to future generations to maintain the health of the Upper Llano Watershed. Read more about this project here. Find out more…

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