Hill Country Alliance hosting Nov. 3 workshop on management of riparian areas

Hill Country Alliance hosting Nov. 3 workshop on management of riparian areas

  • October 31, 2018
  • News

The riparian areas, those slices of land alongside creeks and rivers, make up a very small percentage of the total land mass, yet they play a crucial role in the environment and land health. The problem is many landowners with creeks, or even lakes, on or bordering their properties don’t quite know the best way to manage these areas. “Even though it’s a small percentage of the land, when managed properly, these areas do a lot of good for us,”…

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New Mexico blazing a dark sky trail

New Mexico blazing a dark sky trail

  • October 31, 2018
  • News

While New Mexico has long been a destination for dark sky enthusiasts, there had been no organized effort to promote dark sky tourism until the state’s Tourism Department got involved. On a visit to Capulin Volcano National Monument in the fall of 2017, staff members from the New Mexico Tourism Department learned about the dark sky programs there and why dark skies are important. This experience “kicked us into action,” according to David Griscom, who spearheaded the project as Tourism…

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Private well water screening set for Nov. 6 in Llano

Private well water screening set for Nov. 6 in Llano

LLANO —The Texas Well Owner Network is hosting a water well screening Nov. 6 in Llano to give area residents the opportunity to have their well water screened. The screening will be from 8:30–10 a.m. Nov. 6 at the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service office for Llano County, 1447 E. State Highway 71, Unit E. It is presented by AgriLife Extension and Texas Water Resources Institute in partnership with the AgriLife Extension office in Llano County. A meeting explaining screening results and…

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$76M Fredericksburg resort, conference center ready to break ground

$76M Fredericksburg resort, conference center ready to break ground

  • October 25, 2018
  • News

Construction is expected to start soon on a massive project in the Hill Country town of Fredericksburg. The Houston-based developer of The Seven Hills Resort and Conference Center said he’s received all the necessary approvals to start work on the 150-room hotel, 35,000-square-foot convention center and park. In July, Austin Business Journal reported how Seven Hills would dramatically boost the Gillespie County town’s appeal among associations and companies searching for conference space. Officials have called it one of the largest…

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Texas’ water quality challenge and the need for better communication in an era of increasing water quality contamination events

Texas’ water quality challenge and the need for better communication in an era of increasing water quality contamination events

  • October 25, 2018
  • News

As Texas cities experience an increase in incidents associated with water quality contamination, the need for public education and engagement increases. The discussion in this paper identifies, based on publicly available data, three of the most common incidents in Texas related to drinking water and environmental contamination: boil water notices (BWNs), sanitary sewer overflows (SSOs), and lead in drinking water. Trends observed from 2011 to 2016 indicate a sharp upward increase in the incidents of such events. Increased frequency of…

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Meeting set on Tarpley wastewater plan

  • October 25, 2018
  • News

Landowners near a Christian summer camp planned in the Tarpley area have scheduled an organizational meeting to examine the camp’s plans to dump 49,000 gallons a day of treated wastewater into an area creek and to decide if a more environmentally sound treatment plan should be pursued. Margo Denke, who lives about a mile and a half downstream from the domestic wastewater treatment facility proposed by RR 417 LLC for the camp, said the project has generated a lot of…

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Austin boil water order in effect while utility pleads for reduced water consumption

Austin boil water order in effect while utility pleads for reduced water consumption

  • October 23, 2018
  • News

A boil water notice remains in effect for Austin Water customers, and the city of Austin is pleading for people to slash their water consumption by 15 to 20 percent. Outdoor water use is being banned as part of what officials describe as an emergency situation. On Tuesday, Travis County’s emergency management chief said the situation could last up to two weeks. Austin Water advises customers to boil water for three minutes before consuming it and says that water-filtration systems…

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The country’s cheapest water is in the West’s driest cities

  • October 16, 2018
  • News

Economists and a public policy expert at the University of Minnesota who looked into block pricing for water in the nation’s largest urban areas, including 11 Western cities, discovered a pattern they conclude is neither sustainable nor just: Many of the driest cities have the cheapest water prices. What’s more, for households across the West, the average price of water goes down as use goes up. The researchers used the Natural Resources Defense Council’s 2010 Water Sustainability Index rankings —…

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Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park to conduct water system assessment after tests find Legionella bacteria in water

  • October 15, 2018
  • News

STONEWALL, TX – This week, the Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park received results of environmental water tests that were positive for Legionella bacteria at three sites: the pool house, the Klein shop, and the hangar visitor center. While there have been no confirmed cases of illness associated with this at the park, Legionella can cause a severe pneumonia (called Legionnaires’ disease) when people breathe in aerosolized droplets of water that contain the bacteria. Park staff with expertise in water…

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Four Missing in Junction Flooding Identified as Search Continues

  • October 10, 2018
  • News

SAN ANGELO, TX — The search continues in Junction for the four people missing in the recent flooding. Oct. 8, the Llano River in Junction reached flood stage with over 118,000 cubic-feet-per second pouring into the confluence of the North and South Llano Rivers located on the east side of he City of Junction. The river reached a height well above flood stage of 31.2 feet just before 10 a.m. Oct. 8, according to data from the U.S.G.S. The height…

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