Posted by admin | Feb 11, 2021 | Habitat Conservation Plans, Land Conservation and Stewardship, Legislature and Regulation, Native Landscapes, News, Public Lands, Water Conservation, Wildlife
U.S. Interior Department officials on Thursday canceled a Trump administration directive that gave local and state officials power to block purchases of land and water for conservation. Acting Interior Secretary Scott de la Vega rescinded a November order from former...
Posted by admin | Feb 8, 2021 | Drought, Groundwater Resources, HCA in the News, Land Stewardship, Legislature and Regulation, News, Planning and Development, Regional Planning, Water Catchment Areas (Watershed), Water Conservation, Water Planning, Water Resources
Texas’ rivers are iconic. The groundwater that sustains them is invisible. We see the dichotomy in state law. Naturally flowing water in rivers and streams is owned by the state and held in trust for the public good. That’s because we can see that water and what it...
Posted by admin | Feb 8, 2021 | Groundwater Resources, Legislature and Regulation, News, Planning and Development, Water Catchment Areas (Watershed), Water Conservation, Water Planning, Water Quality, Water Resources
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently awarded the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) $72,632,000 to provide low-interest loans to fund clean water projects in Texas. EPA provided the grant under the Clean Water Act’s Clean Water State Revolving...
Posted by admin | Feb 3, 2021 | Legislature and Regulation, News, Planning and Development, Regional Planning, Scenic Beauty
In 2019, a city environmental plans examiner emailed then-state Rep. Roland Gutierrez to inform him he had violated San Antonio’s tree preservation ordinance by chopping down a large heritage oak without a permit on a lot he was developing. “There will be a work...
Posted by admin | Feb 3, 2021 | Land Conservation and Stewardship, Legislature and Regulation, News, Planning and Development, Scenic Beauty
One of the many things we’ve learned from the global shock of COVID-19 is just how intertwined humanity is with nature. A wildlife-borne pathogen has infected more than 70 million people, disrupted global supply chains, spotlighted inequities and exposed new...
Posted by admin | Feb 3, 2021 | Aggregate Production Operations, Economics of Sound Planning, Land Conservation and Stewardship, Land Stewardship, Landowner Alliances, Legislature and Regulation, News, Planning and Development, Regional Planning, Scenic Beauty
Hill Country Alliance – Community Program Note: The Hill Country Alliance is an active member of the Texans for Responsible Aggregate Mining (TRAM) coalition. Quarries, gravel mines, sand mines, and concrete batch plants are increasingly posing significant...