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Water Catchment Areas (Watershed)

Nature-based Infrastructure Bill Headed To House Floor As Legislative Session Continues

Nature-based infrastructure bill headed to House floor as Legislative session continues

Texas State Rep. Erin Zwiener (D-Driftwood) presented several house bills for the 87th Texas Legislative Session in committees this week, one of which is heading to the house floor. Zwiener presented House Bill 48 to the House International Relations and Economic Development Committee and House Bills 2344 and 2350 to the House Public Education Committee and House Natural Resources Committee, respectively. Read more from Stephanie Gates with San Marcos Daily Record here. 

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House Bill 3883: Good Legislation For The Hill Country

House Bill 3883: Good legislation for the Hill Country

NOTE: Although this article was written for a Kendall County audience, the bill itself would apply throughout the Hill Country Priority Groundwater Management Area (PGMA), covering all of Bandera, Blanco, Gillespie, Kendall, and Kerr Counties, as well as parts of Bexar, Comal, Hays, and Travis Counties.  The citizens of Kendall County who are directly affected by the ever-increasing growth of recent years have been heard. Hearing concerns about crowded roads, schools and the ever-increasing taxes that fall on citizens to…

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Soaking Up Rising Floodwaters In Growing Cities

Soaking up rising floodwaters in growing cities

Texas cities are expanding fast. Between 2010 and 2019, six of the 15 fastest-growing cities in the United States were in Texas. Bigger cities mean less land to soak up rainwater, leading to increased flood risk. Add climate change to the equation, and you have a bigger flooding problem to solve. Buildings, roads, sidewalks and other city elements are impervious: they can’t soak up water like soil can. Instead, water runs off the impervious surfaces, flowing into neighboring streams and…

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Stream Team Program Celebrates 30 Years Of Citizen Science, Stewardship Of Texas Waterways

Stream Team program celebrates 30 years of citizen science, stewardship of Texas waterways

The Texas Stream Team, a program of The Meadows Center for Water and the Environment at Texas State University, is celebrating 30 years of citizen science and environmental stewardship. More than 11,000 trained citizen scientists have participated in The Meadows Center’s Texas Stream Team program over the years. Launched in 1991, Texas Stream Team has become one of the longest-running and most successful citizen science program in the nation and is still going strong. Read more from Anna Huff from…

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It’s Time To Pay Attention To The Water We Cannot See

It’s time to pay attention to the water we cannot see

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 means. It provides for our cities, towns, farms, and ranches. We live, work and play beside it. And we rely on state law to prevent it from vanishing. But groundwater law offers…

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Clean Water Projects In Texas Awarded $72M From EPA

Clean water projects in Texas awarded $72M from EPA

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 Fund (CWSRF), a federal-state partnership that provides communities low-cost financing for a wide range of water quality infrastructure projects. Read more from Water World here. 

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Editorial: Rivers Are Lifeblood Of Region

Editorial: Rivers are lifeblood of region

The owners of a youth camp near Vanderpool have filed a request for a permit to discharge 60,000 gallons of treated wastewater per day into a tributary of the Sabinal River. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, which has jurisdiction in the matter, should deny the requested permit out of hand. Young Life purchased the former Camp Lonehollow on Ranch to Market Road 187, just south of Vanderpool, in 2019. The new owners want to build a wastewater treatment facility…

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San Antonio River Foundation: Working To Make The River Vibrant, Healthy, And Accessible To ALL

San Antonio River Foundation: Working to make the river vibrant, healthy, and accessible to ALL

Did you know that the San Antonio River Authority (River Authority) has a non-profit partner organization called the San Antonio River Foundation? Established in 2003, the San Antonio River Foundation’s efforts focus on four main pillars that guide our work: education, ecology, arts and culture, and recreation. Each of these pillars directs the projects we embark on and ensures that we are continually striving to achieve our mission of increasing environmental equity and promoting environmental stewardship of the San Antonio…

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US Supreme Court Dismisses Texas Petition For Review In Pecos River Dispute

US Supreme Court dismisses Texas petition for review in Pecos River dispute

The Pecos river runs from the Sangre de Cristo Mountains near Santa Fe, New Mexico through New Mexico and Texas and eventually into the Rio Grande River at the Texas-Mexico border near Del Rio, Texas.  In 1949, Texas and New Mexico signed the Pecos River Compact, and Congress ratified the Compact.  The Compact provides for the “equitable division and apportionment of the use of the waters of the Pecos River” with the intent to “remove causes of present and future…

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The Importance And The Magic Of Water

The importance and the magic of water

The importance and the magic of water WATER! Yes, cool, fresh and refreshing WATER! As I begin reflecting on the cusp of Thanksgiving, it grows out of a brief conversation with one of our granddaughters. She wanted to know what kind of "thanks list" I was coming up with for 2020. I responded, "We are grateful for continued health and distanced life in this wilderness time of viral threat." Then I added, "I'm digging deep for life's essential ingredients, first…

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