Congratulations to GEAA member group Wimberley Valley Watershed Association. The plan to secure this area to protect the springs has been at least five years in the making.

The Hays County Commissioners Court voted on Tuesday to approve $1.7 million to purchase 50 acres of land that had been slated for high density development directly adjacent to Jacob's Well.  Commissioners approved the allocation of  $850,000 of parks and open space bond funds and agreed to borrow $850,000 from The Nature Conservancy in order to purchase 50 acres of environmentally sensitive land. The additional property will double the size of the current 46 acre Jacob's Well Natural Area.  The combined acreage will be protected by a conservation easement held by The Nature Conservancy and will serve as the first county owned nature preserve in western Hays County. ...

 

GEAA findings reveal that these structures are not really a reliable method of preventing non-point source pollution in rainwater from entering the aquifer, and calls upon the public to help make sure that the BMPs in San Antonio are working properly.

 

Click here to download a copy of GEAA's report.

 

GEAA and San Geronimo Valley Alliance (SGVA) are very pleased to announce that a settlement agreement has been finalized between SGVA and BP Properties, Ltd. regarding the proposed Hills of Castle Rock development located ten miles northwest of Helotes.

The Hills of Castle Rock's application for a permit to release wastewater effluent into the San Geronimo Creek, a major conduit of recharge to the Edwards Aquifer, inspired State Representative David Leibowitz to file HB 595 (State Senator Leticia Van de Putte filed companion SB 822) to prohibit this practice. Under the terms of the agreement, no effluent will be released into the San Geronimo Creek and impervious cover is limited to 15%.

Read the settlement agreement here

(AUSTIN, TX) Decisions about supplying energy and water to Texas’ growing population can no longer be made in isolation from each other, according to The Energy-Water Nexus in Texas, a joint report released today by the University of Texas and Environmental Defense Fund (EDF).

 

“Failure to consider the links between water and energy could undermine both resources, where constraints in water become constraints in energy, or vice-versa,” said Michael Webber, report co-author and associate director of the University of Texas Center for International Energy & Environmental Policy. “On the other hand, policies that address both energy and water can increase efficiency and reduce costs for Texans.” ...