Texas Hill Country Water Talk

How are Hill Country streams harmed when sewage is dumped into them?
• How can recycled wastewater help our region cope with droughts?
• What can you do to protect the last pristine streams in Texas?

Learn the answers to these questions — and enjoy great local brews! — at the Hill Country Water Talk on August 27 at Roughhouse Brewing between Wimberley and San Marcos. The event is hosted by Save Barton Creek Association, The Meadows Center for Water & the Environment at Texas State University, the Watershed Association, San Marcos River Foundation, and Greater Edwards Aquifer Alliance.

SCHEDULE:

12-12:30pm — Information tables by Hill Country organizations
12:30-1:30pm — Panel discussion on water problems and solutions
1:30-2— Audience question & answer session

PANELISTS:

• Dr. Robert Mace — executive director, The Meadows Center
• Connie Barron — mayor pro tem, City of Blanco
• Mateo Scoggins — Austin Watershed Protection Department
• Nick Dornak — The Meadows Center
• Davy Pasternak — Roughhouse Brewing
• Brian Zabcik (moderator) — Save Barton Creek Association

BACKGROUND:

The usual way to get rid of treated wastewater — dumping it into a stream — doesn’t work in the Hill Country. Even sewage that’s been treated still contains elements that can cause out-of-control algae growths. This has already happened on the South San Gabriel and Blanco Rivers. Over the past decade, new sewage discharge plants have been proposed for tributaries of the Guadalupe and Sabinal Rivers, and Barton Creek.

This doesn’t have to happen. There are better ways to manage treated wastewater — either by using it outside for watering lawns, parks, and sports fields, or by using it inside for flushing toilets and other purposes that don’t require drinking-quality water. Not only can water reuse keep our streams cleaner, it can help our region cope with shrinking water supplies during droughts.

The panelists at the Hill Country Water Talk will talk about all of these things in greater detail. And they’ll also answer your questions about what can be done to protect the last pristine streams in this treasured part of Texas.