A recently released report from the Texas Hill Country Conservation Network examined the current state of conservation and growth in the Hill Country. What it revealed was a region at a crossroads, facing threats to its future.
The report, entitled the “State of the Hill Country,” set a baseline for eight key metrics by which conservation and growth could be evaluated. It determined that booming population growth, sprawling development, groundwater depletion, changing climate patterns, extreme droughts and floods and a unique set of policy challenges threaten the natural resources that define the Hill County region — resources on which millions of people rely. THCCN hosted a webinar on Monday, March 7 to discuss the study, with featured speakers including Hays County Commissioner Lon Shell, Precinct 3.
“Western Hays County is mainly developed on the back of our local groundwater,” Shell said. “If we were to experience a similar drought today [like we did in 2010], we would have emergencies across the county. If we can’t find better ways to manage that, I can see some very hard times ahead.”
