Save Texas Streams Newsletter

Receive updates on key policy issues, environmental education on Central Texas ecology and natural history, and opportunities to get involved in protecting our streams and aquifers.

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In Central Texas, spring arrives with vivid color and sweet fragrance. From magenta blossoms lining bare branches to delicate wildflowers carpeting the ground, early blooming plants provide essential nectar for pollinators and beauty for our landscapes. Read on to learn more about some of the fir...

by Logan Ferguson — Mar 01, 2026 early spring flowers golden groundsel mexican buckeye mexican plum pink evening primrose red buckeye texas mountain laurel texas native plants texas redbud

Stories Written in Snow: Safeguarding Wildlife Habitat Along Our Waterways

Stream protection is about more than the water flowing downstream — it’s about the entire watershed. Healthy streams depend on the surrounding riparian area: the vegetated land along creek banks, the sedges and bulrushes that hold soil in place, the gallery forests, slopes, and grasslands that a...

by Logan Ferguson — Feb 19, 2026 austin watershed coyote tracks fox tracks riparian areas texas riparian areas texas watershed

Central Texas's Seasonal Songbirds

When winter settles over Central Texas and the live oaks trade cicada buzz for quiet mornings, the region’s birdlife subtly shifts. The colder months bring a fresh cast of avian travelers—small, hardy songbirds escaping harsher northern climates in search of food and refuge. These seasonal visito...

by Logan Ferguson — Feb 03, 2026 cedar waxwing dark-eyed junco texas avian life texas birds texas winter birds white-throated sparrow winter bird migrants

Interpreting the Weather

How can you tell when extreme weather is imminent, and what can you do to ensure you are prepared? In this podcast, Save Texas Streams Executive Director Lee Burton and veteran meteorologist Troy Kimmel break down how major weather systems form—and the warning signs that often appear before they ...

by Lee Burton, Logan Ferguson — Jan 29, 2026 climate change extreme weather texas floods texas freeze texas ice storm texas storms texas weather

Tell TCEQ: Don’t flood Salado Creek with treated sewage!

STS NEWS 01.25.26 The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) has been processing permit applications for 12 new wastewater facilities that could discharge up to 8 million gallons of inadequately treated sewage every day into Salado Creek. This is one of the largest concentrations of ne...

by Brian Zabcik — Jan 25, 2026 edwards aquifer salado creek salado salamander salado texas tceq wastewater discharge

2025 in review: Big changes, big accomplishments

STS NEWS 12.17.25 As we've already told you, we recently changed our name from Save Barton Creek Association to Save Texas Streams to better reflect the scope and breadth of our work. This year, our work included: Stopping a bad wastewater permit on upper Barton Creek. Improving another wastewa...

by Brian Zabcik — Dec 17, 2025 barton creek fitzhugh concert venue mirasol springs pedernales river save texas streams south san gabriel white rocks concert venue

Sumac: Fall Colors, a Tasty Spice, and a Wildlife Café

If you’ve ever driven through the Texas Hill Country in fall, you’ve likely noticed the brilliant reds and oranges of sumac trees. With their striking fall foliage and knack for thriving where little else will grow, true sumacs of the genus Rhus bring both color and character to the landscape. Me...

by Logan Ferguson — Nov 17, 2025 evergreen sumac fall foliage flameleaf sumac fragrant sumac poison sumac smooth sumac sumac

Vote Yes for Water - Vote Yes for Prop 4

The terrible floods that devastated the Hill Country in July obscured a basic fact: Texas is sliding into a full-blown water crisis. Two months before the floods, Canyon Lake was only 46% full; Lake Travis, 41%. While both of these crucial Hill Country drinking water sources are more full now, ot...

by Brian Zabcik — Nov 03, 2025 prop 4 proposition 4 texas water water reuse

How to Find Wastewater Permit Information on TCEQ's Website

We don’t say this often, but we want to congratulate the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality for making a big improvement to its website — the agency is now posting most draft wastewater permits online. That’s why we thought this would be a good time to provide a guide on how to find wastew...

by Brian Zabcik — Nov 03, 2025 tceq tceq permits tceq website wastewater permits

Tell TCEQ: No More Sewage Discharge Permits on Onion Creek!

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality is about to make the same mistake again. Two years ago, after many years of challenges from opponents, TCEQ issued a permit that allows Dripping Springs to discharge its treated wastewater into Onion Creek. One of the arguments that the city made for ...

by Brian Zabcik — Nov 03, 2025 dripping springs madelyn estates onion creek tceq wastewater treatment plants

Texas's Seasonal Spectacle: Meet the Texas Red Oak

Prepare yourself for a striking display of fall foliage as our Texas red oaks begin to trade their green canopies for a blaze of deep orange and red. As part 1 to our Texas Fall Foliage Series, SBCA is spotlighting one of our favorite native trees, the Texas red oak! Texas red oak’s scientific na...

by Logan Ferguson — Nov 03, 2025 species spotlight texas fall foliage texas red oak

Wastewater Permits on Blanco River & Onion Creek: Speak Up!

Two pending wastewater permits pose problems for local pristine streams, but you'll have an opportunity to comment on them when the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) holds public meetings on each permit. The worst one would allow the proposed Madelynn Estates subdivision to dischar...

by Brian Zabcik — Nov 03, 2025 algae growth blanco river onion creek texas streams wastewater permits

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