The City of New Braunfels has a new ordinance prohibiting the feeding of wildlife. The Watershed Protection Plan is intended to protect and preserve the water quality in Dry Comal Creek and the Comal River, and it recommends discouraging the feeding of wildlife in order to minimize bacteria loading to our waterways as well as multiple other reasons. See the full article here: https://bit.ly/2UpLz9I

To read the City of New Braunfels press release, click here.

The Great Springs Project and the Comal County Conservation Alliance (CCCA) teamed up to create a new map showing the protected lands of the Edwards Aquifer. The map clearly shows that more land protection is needed to preserve the aquifer that supplies millions of people with drinking water.

Comal County is particularly sparse when it comes to protected lands. CCCA aims to use this map to illustrate the urgent need for conservation in the area. For the full-size version of the map, click here.

The outdoor-centered store REI decided to close its doors for Black Friday and encourage customers and employees to go hiking instead. For #OptOutside, REI asks people to enjoy the outdoors instead of Black Friday shopping. Read the full article here.

REI also pulled together inspiration and the knowledge of our amazing inspired guides at www.REI.com/opt-outside. Search by zip code or by the activity you want to try out.

​“Imagine A Day Without Water” is today. For the past two weeks, I have been sending water conservation tips via Twitter and Facebook. This is my top 10 list of things I would miss the most if there was no drinkable water left in the world.

1. TOILETS – This is the first thing I would miss. When I watch a period piece on TV, I often think, “What does it smell like without a proper sewer system? And worse, what diseases are floating around without toilets?”
2. SHOWERS – Not showering is simply bad hygiene. Oily hair and increasing amounts of body bacteria are some of the side effects.
3. WASHING HANDS – This one is especially important for surgeons. Infections were very common before medical professionals started “scrubbing up.”
4. LAUNDRY – What would I do without clean clothes? Wear them until they got stinky and then throw them away?
5. COOKING – No water means no more pasta. Yikes!
6. FOOD – U.S. agriculture uses 80% of the country's consumed water.
7. TREES – Approximately 1/3 of Earth’s oxygen is produced by rain forests. I also love the sound of wind blowing through leaves.
8. INTERNET – Did you know that huge companies like Google use water to cool down their server farms? Without water, there is a good chance of meltdown.
9. FLORA – This is all plant life. I wouldn’t miss mushrooms all that much, but wouldn’t it be sad to never see another flower?
10. FAUNA – This is all animal life, including humans.

 
Huge problems happen without water because it’s our most precious natural resource. But thousands of people don’t realize that water is finite – meaning it doesn’t last forever. The more water we contaminate, the harder it is to clean, and at some point, the water becomes unusable. The world was horrified at what happened with Flint, Michigan, water. We need to be mindful of water usage and protect our water infrastructure. How? In the United States, make sure your federal and state representatives make water infrastructure a priority! On a personal level, try conserving where you can. How much water do you use?

​- Georgia Shaffer

"Imagine a Day Without Water" is on October 10, 2018. It's the perfect time to talk about water conservation and be thankful for our aquifers. Xeriscape is defined as a style of landscape design requiring little or no irrigation or other maintenance. In the Texas Hill Country, xeriscape or native plants can help drastically reduce watering. Learn more about Texas natural landscaping here.

Monarch butterflies are heading to San Antonio in a year that could claim the largest migration in a decade. 

Based on robust activity in the monarchs’ primary Midwestern breeding grounds, Monarch Watch founder and expert Chip Taylor predicted “the migration should be the strongest since 2008.” Taylor shared the promising outlook in a recent population update on the monarch butterfly conservation organization’s blog.

Read the full article by Monika Maekle here.