Environment

As hordes of visitors descend on Austin for SXSW, Barton Springs Pool is closed for cleaning

Barton Springs Pool is closed while it undergoes a deep cleaning to remove unhealthy growth and things like dirt, leaves, sticks and other debris from the pool floor. While the annual cleaning goes back more than a decade, the closure…

Parks • By Luz Moreno-Lozano, KUT • Mar 7, 2025

Council is likely to briefly stop rate hikes for natural gas

Texas Gas Service Company and CenterPoint Energy Resources, which serve gas customers in Austin and surrounding areas as well as other parts of the state, have filed notices of their plan to raise rates for the service regions that include…

Resources • By Jo Clifton • Mar 6, 2025

Austin Energy seeks to dampen fears of cooling department employees

Despite assurances that Austin Energy is not currently contemplating a sale of its District Energy and Cooling Department, called the DEC, some employees remain concerned that the utility might decide to sell the cooling system, which provides chilled water cooling…

Energy • By Jo Clifton • Mar 4, 2025

Parks and Rec Board to explore "rainbow bridge" pet memorial

The Parks and Recreation Board voted Tuesday to form a working group tasked with exploring the creation of a “rainbow bridge” pet memorial at a city park. The proposed interactive feature would allow park visitors to honor their pets, particularly…

Parks • By Madeline de Figueiredo • Mar 4, 2025

Planning Commission endorses, amends updated erosion protections

The Planning Commission voted unanimously on Feb. 25 to recommend, with amendments, an ordinance proposed by the Watershed Protection Department to add new erosion protections to a section of the Colorado River below Longhorn Dam. The Austin Monitor has previously…

Environment • By Miles Wall • Mar 4, 2025

Updates to erosion protections coming to Council

During the inaugural meeting of City Council’s newly formed Climate, Water, Environment, and Parks Committee on Feb. 26, members heard a briefing on a proposed ordinance from the Watershed Protection Department (WPD) to increase erosion protections along the Colorado River.…

Environment • By Mina Shekarchi • Feb 28, 2025

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Incentives for customer-owned batteries among new programs in Austin Energy’s pipeline

After ending last year with a successful vote for its Climate Protection Plan at City Council, Austin Energy is taking no breaks to celebrate, moving right ahead with plans to make good on its promises for a more sustainable and…

Energy • By Kali Bramble • Feb 25, 2025

Encampment cleanup efforts could cost $1.2 million for dedicated team

Austin may establish a dedicated, in-house team to conduct regular cleanups at encampments across the city’s park system. That’s the recommendation laid out in a memo from three department directors in response to a City Council resolution last year calling…

Parks • By Amy Smith • Feb 5, 2025

Lady Bird Lake’s water levels dropped (again), raising questions about dam’s integrity

If you went out for a walk along Lady Bird Lake on Tuesday afternoon you might have noticed the water level was lower than usual. Muddy stretches of bank extended farther toward the center of the lake. The smell wasn’t…

Water • By Mose Buchele, KUT • Jan 30, 2025

Palm Park improvements are among the next steps for Waterloo Greenway project

A recent city memo and presentation to the Downtown Commission last week offer some up-close looks at the progress and next steps for the Waterloo Greenway project that is making major improvements along Waller Creek’s route through downtown. The memo…

Development • By Chad Swiatecki • Jan 23, 2025

Public health commissioners eye heat resistance steps for city budget requests

Public health proponents for the city and Travis County appear ready to push for more heat mitigation resources in the next city budget, with a recent playbook from the Office of Resilience likely to help prioritize those financial requests. At…

Environment • By Chad Swiatecki • Jan 13, 2025

Austin Resource Recovery gets ready for the new year

Austin Resource Recovery plans to collect a total of 260,375 tons of waste from curbside and drop-off center operations during Fiscal Year 2025, with an estimated 40 percent of curbside collected materials to be diverted from landfills, according to a…

Resources • By Hunter Simmons • Jan 13, 2025

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Environment

As hordes of visitors descend on Austin for SXSW, Barton Springs Pool is closed for cleaning

Parks • By Luz Moreno-Lozano, KUT • Mar 7, 2025