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As published in Lake Travis View, August 2024. Working with or against nature is, and always will be, a powerful driving force in our decision making. We can either adapt to it or modify it: build around a tree or plow through it. Nature’s elements can inspire us or provide us with an opportunity to…

As published in Lake Travis View, March 2024 Severe to extreme drought persists in our area and we’re just a few months away from the scorching heat of summer. With just one good flood our water source supply could recover, but rain is never guaranteed. What if we all learn to do more with less…

As published in Lake Travis View, January 2024. Water utilities invest a lot of time and resources toward the maintenance of their community’s water supply and sanitation systems to help ensure its resilience, sustainability and safety. However, it is often overlooked that residents are indispensable partners in this ongoing effort to maintain a reliable water…

As published in Lake Travis View, November 2023. We are each faced with making personal choices every day, but those who are tasked with making decisions that affect others in life-altering ways bear the heavy burden of responsibility. For Central Texas water industry leaders during this past summer, we faced unprecedented challenges set by record-breaking…

As published in the Lake Travis View, September 2023 Change is all around us. It’s inevitable. Things we once took for granted, set to operate on autopilot, need to be routinely reassessed. This is how progress is made (for better or for worse). But you can’t make smarter choices without first being educated on the…

Community Impact: September 2023, By April Kelley, Katy McAfee When the Lower Colorado River Authority entered Stage 2 of its drought contingency plan on Aug. 12, local utility districts followed suit by enforcing their own water restrictions. Most of the Lake Travis area remains under Stage 2 restrictions, including the Travis County Water Control and…

As published in the Lake Travis View, July 2023 The culturally embedded phrase “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” often is associated with trash: how much you create and what you do with it. Its origin can be traced back to the 1970s, after the growing popularity of single-use items in the 1950s, as people increasingly recognized the importance…

As published in Lake Travis View, October 2024. There are at least two sets of separate plumbing subsystems running through every modern home or place of business: pipes that supply clean, drinking water in and those that carry used water (known as “wastewater”) out. The water running through these subsystems must be treated for the…

As published in Lake Travis View, May 2024 Water is a vital resource, for both essential and indulgent purposes, yet how Americans use and value it can vary significantly across generations. Recent studies and surveys reveal distinct patterns in water consumption among different age groups shaped by the historical context, values, and technology of their…

As published in the Lake Travis View, May 2023 Water is a precious resource, especially in Texas with the state’s ever-growing population and fluctuating climate conditions. Even when the floods come, there is a drought right around the corner, requiring a constant need to manage and conserve water resources effectively. Water conservation plans and drought…

As published in the Lake Travis View, January 2023. It sounds like the beginning of a bad joke, yet causes real concern: why, so often, do we drive by a construction site and see a bunch of workers standing around, peering down into a hole? Shouldn’t they be working? Actually, more often than not, they…

As published in the Lake Travis View, June 2020. “Pay attention!” Hearing something once is never enough. We are exposed to repetition throughout our lives as a way to help us learn new skills and information. Messages are frequently repeated, sometimes with increasing urgency, to make a message stick and hopefully lead others into action….

As published in the Lake Travis View, September 2022 Behavior is shaped by perspective. It is not inherently right or wrong; it’s just an expression of beliefs and understanding acquired through knowledge and experiences. But even in our increasingly polarized society, people can change their behavior if faced with an alternate viewpoint that, over time,…