NEW BRAUNFELS, Texas – Comal Conservation was founded in 2018 as a response to the quick population growth in the county.
Ryan Spencer, the nonprofit’s executive director, said water conservation is a huge undertaking, but they are taking it one step at a time.
“It’s a natural problem in terms of, you know, fish and wildlife and birds, but it’s also an economic problem,” he said.
Spencer said Comal County receives billions of dollars each year in tourism revenue.
“Folks that come to visit our county are coming to this county because the rivers are gorgeous, the limestone cliffs are unbelievable,” Spencer said. “About 33 percent of the jobs in New Braunfels are linked to the hospitality industry.”
Some are coming to stay; Comal County welcomes about 10,000 new residents each year. In 1991, New Braunfels had a population of 21,000 people; now that number is 120,000.
The projections by the Texas Water Development Board show the population is going to continue to increase, and so will the demand for water use.
“Right now, the average person, either in San Antonio or New Braunfels, uses about 130 gallons per person per day, and that’s being conservative,” Spencer said. “The reality is we need to ask ourselves, how much water do you really need? Surprisingly, or maybe not surprisingly, most of that water goes to feeding green lawns.”
He says part of the conservation effort is teaching people to go with native plants and grasses instead of St. Augustine grass.
“We all have a role to play in water conservation,” he said.
Part of that also includes landowners and ranchers. Spencer is working with property owners and city and county leaders to protect wildland, which is critical to the Edwards and Trinity Aquifers.
“We live in the most beautiful place in Texas, and so go out there, swim in the rivers, fall in love with the parks, go hiking, and yeah, just enjoy the natural spaces that make this part of Texas so beautiful,” Spencer said.
